Game of Death II
Picture: B- Sound: B-
Extras: C Film: C+
Just like Tupac having
more records released since his death, Bruce Lee was still starring in films
long after his 1973 untimely murder/accidental death. Using stock footage of Lee and body doubles, Game of Death II follows Billy Lo (Lee)
whose best friend Chin Ku dies of a
sudden illness, but there is suspicion of foul play involved (kind of like the
mysterious death of Bruce Lee?). A gang
tries to steal the coffin and this leads to Lo’s younger brother Bobby Lo
becoming involved in order to find out the truth of the matter.
This takes our story to
The Castle of Death (ironically the last place that Chin Ku was seen alive),
where Bobby Lo finds a martial arts expert, but when his master dies (Bruce Lee
does a good death scene) there are powers out there he never imagined that he
must deal with!
Game of Death II is not even a film that the biggest Bruce Lee fan would really
embrace. Since he is really not even in
the film, this almost seems like sacrilegious on all fours. Even the story is tired and by this point in
time (1981) most people are worn out with the Kung Fu genre and other bad
martial arts gimmicks. However, this
newly mastered DVD from Fox must put some spark into an otherwise dead title.
Along with some other Fox
titles from the Martial Arts scene, Game
of Death II is remastered and includes a newly mixed 5.1 Dolby Digital and
DTS sound mix, plus an anamorphic 2.35 X 1 scope transfer. This makes for a much more interesting
viewing just to see how the film works in a surround setting and what liberties
were taken to give the film a whole new dimension. The picture looks a tad muddy and the scenes
with stock footage of Bruce Lee do not match up at all! Otherwise, the transfer is pleasing and the
real kicker (no pun intended) is the overall design of the DTS sound mix. While it is not nearly as engaged as it could
be, this is some serious reworking and accomplishment in terms of taking a mono
origin and boosting an entirely different feel for the film, which in turn
causes for a more dynamic viewing. Most
of the action scenes are where the soundstage becomes more active and the
surrounds become heavily engaged when on-screen effects are thrown out of
frame.
This is sure to turn some
heads when they see that this film has been remastered and might put some
inclination in Bruce Lee fans minds to check it out again and give it a
chance. This is by far the best its ever
looked or sounded, so that opportunity alone makes for a visit to this title
all the more demanding.
- Nate Goss
