Podcast (a-better-yesterday): Play in new window | Download
A BETTER YESTERDAY – EP. 3: EXIT THE DRAGON THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
In the third episode of A Better Yesterday, Ross O’Brien and Hong Kong Cinemissimo Bey Logan cover the last three years of Bruce Lee’s life. In this short time, a young leading man transformed himself into an auteur; his death transformed him into a legend (and sparked an entire Bruceploitation industry).
They look at Fist of Fury: Ho Yuan-jia, the Jingwu school, wartime Japanese occupation, and why Hong Kong audiences roared when Bruce’s Chen Zhen smashes the “Sick Man of Asia” sign and makes the Japanese eat their insults.
Then onto Way of the Dragon and Bruce’s formation of Concord with Raymond Chow. Bey breaks down Tang Lung, the “kung fu bumpkin” who saves a Chinese restaurant from the mafia, and defeats Chuck Norris with pure Jeet Kune Do “adapt and win” ethos.
Enter the Dragon could have been doomed to schlock, with James Bond–ish spy plots and Orientalist tropes, but Bey argues that Bruce elevates it by Bruce’s presence. They unpack the production, and the grim timing of Bruce’s sudden death just before release.
Finally, they tackle Game of Death and Bruceploitation, and look at the commercial and cultural void Bruce left, the interim reign of Michael Hui’s Cantonese comedies, and how all this primed the stage for Hong Kong cinema’s next great inversion: Jackie Chan.
Films, series, and works discussed:
Fist of Fury / The Chinese Connection (1972)
Way of the Dragon / Return of the Dragon (1972)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Game of Death (1972–1978)
Game of Death II / Tower of Death (1981)
Fearless / Huo Yuanjia (2006)
The Wrecking Crew (1968)
The Getaway (1972)
Dr. No (1962)
The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
This episode was mixed and produced, as ever, by Mark Haskins of Post-Op Media. Check out Bey’s books at www.reeleast.com!
YOUR HOSTS
Bey Logan (A Better Yesterday)
Bey Logan is a Hong Kong-based screenwriter, producer and martial arts film historian. His films include Jackie Chan’s ‘The Medallion’ and ‘The Twins Effect’, Sammo Hung’s ‘Dragon Squad’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny’, which starred Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh. He has produced documentaries about Bruce Lee, as well as a book entitled ‘Bruce Lee and I’. Bey’s recent publications include the two-volume ‘36 Chambers of Kung Fu Cinema’.
Ross O’Brien (A Better Yesterday)
Ross O’Brien writes about technology and economics in Asia from a fishing village on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Most evenings he stares out at the South China Sea, fretting about what the salt air is doing to his comic books and Del Rey paperbacks. He has no film credits to speak of, unless you count the voice-overs he did for Vidal Sassoon shampoo commercials when he was hard up in Singapore in the 1990s.
You can subscribe to the A Better Yesterday podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and more, or use our RSS feed on whatever podcast service you use: https://oneofus.net/feed/a-better-yesterday/ and please leave us a review!
Please think about becoming a paid subscriber to Oneofus.net, support our huge network of shows, and get access to tons of bonus shows and videos in our forums! We cannot keep this site going without support from our listeners. For added information about being a subscriber, the benefits, and the forums, please go here.
