Bruce Inspired
The spirit of Bruce Lee Lives on
From Hollywood to some of Hong Kong’s most famous stars paying tribute after more than 30 years since Bruce Lee died. The film industry is still inspired by him. This section looks at some of the men and woman who all have a career in their own right but have still channelled the spirit of the little dragon by using Bruce Lee-esque movements and mannerisms in movies.
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
Hong Kong’s “Big Brother” Sammo Hung worked with the real deal on Enter the Dragon and later made his own homage to Bruce Lee in Enter the Fat Dragon, Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon and Millionaire’s Express…
Jackie Chan
At the start of his movie career and long before Jackie Chan become the huge star that he is today, he dealt out his own entry into Bruceploitation in New Fist of Fury.
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi
Stephen Chow has been a life long fan of Bruce Lee and can be seen in many of his movies paying tribute to the Little Dragon.
Jet Li
Jet Li has never delved fully into Bruceploitation but 1994’s Fist of Legend (inspired by Fist of Fury) we get to see Jet perform Bruce Lee-esque moves.
Donnie Yen
Martial Arts star Donnie Yen has often quoted Bruce Lee as being one of his biggest inspirations. Now more famous for portraying Ip Man, Donnie dished out his own version of Bruce’s more famous characters, Chen Zhen.
Andy Lau
One of Hong Kong’s most commercially successful actors and singers, Andy Lau has pulled some of Bruce Lee’s famous moves in some of his movies including the Wong Jing actioner The Last Blood and comedy Crazy Companies.
Michael Hui
Michael Hui in Private Eyes grabbing a link of sausages and swinging them like nunchaku’s created one of the first Bruce Lee inspired scenes in Hong Kong cinema.
Eric Tsang
Award winning actor, producer and director, Eric Tsang’s early foray into Bruceploitation movies included a memorable role as ‘Popeye’ in The Dragon Lives Again. He can be seen flexing in Bruce Lee style in the Wong Jing comedy The Romancing Star 2
Tony Leung Ka-Fai
More recently seen potraying Bruce Lee’s father in Bruce Lee My Brother, Tony Leung Ka-fai impersonated Bruce Lee himself in both Spy Dad and Boys Are Easy
Jacky Cheung
Hong Kong actor and pop-star Jacky Cheung poked fun at both Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee in High Risk and even donned the infamous Yellow catsuit for the films finale.
Anthony Wong
The outspoken and versatile Anthony Wong is more famous for his acting than martial arts skills but in 2005 he unleashed his own ‘Fist of Fury’ in director Stephen Fung’s House of Fury.
Chow Yun Fat
More known for his gun-fu rather than kung fu, Chow Yun Fat does his best Bruce Lee impersonation complete with war cries and back-flips in John Woo’s Once a Thief
Michael Chow Man-Kin
Hong Kong actor Michael Chow wrote and starred in his own comedy tribute to Bruce Lee in Spirit of the Dragon and again in the 2003 comedy spoof “Kung Phooey”
Takeshi Kaneshiro
In the Taiwanese comedy Trouble Maker, Takeshi Kaneshiro stars as a young high school student who believes he is the reincarnation of Bruce Lee
Lydia Shum
The late Hong Kong comedian, MC, and actress Lydia Shum can be briefly seen in the infamous Game of Death catsuit in It’s a Mad Mad World Too to deal out some punishment to co-star Bill Tung.
Kwon Sang-woo
Kwon Sang-woo starts to train himself in Jeet Kune Do, inspired by his childhood hero Bruce Lee in the Korean drama “Once Upon a Time in High School”
Naoto Takenaka
Japanese actor, director and comedian caught audiences attention with his impersonation skills. In 2006’s Longest Nite in Shanghai he got to show off his Bruce Lee impersonation.
Nǃxau ǂToma
“Namibia’s most famous actor” Nǃxau ǂToma becomes possessed by the spirit of Bruce Lee in Crazy Safari
Taimak
In a role that is the pure definition of Bruce-Inspired, martial artist Taimak had the ‘glow’ as Bruce Leroy in the 1980’s cult classic The Last Dragon.
Uma Thurman
From Bruce Lee’s one inch punch to the blood soaked Game of Death catsuit, Director Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill stars Uma Thurman in a homage to Grindhouse and Martial Arts cinema.
Tom Cruise
An unexpected Bruce Lee inspired moment comes in the 2010 Hollywood action-comedy Knight and Day when Tom Cruise grabs a seat-belt during one of the film’s action sequences.