Like many my age i grew up watching the movies of Bruce Lee, became a big fan and watched his cult status grow over the years. When in 1993 it was announced that a biography of his life titled Dragon The Bruce Lee Story was to be a major Hollywood production i was excited to see what the result would be.
At first like many fans i was very disappointed, many facts were left out and lots of the film just was not true. But after a few years and watching the film again i realised that it was not meant to be a documentary on his life, there are plenty of them to watch, but a celebration told in a manner which would appeal to mainstream audience who would never watch a kung fu or martial arts movie.
Jason Scott Lee is outstanding in the lead role, having no martial arts experience beforehand he does a good job in the fight scenes and has great charisma in the lead role. Lauren Holly is also very good as his wife Linda and it is very eerie watching in the film his son Brandon Lee being chased by a demon now knowing what tragedy happened to him also.
When Dragon was released on DVD in the UK not only was it a non anamorphic transfer but was slightly cut of some nunchuku footage. Thankfully that is now restored and the Blu ray released by Universal in the UK and USA has a fabulous 1080p transfer. It looks a little flat in some scenes but overall the black levels and colour definition are spot on. The disc has an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, it is solid with good use of the surrounds and the superb Randy Edelman soundtrack shines through.
The extras are the same as the DVD release in standard definition and include an audio commentary by the director, Jason Scott Lee’s screen test, behind the scenes footage, some of an interview with the real Bruce Lee as well as storyboards, trailers and photos.
A good enjoyable drama about the struggles and success of the most famous martial artist of all time and apart from it slipping into soap opera territory at times is well worth adding to your collection. Both the UK and USA releases are identical and region free.
FILM: 8 PICTURE: 8 AUDIO: 8 EXTRAS: 8
