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» » Si wang mo ta (1978)

Short summary

World War 2 is approaching, and China is suspecting an invasion from Germany and Japan. Mr. Chang Bruce Le is hired by a Chinese espionage group to recover a secret document - crucial in winning victory - hidden on the top floor of a 6-storey building, and to do so, must fight his way up the tower and get to the last floor.

One of 3 Bruceploitation films based on Bruce Lee's Game of Death.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Uylo
    Yeah, it's a little cheesy, it's a typical Bruce Lee Clone Movie and the story isn't really mentionable (alas it's there and even kind of logical.. in the most part). The Quality is OK for this time even if their are some bad cuts..

    But if it comes to fighting this one is one of my favorite movies.. I like this "defeat the Master of one Stage after another" thing, there are many different fighting styles and one arrogant master after the other plus there's good old Bolo Yeung in his prime role as Executioner of the bad guy - what do you want more ?

    So if you get a Copy and like just plain fighting - enjoy it.
  • comment
    • Author: Shalizel
    Must admit that I have been a sucker for martial arts films since a very early age; especially films that would feature Bolo Yeung or a Bruce Lee-clone. If you're familiar with the matter, then you'll know of course that there was a virtual army of Bruce Lee-look-alikes, among them Bruce Le, Bruce Lei, Bruce Lieh, Dragon Lee (there was even a Charles Bronson / Bruce Lee cross, namely, you've guessed it, Bronson Lee) – in other words: enough Bruce Lees to fill a telephone book; making them the Hong Kong version of Elvis-impersonators.

    Most were somewhere between "laughable" and "embarrassing", but Bruce Le was among the most "authentic" of all. He mimics Lee's movements, choreography and characteristic grimacing (the fans may forgive me for my choice of words) to a tit, compensating for an obvious lack of acting talent.

    The story itself is based on Lees final, partially finished "Game of Death" and – considering that the original ended up a pure cut&paste job and hence rather dodgy – I dare say, quality-wise it even beats "Game of Death". The martial art is hardcore, rough and brutal as they come.

    Bolo, as villainous a henchman as ever, seems to be ever more muscular than ever and to my knowledge it's the only time he ever got to play Japanese (in other words: he's wearing a kimono). Robert Kerver as a Bob Wall carbon copy is a little wasted and Michael B. Christy makes a suitable slimy diplomat-cum-secret-agent, making the audience root for Le(e) to beat the becheesus out and then dispose off unceremoniously.

    And as a bonus: the movie contains one of the three questions that will probably never be answered: was the black fighter in the last half the late, great Steve James or not? I've seen the movie many times and I give it a 50/50 chance – IMDb lists him as "Black Martial Artist" but there is also the distinct chance that somebody mistook him with Samuel Walls.

    (The other two questions, by the way, concern Mona Lisa's smile and that thing with the chicken and the egg).

    Compared to 90 percent of the other Lee-Clone-films that I have seen (trust me: there are hundreds), I'd give it a 7/10.
  • comment
    • Author: Muniath
    As its clumsily concatenated title suggests, this film is 100% Brucesploitation, with a role for Enter the Dragon baddie Bolo Yueng and a finale that takes place on the many levels of a tower, as in Game of Death. Star Bruce Le (just the one 'e') even dons a Game of Death yellow and black tracksuit while doing his best impression of Bruce Lee (two 'e's).

    But even though this is derivative stuff designed to cash in on Lee's fame, it's not without merit: Le's martial arts are impressive, his many Lee mannerisms (high pitched squeals, shuffling footwork, brushing his nose etc.) are fun to watch, and there's just enough silliness to ensure that things don't become too monotonous.

    The film quickly gets the plot out of the way in order to concentrate on the plentiful fighting: Chang (Le) accepts a mission to find a secret document before it falls into the hands of the enemy. This leads him to battle a variety of foes, with the highlight being his ascent of a pagoda, each floor guarded by a different fighter.

    Particularly amusing is Chang's battle with a white-haired old man in a room full of snakes, who not only does snake style kung fu, but also does kung fu with snakes ie., he uses the reptiles as weapons, throwing them at Chang and using them like nunchakus. At one point, he bites the head off one of his snakes, spits it out, and sprays blood from the stump at his foe.

    Also rather entertaining are a tussle with a guy who can only fight in red light, the level four fight with Hagrid, several very short altercations with assorted black dudes and Westerners (non-Chinese are clearly inferior warriors), and the inevitable showdown with burly Bolo. In the end, Chang saves the day for China, with a little help from a couple of sidekicks and plucky beauty Lisa.

