Bruceploitation is a cultural phenomenon mostly seen in the 1970s. After the untimely death of Bruce Lee, movie makers in Hong Kong and Taiwan hired a great number of Bruce Lee-like action actors to star in many cheap knock-off martial arts movies.

Actors

Bruce Lee's name in Mandarin Chinese is Lǐ Xiǎolóng (李小龍). After his death, many actors by the names such as Bruce Li (黎(Lí)小龍 from his real name Ho Chung Tao (何宗道)), Bronson Lee, Bruce Chen, Bruce Lai, Bruce Le (呂(Lǔ)小龍 from his real name Wong Kin Lung), (黃建龍)), Bruce Lei, Bruce Lie, Bruce Liang, Bruce Thai, Bruce K.A. Lea, Brute Lee, Bruce Leung, Myron Bruce Lee, Lee Bruce and Dragon Lee were hired by studios to play Lee-styled roles. Jackie Chan, who started his film career as an extra in some of Bruce Lee's movies, was also given roles where he was promoted as the next Bruce Lee. It was only when he made some comedically themed movies for another studio that he was able to gain box-office success.

Movies

Some of the movies were simply rehashes of Bruce Lee's classics, such as Re-enter the Dragon, Enter Two Dragons, Return of Bruce, Return of the Fists of Fury or Enter the Game of Death. Others were about telling the very life of Bruce Lee and his mysteries, such as Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger (one of the best according to the viewers, where Bruce Li is asked by Bruce Lee to replace him after his death), My Name Called Bruce and Bruce's Fist of Vengeance. Some others simply told crazy stories such as Clones of Bruce Lee (where a scientist makes clones of Bruce Lee played by some of the actors above) or The Dragon Lives Again (where Bruce Lee fights James Bond and Dracula in heavens).

One of Lee's fight choreographers, actor/director Sammo Hung, famously satirized the phenomenon of Bruceploitation in his 1978 film, Enter the Fat Dragon.

See also

• Elvis impersonator

External links

• The Bruceploitation Trilogy by Dean Meadows
• Beware of imitators!