| The Legend of Bruce Lee 李小龍傳奇 | |
|---|---|
martial arts television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
The 50-episode series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and began airing on October 12, 2008.
It stars Hong Kong actor Danny Chanas Bruce Lee and American actress Michelle Lang as Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell.
The production period spanned nine months, with filming taking place in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Italy, and Thailand, and with a budget of 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million).
Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, is credited as executive producer of the series.
Other martial artists such as Mark Dacascos, Ray Park, Gary Daniels, Ernest Miller, and Michael Jai White are also featured in the series, playing the roles of martial artists prominent throughout Bruce Lee's life and career.
The Legend of Bruce Lee has seen increasing viewership since its debut in 2008.
The first 14 episodes broke China's former record held by Chuang Guan Dong. According to the CSM survey held on 26 October 2008, the first 30 episodes of the series received viewership ratings above 10.35%.
The finale episode attained a viewership rating of 14.87%, breaking CCTV's all-time high record set in 2003.
Part One:
High School Years in Hong Kong.
Bruce Lee (Li Xiao Long) is a high school student in a school with mostly British students, with the Chinese students like him belonging in the minority.
Bruce notices to his dismay that there was a subtle discrimination against his race in the school, which urges him to excel in order to prove that Chinese people are also competent and talented.
Along with his childhood friend Qin Xiao Man, Bruce participates in a cha-cha competition and wins, much to the annoyance of his British schoolmate Blair Lewis.
This competition, in addition to Blair's evident dislike of the Chinese, creates tension between the two, leading to a number of physical fights.
Their bitter rivalry worsened when Bruce joined the school boxing team, whose ace boxer was Blair. The two participate in the school boxing competition, and Blair loses to Bruce. Blair then realizes that unlike him, Bruce had a good chance of winning the boxing championship.
He decides to help Bruce by teaching him about the three-time champion David Cafeld. This marks the end of the enmity between the two and the start of a friendship that they maintain for many years after.
Bruce's previous run-ins with Blair had made him want to learn martial arts. He talks to Uncle Shao about this, and Uncle Shao is reluctant at first but relents to teaching Bruce some fighting techniques.
Uncle Shao then also convinces Bruce's parents to have Bruce be taught martial arts by a kung fu master.
Bruce meets Yellow Brat, a servant and student of Wang Yunsheng's Kung Fu Center, who he fights and loses to.
Bruce's father helps him get admitted to Master Ye's Wing Chun Academy and Bruce begins his training with Master Ye. In the boxing championship, Bruce applies the Wing Chun techniques he has learned from Master Ye and beats David Cafeld.
Now adept at fighting, Bruce uses his skills to protect the businessmen in his neighborhood from the extortions of Wang Li Chao's gang.
This angers Wang Li Chao, and he orders Ah Liang to kill Bruce. Ah Liang crashes into Bruce's bike with a motorcycle.
Bruce survives the crash but goes into a coma.
This incident prompts Bruce's parents to send him to America, realizing that staying in Hong Kong will inevitably lead to his death.
Fearing that the attempt on Bruce's life will be traced back to his gang, Wang Li Chao orders Yellow Brat to kill Ah Liang. Meanwhile, Bruce goes to America with Uncle Shao.
Part Two:
Late Adolescence in America.
Bruce spends the first few weeks living at Uncle Shao's house in Seattle.
Uncle Shao then tells Bruce that he must leave Uncle Shao and have a better life.
Bruce accuses Uncle Shao of getting rid of him, but he does as Uncle Shao says and leaves.
He meets Jesse, an African American cab driver who cheats Bruce out of some money, but later on becomes a friend and loyal follower after Bruce saves him from some thugs. Bruce arrives at the restaurant of Ms.
Ruby, a fellow Chinese and a friend of Uncle Shao's.
Ms. Ruby lets Bruce live in the basement of her restaurant, and employs him as a helper and dish washer. He later quits his job in order to go to school.
He enrolls at Edison Technical School, and, with the help of Jesse, was able to rent a small room and get a job of delivering papers.
At the school, he meets Arroyo, and the two briefly engage in a romantic relationship.
At his school's program, Bruce challenges the karate team with his Chinese Kung Fu.
He angers the karate team, and they challenge him to a formal battle. Bruce agrees to fight, but only if Master Kimura, the karate expert of Seattle, will be the one to fight him and if reporters will cover the event.
Kimura assents to this. He and Bruce fight, and Bruce defeats him in an astonishing eleven seconds.
This makes Kimura question his beliefs about martial arts and become fascinated with Bruce's Kung Fu that he asks to be taught more about it.
Bruce declines, but Kimura's persistence soon wears him down and Bruce grudgingly accepts Kimura as his student. This action of Kimura angers the Karate community.
He refuses to quit learning from Bruce, and he is soon considered an outcast.
Kimura becomes one of Bruce's closest friends, and they also maintain a student-teacher relationship for many years.
