Game of Death Redux (死亡遊戲 Redux) is a 2019 special features distributed with the movie Game of Death (1978 movie)[1]
In 1978 the Golden Harvest has released Game of Death (死亡遊戲). The 1978 version uses portions of the original footage married to an entirely new plot. The revised version of the film uses only 11 minutes and 7 seconds of the footage from the original The Game of Death (1972).
But on 2019 producer Alan Canvan edited Game of Death Redux. The edit only uses footage shot during the original production of The Game of Death. The movie was released as a special feature in The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray box set of Bruce Lee films, on July 14, 2020.[2] It was presented closely the way Bruce intended. While at the same time, keeping in-tact some of the stronger as aspects of the universally panned, pieced together 1978 movie (known to fans as Game of Death ’78), such as John Barry’s acclaimed score, as well some of the film’s strong audio design.[3]
There is a second version of Game of Death Redux on 2022. With the first version Alan Canvan had concentrated entirely on the flow of the piece. But he was not satisfied to how the shots were cut and how the music drove the narrative artistically. Canvan wanted a complete visual and sound restoration. So he got help from a new team. After a year the new Redux has been fully restored with a brand-new color grade and audio mix. Additionally, Chris Kent, who looped Bruce’s war cries for Robert Clouse’s Game of Death movie, lent his voice once again to match the audio portions from 1978. Finally, reworking a dozen sequences resulted in a much more concise and dramatic presentation of the narrative.[3]
Canvan’s Game of Death Redux was the latest project that focused on Bruce Lee’s original 1972 storyline, a subject that was previously explored in John Little’s 2000 documentary, Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey and Artport’s Bruce Lee in G.O.D 死亡的遊戯 (released in Japan the same year), not to mention a series of fan edits that have been circulating the internet. All aforementioned edits use 1972-era The Game of Death footage that was initially discovered by Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan, who stumbled upon the footage in the now-defunct Golden Harvest studio vaults back in 1999.[3]
See the main article: The Game of Death (1972 movie) |
The Game of Death (死亡的遊戲) is an incomplete[4][5] Hong Kong martial arts film, of 39 minutes (approximatley two minutes is missing from the beginning), filmed in 1972, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, as Hai Tien, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as Mantis, James Tien, Chieh Yuan, Dan Inosanto, Ji Han-jae and Hwang In-shik (only a short footage outdoors). Unifinished because of Bruce Lee's death. Produced company Concord Production Inc.[6] and Golden Harvest. The 1972 original footage it was distributed in 2000 by two documentaries, Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey[7] and Bruce Lee in G.O.D 死亡的遊戯[8][9][10] and 2019 by short film Game of Death Redux.[11][12] The 1972 original script it was distributed by short film The Story.[13]
See the main article: The Story |
During a search is discovered among the choreography writings, hand-written storyline, 12 pages in length and containing all scene breakdowns and select dialogue passages the original storyline stands in sharp contrast to the one presented in the film Game of Death (1978 movie). After the discovery of Lee's script notes in 2000 it was directed the short film The Story.[14] The movie is the storyline for The Game of Death and the missing part of Bruce Lee's The Game of Death, not played in 1972. Directed in South Korea by John Little, distributed as a special feature in DVD of the documentary Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey.
First trailer in 1973 within the documentary Bruce Lee: the Man and the Legend where some exclusive fragments were shown.[15]
Bruce Lee historian John Little released Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey, a documentary revealing the original footage of The Game of Death. The documentary also includes a fairly in-depth biography of Lee and leads into the filming of The Game of Death.
In 2000, the Japanese film-documentary Bruce Lee in G.O.D 死亡的遊戯 was released on DVD. This film shows the existing footage that was shot for the film before he died, interviews, and historical re-enactments of what went on behind the scenes.