Why did QT disrespect Bruce Lee - Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019) Discussion

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I thought it was funny.

The real Bruce Lee was all talk and no actual fights.

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[–] bobbynynex (1505) 4 years ago

not true

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Show me one fight that isn't staged (for a film).

Oh yeah right, the guy that appeared in dozens of martial arts movies somehow never got filmed once fighting for real and no records of him participating in any tournament exists. All we have are unverified stories by people close to him. "Oh, he once beat a karate champion", "He beat the boxing champion at his school"...nothing concrete.

And of course, there's the good old excuse: "Bruce didn't fight because he was so strong that he would have killed anyone had he decided to fight". Sounds like something a 10 years old would say about his dad.

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[–] ATG6 (3000) 4 years ago

It would have been too dangerous to fight him for real.

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[–] kuku (3510) 4 years ago

Here you have
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky8iCpqTCzs

There's no records of him participating in any tournament because... there was no tournaments (beyond some local ones in Hong Kong or China). Martial art tournaments didn't start until years later.

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Here's footage of a tournament!

"There's no records of him participating in any tournament because... there was no tournaments (beyond some local ones in Hong Kong or China). Martial art tournaments didn't start until years later."

OK.

Makes total sense.

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[–] megameme (370) 3 years ago

lol i agree with you not to mention the vale tudo was around (which is mma) so if bruce really wanted to compete he could have. people need to face facts bruce lee was an actor and hobbyist martial artist like a lot of celebrities. i.e.e michale jai white, van damme, seagal, etc...

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[–] TimMC (9143) 4 years ago

Interesting video on this topic. He goes off topic a few times and it is 30 mins but he knows this subject matter well. So, enjoy or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QloBMm1fDVc

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

i. In interviews I've seen -- and anecdotally from some who encountered him -- Bruce Lee came off as arrogant.

People forget that Lee barely lived past his 20s. So while he was physically gifted, he may not have had the maturity to keep his ego in check.

ii. The scene establishes that Brad Pitt's character knew some martial arts himself. His fighting style wasn't the traditional western style boxing form.

Add to that the fact that Pitt's character probably outweighed Lee by 25 or 30 pounds, and it puts them on a more even footing. Plus, IIRC, Lee himself sets a limit on the terms of the fight so he sort of reins himself in.

I don't think it was disrespect towards Lee, QT was intending per se. I think he was trying to show us something about Cliff's "no bullshit" character and attitude, and just needed an historically well-known figure to have him square off against.

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[–] Information-Police (4051) 4 years ago

Does anybody know if this was actually true to Bruce Lee's personality at the time?

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[–] kuku (3510) 4 years ago

Nope.

That doesn't mean that Lee was always easy going. He was a Man With a Vision, often obsessive about his work and sometimes a bit arrogant. Those people are not always easy, less as work colleagues. Think Steve Jobs. But his vision was very real, he wanted to change action cinema, and he actually changed it.

The fight in the movie is based in a fight between Lee and Gene LeBell. Here you have the story told by LeBell himself
https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/kung-fu/article/3022773/could-gene-lebell-beat-bruce-lee-meet-real-life-cliff

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[–] Information-Police (4051) 4 years ago

That article seems to go both ways. Even you say that Lee could be arrogant. So im thinking the scene was an exaggeration but not too much of one. Except for the crinkled car. 60s cara that that wouldn't get dented line that from a man hitting it.

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[–] kuku (3510) 4 years ago

???

Are you saying that the fights scene in the movie is an "exaggeration" of this?

LeBell told Calhoun he was told by stunt coordinator Bennie Dobbins to put Lee “in a headlock or something” – so he grabbed Lee when he got to set. “He started making all those noises that he became famous for,” LeBell told Calhoun. “But he didn’t try to counter me, so I think he was more surprised than anything else.” LeBell said he put Lee on his back in a fireman’s carry and ran around the set, with Lee supposedly shouting “put me down or I’ll kill you!”. “I can’t put you down or you’ll kill me,” LeBell said was his response, before he finally gave in, adding “Hey, Bruce, don’t kill me. Just kidding champ.”

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[–] L1 (1316) 4 years ago

Hes got a goshdarned mansion!

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[–] contreras (458) 4 years ago

He didn't mean to disrespect him, he mistakenly believed that Bruce claimed he could beat up Mohammed Ali.

A shame, because the idea of a guy like Cliff beating Bruce Lee is pretty realistic. I don't mind making fun of the poses and noises either, Bruce was not a real fighter and didn't claim to be so.

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[–] Kowalski (57833) 4 years ago

HE DIDNT.

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[–] Cognoscente (2463) 3 years ago

It would have been better had we got two versions of the fight where each guy tries to convince listeners that he was the winner.

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