    While Le certainly isn't on a par with Lee, the almost non-stop fighting from start to finish means that the film should delight martial arts fans, most of whom were probably expecting something far less enjoyable.
  • comment
    • Author: Mallador
    I remember this Very Intense Kung Fu Flick going straight to TV back in the 1980's !! KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles was showing a weeks worth of Kung Fu Films , hosted by Tom Hatten of Sunday Morning Popeye Cartoon Show Fame !!! During the night of Enter The Game of Death there were interview segments during some of the commercial breaks and Tom interviewed Burmese Bruceploitation star Bruce Le !!! He demonstrated some Kung Fu stances and talked about filmaking !!! It turned out Enter the Game of Death was my favorite film of the 5 films shown on KTLA during that week !!! it was so intense for a Kung Fu Film shown on TV !! It was like the end fights of a dozen different Kung Fu Films linked together !!! You get the tornament film, tower fighting up film, Japanese vs. Chinese film, White vs. Chinese film, Black Giant vs. Chinese Film , One vs. Many Revenge film , etc. So you just take the ending climax fighting portion and use that and you have Enter The Game of Death !!! It looks a lot like Dan Akroyd was one of the white fighters but maybe his double ?? Steve James was one of the black fighters !!! Bolo Yeung who went by the name Yang Sze is also in this action flick !!!
  • comment
    • Author: Siralune
    In my opinion best Bruce Lee imitator Bruce Le is in control nearly every fight scene. This is so good movie, which starts with fight. It's Bruce Le versus few thugs and later Bolo comes in. Bolo has sword and is really tough opponent to Bruce Le. That scene ends, when Bruce Le runs away of attackers. Right after that scene were in fighting ring and Bolo whoops 4 persons asses. 5th person is Bruce Le and he beats Bolo. After those 2 scenes we are slowly getting to plot, which is Chinese and Japanese people are after secret document. Bruce Le is Chinese and refuses to defend his country, but then Japanese rape Bruce's cousin and Bruce quickly changes his mind. Starts that infamous tower fight, which took place in real Bruce Lee's Game of Death. I must say this Bruce Le version was much interesting, because Le isn't Lee, which means Le lacks Lee's skills. Bruce Le had clearly hard times fighting all 4 opponents in tower. 1st level was sword expert. 2nd level was snake expert. 3rd level was weapons expert. 4th level was 2 very skilled martial artists. You would think movie ends, when Le finishes tower, but you are wrong, Le goes outside and there's even more thugs. They copied Lee versus Kareem and had Le versus unknown guy to me, but he was Kareem's size. Then was Le versus black guy and finally Le versus mastermind. To put this movie in few words, they fight a lot.
  • comment
    • Author: Hulore
    Can a film really be this cheesy? Can a low budget, made-on-the-cheap kung fu rip-off from the late '70s really be as amusing and entertaining as this? Well, it looks like the answer is yes, and if you're a fan of insane martial arts madness then look no further than ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH. It's a cheese-fest through and through, packed with typical genre clichés: the worst dubbing you'll ever hear, atrocious editing, and some of the poorest acting around. It's also a great adventure of a film, with non-stop fighting throughout, and action packed entertainment from beginning to end. Ignore the fact that the plot doesn't make sense, just sit back and enter the world of the kung fu cinematic feast. This is a hilarious film. There are so many scenes to enjoy that I have trouble remembering them all, although I only watched this yesterday; certainly some of the highlights are Bruce's training scenes, where we see him running through the woods to music from ROCKY; invariably he then gets assailed by five or six opponents whom he beats off effortlessly.

    You know what to expect from the OTT titles, which use music from both ENTER THE DRAGON (check) and James Bond (check). From then on we get story for about thirty-five minutes which makes little sense (something about retrieving a top-secret document from the invading Japanese) then the real fun, the GAME OF DEATH-inspired action, starts. Bruce Le, complete with Bruce Lee's yellow tracksuit (recently modelled yet again by Uma Thurman) enters a tower and has to fight his way up floor by floor. Here we get guys throwing deadly metal balls, a snake master, a mystic who uses his deadly fingers to stun his enemies, a guy who can only fight in glowing red light, then some kind of viking guy at the very top. This whole sequence is excellent, but the highlight is definitely the snake master, who slides around on the floor and whose face turns purple when he dies. I absolutely love the moment when he bites the head off a snake and sprays the blood out like a hosepipe, before whipping Bruce with the now empty skin! It can never happen, yet the effect is so funny you'll laugh out loud.

    As for Bruce Le, well he's doing what he does best, pretending to be Bruce Lee. So all the mannerisms are there and exaggerated: wiping his nose (check), tasting blood from a wound and spitting it out (check), stamping on somebody, breaking their bones and pulling an angry face (check), ripping off his torn clothing (check). The best thing is, his martial arts are decent here, and the action is generally exciting and watchable with a wide array of opponents. The oriental mystics are the best, but there are also good turns from a huge black guy (definitely a basketball player), American Steve James (extremely pumped up here) and, best of all, the ever-hulking Bolo Yeung. Le beats Yeung's ass three times, once in the woods, once in a ring and finally in a ruined temple, where he kicks his behind big time. You gotta love the dramatic music playing right at the end there. Basically, ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH is a non-stop roller-coaster ride of kung fu, full of vitality and always fun. Kung fu addicts should check it out immediately!
  • Credited cast:
    Bruce Le Bruce Le - Chang
    Bolo Yeung Bolo Yeung - (as Yang See)
    Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
    Chi Ling Chiu Chi Ling Chiu
    Michael B. Christy Michael B. Christy - Mr. Keegan
    Steve James Steve James - Black Martial Artist
    Robert Kerver Robert Kerver
    Cheung Lak Cheung Lak
    James Nam James Nam - White haired master at red level (as Lam Kum Fun)
    John Nowell John Nowell
    Le Hai San Le Hai San
    Sebastian J. Sciotti Jr. Sebastian J. Sciotti Jr. - British Agent
    Samuel Walls Samuel Walls
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