Bruce Lee, Kill Bill, Minions: The Pretty Unstoppable Truth About the Mythical Black and Yellow Suit

If Bruce Lee is one of the most iconic martial artists in film history, the yellow and black tracksuit he wore in Game of Death, his last film, is as iconic as he is.

The 1972 feature film was not released until 1978 after the star’s sudden death in 1973 and was subsequently completed by Robert Close. And you know the rest: the suit worn by the actor in the film has become a real emblem, and its very distinctive coloring and style have given rise to many theories about its origin. Some argue, as Lusso Leather (via Grunge) explains, that the color was a political statement about the mistreatment of fellow Asian immigrants. Bruce Lee in the USA.

According to producer Andre Morgan, who worked Bruce Lee on game of deathThe reasoning for choosing the yellow overalls had much more to do with the pragmatic goals of the shoot than with a political statement. (South China Morning Post, 2015)

“However, the truth is much simpler, as is usually the case with these kinds of things.“, he said. While filming, Bruce Lee Really had a choice between a yellow or black trainer. In the script, there was a scene in which Lee’s opponent, played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was supposed to punch him in the chest, leaving a mark there to show the impact. The team decided that the print would be difficult to see on a black suit, so they chose yellow.

“It was a clothing decision– explained Morgan. “as simple as that.“

A deep cinematic legacy

Does the famous combination have a deeper meaning after death? Bruce LeeIt became an important symbol in the history of martial arts cinema.

The original costume itself still exists, having been auctioned to an anonymous buyer in 2013 for a staggering HK$780,000 (about €94,000), and has inspired similar costumes in numerous films, TV shows and video games, as Grange explains (via Screenrant). .

The most famous of these is of course the almost identical yellow tracksuit worn by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, although Jackie Chung wore a similar suit in 1995’s Terror in Hong Kong with Jet Li, as did Taymak in The Last Dragon. 1985 year. The legendary outfit was also seen in Minions 2: Once Upon a Time in 2022. Still, that yellow suit was—and will be—an important visual element of lasting legacy. Bruce Lee.