BRUCESPLOITATION!
The Dreamland presents a new documentary on the phenomenon known as Brucesploitation plus a couple of bonkers standouts from the genre!
ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE 2023
When Bruce Lee died in 1974 at the peak of his superstardom, he had completed only four feature films. But within hours of his funeral, Hong Kong movie studios began to produce hundreds of unauthorized biopics, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and rip-offs starring a competing series of Lee lookalikes. Over the next decade, fueled by both deception and demand, ‘Bruceploitation’ would become a staple of global cinema.
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Director David Gregory—who’d previously explored film’s transgressive edges in his award-winning documentaries LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOUNRY OF RICHARD STANLEY'S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and FLESH & BLOOD: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON—now examines this uniquely ‘70s phenomenon through interviews with Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Liang and Dragon Lee and a host of other martial arts legends that for the first time reveal the history, controversy, and legacy behind one of the most bizarre and successful genres in movie history.
Sunday, May 5
Director: David Gregory
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Starring: Bruce Le, Dragon Lee, Bruce Liang
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Runtime: 95 min., USA.
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Language: Cantonese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German w/ English subtitles
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THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN 1977
The multiverse has never been filled with this much madness. Easily one of the most unhinged and surreal martial arts spectacles to ever escape from Hong Kong, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN finds the spirit of Bruce Lee (Bruce Leung Siu-lung) battling through the Underworld against Dracula, James Bond, The Godfather, "The Exorcist," Emmanuelle, some mummies, and more. But he's not alone! Along the way, Bruce befriends the One-Armed Swordsman, Caine from the TV show KUNG FU, and last but not least, Popeye the Sailor. Previously only available via crusty bootlegs, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN has been preserved by Severin Films from the only known film elements in this universe—or any other.
Sunday, May 12
Director: Law Kei
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Starring: Bruce Leung, Shin Il-ryong, Tang Ching​
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Runtime: 96 min., Hong Kong.
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Language: English (dub)
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Director: Joseph Kong-Hung, Nam Gi-nam
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Starring: Dragon Lee, Bruce Le, Bruce Thai
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Runtime: 90 min., Hong Kong
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Language: English (dub)
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THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE 1980
It’s the fury of Lee times three! Experience the convergence of Bruceploitation’s most legendary clones – Bruce Le, Bruce Lai, Dragon Lee and even Bruce Thai – in “what may be the strangest Bruceploitation movie of all” (B&S About Movies): Minutes after his death in a Hong Kong hospital, scientists from The Special Branch of Investigation remove a syringe of blood from Bruce Lee’s corpse to create three genetic clones of the martial arts superstar for top-secret crime-fighting missions. After intensive combat training, Bruce 1 (Dragon Lee) is sent to infiltrate a kung fu movie studio and eliminate a gold-smuggling producer who conspires to shoot a Bruce snuff film. Meanwhile, Bruce 2 (Bruce Le) and Bruce 3 (Bruce Lai) are sent to Bangkok where they team with local SBI agent Chuck Lee (Bruce Thai) to destroy a drug-manufacturing mad scientist who has created a grass-eating army of indestructible bronze fighters to conquer the world. But who will survive when a power-mad operative turns the clones on each other in the ultimate game of death?