This is how Bruce Lee defended himself from criticism of his 1972 film with Chuck Norris

This is how Bruce Lee defended himself from criticism of his 1972 film with Chuck Norris

‘Rage of the Dragon’ was a gamble by the martial arts legend, and it turned out well in the end.

    After the box office success of ‘The Big Boss’ and ‘Eastern Fury’, Bruce Lee he continued his efforts to become the undisputed star of martial arts cinema. So, after the two big hits from him on the big screen, Lee was preparing to shoot The Wrath of the Dragon. However, unlike his other two great works of art, the master did not publicly promote the latter. For this, Lee received much criticism from the Chinese media. And after he was prohibited from imitating him in schools, he returned to the controversy.

    Lee’s biography, Bruce Lee: A Life, written by Mathew Polly, revealed the setting leading up to the release of the iconic Bruce Lee film. ANDThe Rage of the Dragon was due to be released in the summer of 1972. However, the film starring Chuck Norris – who does not remember his mythical fight scene between the two – was late and also with little budget.

    ANDhe teacher had gambled everything: his finances, his reputation, and his new venture., Concord Production Inc, to make his film a success. In fact, Lee had boasted to the press that his film would gross HK$5 million. Furthermore, Lee’s wife revealed in her bio: “The money we were spending was advanced to us for benefits that had not yet materialized”. He also added: “That made it doubly important that ‘Rage of the Dragon’ succeed.”

    Despite so much influence, Lee refrained from appearing at promotional events. This was because the press had begun to paint him in a negative light. Also, when Lee completely ignored the media, they began to criticize him even more as the release of his film got closer.

    But in the midst of uncertainty, Lee’s film once again did its thing at the box office. On its opening date, December 30, 1972, it sold more than one million Hong Kong dollars in tickets. However, on January 13, 1973, he had broken the record from Fist of Fury and fulfilled Lee’s prediction, fetching HK$5,307,000. The teacher had gone through difficult times during the making of this film…

    He even starred in a cigarette ad.

    During the filming of ‘Rage of the Dragon’, almost his entire budget ran out after shooting only two thirds of the film. Therefore, the production needed more money to continue and restructure important scenes. At that time, producer Raymond Chow urged the teacher to star in the Winston cigarette ad with bodybuilder Bolo Yeung.

    Although Lee did not appear in the ad, He gave up some clips of his ‘Rage of the Dragon’ action scenes to be used in the ad. Not only did it work as a great promotional strategy, but it also started the friendship between Bolo Yeung and the teacher, which can be seen in Operación Dragón.

    Source: Fotogramas

    You may also like