Bruceploitation
I realize I should be sending this wikipedia find through the proper channels, but I couldn’t wait and wanted to include this supplemental video, a clip from The Ninja Strikes Back (1982) starring the inimitable Bruce Le (not to be confused with Bruce Li or Bruce Lei, who were hacks).
Bruceploitation is a cultural phenomenon mostly seen in the 1970s after the untimely death of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee in 1973. Movie makers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan hired a great number of Bruce Lee look-alike actors to star in many cheap knock-off martial arts movies to cash in on his success after his death.
Some of the movies were simply rehashes of Bruce Lee’s classics, such as Re-enter the Dragon, Enter Two Dragons, Return of Bruce, Return of the Fists of Fury or Enter the Game of Death. Others told the life story of Bruce Lee and explored his mysteries, such as Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, a fan favorite, where Bruce Li is asked by Bruce Lee to replace him after his death, My Name Called Bruce and Bruce’s Fist of Vengeance.
Winners: Exit the Dragon and My Name Called Bruce.
NOTE: Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Fast & Furious) paid homage to Bruceploitation in his 2007 low-budget mockumentary Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee, which is honestly not that bad.