Bruce soon shares with Kimura the secret of his Kung Fu, which is actually a mixture of moves from Wing Chun, Boxing, and even from cha-cha.
This peculiar style of Bruce stems from his belief that martial arts should be practical and usable in actual combat.
He therefore often takes moves from a particular style and adapts them into his own.
Part Three:
College Years and Opening a Kung Fu School.
Bruce passes the entrance exam at the University of Washington. Unsure of what he should major in, he asks for the advice of Professor Kane.
After a lengthy discussion, Bruce decides on taking up philosophy.
Bruce later applies many of what he learns at school to his martial arts.
He takes a particular interest in the philosophy of Yin Yang.
He also starts to teach Kung Fu for free to his schoolmates.
Kimura talks to him about opening a Chinese Kung Fu school.
Bruce confesses that while it is his dream to open one, he cannot afford it.
Kimura then volunteers to sell his dojo and use the money to help Bruce, but Bruce refuses, saying that he does not want to be indebted to Kimura that way. Kimura sells the dojo anyway.
Bruce is enraged at first, but soon accepts Kimura's help, vowing to repay him someday.
Arroyo urges Bruce to come to the Philippines with her, where they can share a life of comfort together.
Bruce tells her that he does not want to leave America because of his dream of becoming a Kung Fu master and philosopher.
Arroyo expresses her dislike for Kung Fu. Bruce breaks up with her, knowing that she will never understand his passion.
He then meets Linda Emery. The two start dating, and Bruce tells Linda about his dreams.
She begins to share his enthusiasm with Kung Fu and even starts to take some Kung Fu lessons from Bruce.
Kimura and Bruce rent a basement for the Kung Fu school, but Linda advises them to delay the opening in order to participate in the Asian Cultural Festival, an event which she believed will serve as a good way to promote the opening of the school.
Bruce agrees to this. Their promotion was going well until Bruce was challenged and defeated by Yamamoto, a 6-dan karate master who held a grudge on Bruce for speaking low of karate. Bruce demands a rematch and loses again, but he refuses to stop challenging Yamamoto.
Blair makes a reappearance in Bruce's life.
He also enrolls at Bruce's school and becomes a great help to Bruce's improvement by urging his friend Professor Dan Inosanto, a Fil-Am expert on martial arts techniques, to meet with Bruce.
Inosanto becomes one of Bruce's closest friends as well as his occasional advisor on martial arts. Wally Jay, a jujitsu master, piques Bruce's interest.
He challenges Wally Jay in order to learn more about jujitsu techniques. At the end of the match, it was apparent that Bruce will win, but he chooses to let the duel in a draw so that Wally Jay may keep his prestige. This earns him respect from Wally Jay and the two exchange knowledge on martial arts.
Believing that only in fighting various martial arts masters can he improve his style, Bruce posts a sign at the gate of his school containing a brazen statement of challenge, "No matter the time, place or person, if I am challenged, I'll be there. –Bruce Lee." His display of arrogance angers the martial arts community and they send Yamamoto to defeat Bruce once and for all.
However, now equipped with new techniques from jujitsu and wise advice from Inosanto, Bruce defeats Yamamoto.
Yamamoto finally agrees to teach Bruce some of his own karate in exchange for lessons on Bruce's Kung Fu.
Bruce teaches everything he knew to Yamamoto, even if he knew that the former wasn't doing the same. This trade was actually a ruse on Yamamoto's part, which allowed another martial artist named Ed Parker to learn all of Bruce's moves.
Ed Parker then fights Bruce and uses Bruce's Thrusting Punch to defeat him. Bruce ends up in a hospital due to his injuries. Ed Parker feels guilty for this afterward, realizing that what he did was dishonorable.
He visits Bruce in the hospital and formally apologizes. Ed also gives his 20 years' worth of notes on karate to Bruce, which Bruce gladly uses to expand on his martial arts theories.
Linda's mother meets Bruce, and it is clear that she dislikes him. She asks Linda to break up with Bruce, but Linda refuses and leaves their home. Her mother suffers a heart attack. Bruce urges Linda to visit her mother despite their differences.
He goes with Linda to the hospital and wins Linda's mother's approval.
Bruce takes part in the California Karate Competition and defeats the three-time champion, Hoffman. After the match, Hoffman approaches Bruce and they teach each other. Hoffman also talks to Bruce about moving his Kung Fu school to Oakland, where Hoffman thinks it will gain more students and attention.
Bruce agrees and decides to go to Oakland immediately, to the dismay of his friends. He drops out of college and bids goodbye to Professor Kane.
Linda becomes furious with him for not discussing this with her. Bruce asks her to marry him but Linda refuses. Their quarrel ends the next day when Linda realizes how much she loves Bruce and agrees to marry him. Bruce sets up their marriage at once.
They have an outdoor wedding, attended by their closest friends and Linda's mother. Linda also decides to leave school.
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