Michael_Elliott Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave (1976) 1/2 (out of 4) The movie opens on the tombstone of Bruce Lee, which is struck by lightening causing the dead start to bust up through the dirt. From here "Bruce Lee" (Bruce K.L. Lea) seeks revenge on his former trainer who has been killed.Brucexploitation is a sub-genre that really took off after the death of Bruce Lee. It was clear the Martial Arts genre needed something to keep those cash registers ringing so countless producers made in-name-only Bruce Lee movies. I'm slowly making my way through them and I really hope I don't come across one as bad as this one.If you're a fan of bad movies then you'll get a couple laughs out of this sucker, which contains the typical bad dubbing and laughable sound effects. There's no question that the greatest thing about this picture is the American title, the opening credit sequence and how the title and this sequence are pretty much the only thing that deals with "Bruce Lee fighting back from the grave." I'm sure a zombie Bruce Lee movie with this title could have been awesome but sadly that's not what we got.If you've got a Martial Arts movie with awful action scenes then you're pretty much dead in the water as far as entertainment goes. There are a couple funny action scenes including one dealing with a taxi cab driver but there's certainly not enough to keep you entertained throughout. The performances are all rather laughable and there's certainly nothing fresh or entertaining about the story.BRUCE LEE FIGHTS BACK FROM THE GRAVE is a great title but it's certainly an awful film.

InjunNose *Possible Partial Spoilers*Originally entitled "The Stranger" and directed by Umberto Lenzi (under a Korean pseudonym), who helmed the infamous grossout cannibal flick "Make Them Die Slowly", "Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave" is the most hilariously awful installment in the Bruceploitation subgenre of 1974-80. It doesn't even star one of the three well-known Bruce Lee impersonators (Bruce Li, Bruce Le, and Dragon Lee). "Bruce K.L. Lea" is actually Jun Chong, a Korean taekwon do instructor based in Los Angeles. He's terrible as far as imitating Lee's mannerisms goes, but he's a fine kicker. You have to enjoy this for what it is. PLEASE don't expect a Bruce Lee movie! He only made four films--"Fists of Fury", "The Chinese Connection", "Return of the Dragon", and "Enter the Dragon" ("Game of Death" doesn't qualify)--and he wasn't identified by a name other than Bruce Lee in any of them. Not Li, not Le, not Lea, not Lai. The story has nothing to do with Bruce Lee fighting back from the grave, either. Jun Chong does not play Lee nor a character based on Lee, but rather a Korean martial artist who comes to Los Angeles to find out how his best friend died...only to discover that he's being stalked by a weird assortment of bad guys (a Japanese swordsman played by future "Revenge of the Ninja" star Sho Kosugi, a tall, bald black man with a cape and an earring, and a cowboy among them). As I mentioned, Chong does a kind of dimestore Bruce Lee impression during the fight scenes (thumbing his nose, going "waaaaahhhh!"), and the dubbing is truly hilarious--even for a martial arts movie. Particularly amusing is the evil cowboy's voice; he sounds about as masculine as the guy who wore the stetson hat in the Village People. Now that you know what to expect...enjoy! And look around for the original poster art for this film, too. The company that released the DVD is really doing its customers a disservice by not including this wild, cartoony art on the box!

kilgore-trout0 Five minutes into this movie and you will know exactly how great it is! Starring the incredibly talented Bruce K. L. Lee (who can act every bit as good as he fights!) and the absolutely gorgeous Deborah Chaplin (good to know that old Charlie's genes are still out there doing good work) and a host of kung-fu-practicing baddies... this movie is not to be missed! I always found the original Bruce Lee's movies to be incredibly hokey and slow-paced. This movie never seems to let up for a second. B.K.L. Lee can't even get himself a cab without having it turn into a demonstration of his kicking prowess! The tentative romance between Lea and his buxom female lead is very well handled... her breathy sigh as he leaves her to go off and avenge his dead friend... magnificent! Even though the movie is dubbed, the voices are so well-matched to the lip movements that you probably won't even tell it's not the actors' real voices. To cap it all off is the devastating, heart-breaking finale. No, you can't practice kung fu without casualties... even the good must die in service of the art.

paolo_davies ***SPOILERS***'Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave' or 'BLFBFG' to it's fans, is a superb and often overlooked example of Kung Fu Cinema at it's finest. I would dare to say that Bruce Lea at points actually surpasses Bruce Lee himself when it comes to sheer charisma and fighting ability. The film is chock full of exciting moments - Bruce v. The rapist springs immediately to mind. (Now I know where the Wachowskis stole most of their fight choreography - shame on you, boys). The film also sports a superb screenplay, which is highlighted during the extremely tense interrogation sequence during which Bruce is grilled by a pair of extremely tough LAPD cops. You really feel his pain during this section of the REALLY GOOD STORY. Suffice to say, any film where the protagonist carries the ashes of his dead sensei around his neck for the entirety of the film gets my vote. I urge you to seek out this classic immediately! ********************/10 (it's that good)