Last Fist of Fury
Dragon Lee's over-the-top Bruceness is full-tilt as he battles Germans with killer frisbees, white ninjas and extendo-swords.
This is a bit of a divisive entry in the world of Brucesploitation films. First of all LAST FIST OF FURY stars Dragon Lee. When tasked with portraying the legend in numerous films, Korean Dragon Lee turns it to 11. He’s bulked up physically, and every physical tic and verbal “woo-haa” is swinging for the fence.
Audiences first saw LAST FIST OF FURY in a 45 minute rough cut used to further pad out a cash-grab documentary called The Real Bruce Lee. Both versions make you believe there is a more cohesive cut still yet to be discovered.
Regardless, this edition of LAST FIST OF FURY is a hoot. The base story is a very familiar one, another of the seemingly infinite riffs on the the original FIST OF FURY tale: the Japanese are bullying the kung fu schools, Bruce comes in to settle the score. But in this one there are inexplicable white ninjas from time to time, some crazy weaponry - metallic frisbees and extending tape-measurer swords, projectile potted plants and the surprise emergence of a really fun half-Japanese/half-German uber-villain who arrives on the scene after the Japanese have been soundly dispatched. All of this is soaked in Dragon Lee’s constantly revving hyper Bruce-ness. Perhaps not for martial arts purists, but for the rest, LAST FIST OF FURY will deliver many smiles.