A Bruce Lee biopic sounds like a dicey proposition. How could watching someone pretend to be the greatest fighter of all time (by all means, @ me) accomplish anything other than making the audience wish for the genuine article? But judging from the newly released trailer, Birth of the Dragon has a fair amount going for it. For one, it has the good sense to focus on a single period of Lee’s life, narrowing the film to his early years in San Francisco, when he was building his legendary reputation.

The film is expected to blend the traditional elements of the biopic with the balletic thrills of wuxia cinema, examining Lee’s life and times while simultaneously acting as a white-knuckle action picture in its own right. Philip Ng has agreed to portray Lee himself, and Yu Xia, Billy Magnussen, Jinging Qu, and Jin Xing will appear in the supporting cast. Continue reading…

During his short life, Bruce Lee made an indelible impact on the world through his unique philosophy, unparalleled martial arts skills, and ass-kicking movies. In fact, Lee is such an icon that Hollywood is continuing to tell his story today, more than 40 years after his death. Lee’s life was first recounted in the 1993 biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee story.