In just a three year span, Bruce Lee starred in a handful of films that catapulted the martial arts genre into a global phenomenon. His sudden death, 40 years ago, left an enormous vacuum, with audiences around the world desperately craving more of the first Chinese superstar it had ever known. Answering the demand came a legion of Bruce Lee knockoff movies, starring Asian kung-fu actors who changed their names to sound like Bruce Lee: Bruce Lai, Bruce Le, Bruce Lei, the list goes on. A new genre, Bruceploitation was born.
By Kevin B Lee
