Fans will often cite their favorite action franchises of today and say a lot of the familiar titles. Action cinema has had its various iterations over the years but has become riddled with multiple franchises since the ’80s. Many of the best examples of action cinema involve characters such as Ethan Hunt, Jason Bourne, John McClane, and, more recently, John Wick. However, none of these franchises would be what they are without the influence of Hong Kong cinema, and many franchises, like James Bond, wouldn’t have evolved without the influence of action cinema of the ’70s and ’80s. When fans point to the impact Hong Kong action movies had on cinema, they think of a few names.
Whether discussing the various Shaw Brothers productions or directors like Jimmy Wang Yu, fans know where action cinema really began to change all over the world. However, one action star in particular changed everything in the ’70s when his films penetrated a worldwide audience and put martial arts films on the map. Although Bruce Lee had a tragically short life and career, his unofficial martial arts franchise that spanned from 1971 to 1973 changed action cinema forever. In fact, looking back on the four films he made, they might just be better than most action franchises of the 21st century.
Bruce Lee Made Four Classic Martial Arts Films in the '70s
They Got Better and Better Each Time
While trying to break into the film industry originally, Bruce Lee emphasized a specific talent that he had when it came to making movies: his martial arts background. As a fighter first and actor second, Bruce Lee did a lot of stunt work early in his career and found a lot of initial success in Hong Kong. As an actor who could do his own stunts, he soon became valuable to the Hollywood TV circuit. Lee would go on to star in one of the most popular TV shows of the ’60s, The Green Hornet, in which he played Kato. His new-found fame led him to have more pull in Hong Kong when it came time to start making his own movies.
Whether teaming up with specific directors or making the films himself, Bruce Lee had a run from 1971 to 1973 that is truly unmatched. What started with The Big Boss in 1971 quickly turned into Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon. While audiences everywhere know about the 1973 classic Enter the Dragon and its influence, they might not know about the films that proceeded it.
What’s most impressive about Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu films, is that they managed to get better and better each time, topping the previous film until Lee teamed up with Robert Clouse to make the masterpiece Enter the Dragon. Fans still like to debate to this day which Lee Kung Fu film is the best, but there’s no denying that they just got better every year. Even though each film follows a different character and tells a different story, Lee made an unofficial series in the martial arts genre that, if analyzed as a whole body of work, is one of the best action franchises in cinema history.
Furthermore, many of the action franchises of today owe their success to what Lee did with his films. From the stunts to the editing and the action direction, filmmakers all over the world idolized Bruce Lee’s films and followed his lead in terms of how to make an action movie. While The Big Boss is rusty in many areas, it started a trend for Lee’s ’70s career, and as each film followed, the storytelling and action sequences only got better. To this day, The Way of the Dragon is a special film because it was also directed by Bruce Lee, Fist of Fury is the better Wei Lo production and Enter the Dragon is a classic.
The Bruce Lee Kung Fu Saga Is Better Than Most Action Franchises
Martial Arts Films Owe Bruce Lee A Lot
When The Big Boss came out in 1971, there was no way to ignore the fact that Bruce Lee and director Wei Lo were not entirely on the same page throughout the film’s production. Lo was not always focused on filming and constantly pushed back against a lot of Bruce Lee’s ideas. It’s actually surprising that the two worked together again on Fist of Fury a year later. However, The Big Boss was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong in 1971, even beating American productions released at the time. This made the rest of Lee’s saga possible.
Due to the film’s concept of a one-man-army action movie, the stunts and action sequences performed by Lee garnered a ton of popularity all over the world. As Lee honed this skill and made three better movies in the next two years, his unofficial Kung Fu franchise is a classic of martial arts cinema as a large body of work. With extreme dedication to fight choreography, complemented by great camerawork and editing, the martial arts sub-genre was taken more seriously in other parts of the world.
As Lee’s characters were woven into creative concepts and important backdrops, the films became masterful examples of how to do an action movie. The influence of Bruce Lee’s films cannot be overlooked as martial arts films and one-man-army concepts began to emerge all over the place after 1973. Many of the more contemporary action franchises, like The Transporter and John Wick, are greatly influenced by what Bruce Lee did with the martial arts sub-genre. Furthermore, other Kung Fu actors and directors such as John Woo, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been greatly impacted by Lee’s films.
While the form has certainly evolved, there are still a ton of action franchises today that don’t live up to Bruce Lee’s unofficial kung-fu saga of the ’70s. The ones that do owe a lot to what Bruce Lee started back in 1971. Other great martial arts franchises include Raid, Once Upon a Time in China, IP Man, John Wick, The Karate Kid and Bloodsport. These franchises stand out as the top tier in the genre, and even though they have found ways to surpass Lee’s work at times, the 1971-1973 Bruce Lee saga is among them as one of the best action franchises ever.
