Birth of the Dragon

Birth of the Dragon

Plot was terrible, casting choice was even worse. How is it that the main character is a sidekick to some white dude? Yes, it's an almost all Asian cast but can't they have done it with just an Asian male protagonist? Don't tell Asians that it's OK because it's not. It's movies like these that spread propaganda and influence people's perceptions. Movies like these are the reason why Fox News can be racist and people think it's humorous. Movies like these that lead to a divided America that doesn't understand each other's struggles. This movie could have been a turning point but instead was just a thinly veiled insult to the Asian community. If I could give this a 0, I would.

What a load of #$@! #$@!. Typical Hollywood white washing. UNBELIEVABLE. Get your head out of your asses, you #$@!ng idiots. Birth of the Dragon, a Bruce Lee biopic, but starring a white guy. Because, of course, Bruce Lee can't star in a movie that's supposed to be about him? Kung Fu has to be from a white person's perspective. The lead has to be white. WHITE PEOPLE ruin everything. It's about time Hollywood add some diversity to their casting, production and screen writing. Better yet, learn to write form someone else's perspective? Put yourself in other's shoe without #$@!ing inserting yourself in everything. This is shameful. I hope this movie tanks and it gets terrible reviews. The sad thing is that even though this might be a good movie, learn to #$@!ng humble yourself and stop acting as though every movie needs a white lead. This is the 21st century America. Cast some Latinos, Blacks, and Asians as leads. Why do white guys have to be the center of EVERYTHING? You already have 99% of all other movies. THe 1% of movies that do call for Asian leads, you can't even do that? What the #$@! is wrong with Hollywood?

Teenaged white men, don't let yourselves be manipulated into watching this racist, exploitative movie. You are clearly the demographic for this film. Hollywood is trying to profit off of your ignorance and in doing so they have added to the ongoing chauvinism of the country where if anything is of any value it has come from white people. Arm yourselves with the understanding that your youthful, inexperienced minds can take in the reality that the world is shaped by a great diversity of people and that rather than it being a threat, it is an amazingly enriching thing. Racism in our society is a tangible, profitable thing because it will make you spend money on crappy movies where you can vicariously be a hero in this made up fantasy. It will make you feel better than that Asian or Latino or 'other' person so that you can scapegoat them for your problems instead of the rich businessman who is taking your money and reducing your livelihood. Show us you are smarter than those who think that you will open up your wallet to them and bend over and grab your ankles. You can do it.

The relevance of this low-budget excuse for a movie and its b-grade "actors" is inconsequential. More than likely, it will lose money. But what amazes me is that producers should have and would have known this. Anyone would see that offerings like this would anger more people than it would entertain. So why make a movie that will be a box office bust? Obviously it isn't about the money and these type of Hollywood propaganda disguised as film no longer surprise me. Hmm. So the protagonist is a fictional white nobody played by some new run-of-the-bill nobody and the movies sole selling-point, the great Bruce Lee, is a sidekick. And oh wait, they also give the white guy an Asian love interest to boot. So original...just another racist whitewashing prelude to Matt Damon's "Great Wall"...

I was at first put off by the trailers of the film because the street alley scene and certain dialogue lines seemed cheesy without context, however in the progression of the full film they play their part just fine. In the idea that the "birth of the dragon" was the transition from Bruce Lee's generic focus of Kung Fu and other martial arts into the consolidated uniform art of Jeet Kune Do, this movie highlighted the event that sparked that transition in an entertaining way. Combining some historical information with an enticing cinematic focus, intertwined with some fictional inclusions of characters and story for the sake of making it an entertainment film rather than direct informational documentary, I was satisfied overall with the viewing and find that it paid decent homage to the memory of Bruce Lee by showing a human element of imperfection during the beginning of his career. Allowing us to see into the information of his time before becoming a cultural icon was refreshing, and influenced me to read into Lee's history during those years and before. Again, the film does include uses of fictional elements in order to help propel the story in a standard acceptable for entertaining viewership, and as such does not convey an entirely truthful set of events, only a summary with cinematic filler. I recommend seeing this film to see what you think of it, and afterwards reading about the events around the conflict between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man yourself, as there are some interesting details to be found.

You know it will be a problem when the first listed name on the actor credits is the white dude instead of the one actor playing Bruce Lee. When the movie is about a white guy "finding himself". When they force a romance plot into it where the white guy gets to kiss an Asian gal. By all means create a narrative about Bruce Lee building up his gym before meeting his ultimate fight. By all means have a sub-plot where it's the white kid he trained who first met the kung fu master first. But that does not *necessitate* you to have the main plot line evolve around the white nobody.

this was an absolutely horrendous movie that i couldn't even finish. its a tired white saviour unoriginal trashy offensive movie based on a juvenile directors idea of making a film about bruce lee wait...its not even about bruce lee whys there a white guy there whats with the girl romance with him whats the relation to bruce lee ... this movie is absolutely worthless and a total waste of time 0/10 would burn it's a racist movie that takes attention away from bruce lee's achievements and tarnishes his good reputation; if this was the first movie about bruce lee that someone watched i'm sure they would not get an accurate depiction of who he really was.

We need to make an example out of this film. As an Asian American MALE, I am sick and tired of our portrayal in Western media, and specifically Hollywood. It seems like they'll keeping poking and prodding us until something gives. Sure, Asians don't make up a lot of Americas population, but what we lack in numbers we'll make up for with our collective wallets. This film and any other films whitewashed should be boycotted till the producers get the message. It is bad enough that Asians don't get any respect in the media, but to make a biopic about BRUCE LEE and make him the side kick to some random White guy? That is just a cash grab, plain and simple. Stop using Bruce Lee's name to make money. No wonder his family didn't even endorse this pile of trash. And also, stop with the white guy saves the day with the Asian girl by his side trope. It really shows White people's insecurity when they always have to shove "White is right" down everyone's throats, especially Asian Women. Bruce Lee was married to a White woman. Get a load of that White guys.

I didn't even have a IMDb account before writing this review, but I NEEDED to give this movie a bad review and judging by some of the reviews here other people feel the same way. Bruce Lee would not have approved of Birth of the Dragon. However, he would have approved of Dragon: The Bruce Lee story (1993). Bruce Lee would have wanted himself to be portrayed as more than a martial artist. Yes Martial Arts is cool, but he would not have wanted to be portrayed as an asexual martial artist. There should have been a focus on his relationship with Linda C. Emery instead of delegating time on Steve McKee.A movie about Bruce should only focus on Bruce. Hollywood racism sucks and it sucks hard. I will be telling my Chinese friends here in United States and China to boycott Hollywood films that continue to marginalize Asian actors by forcing them into stereotypical roles. Until Hollywood starts permitting good looking and sexual Asian males to appear on screen they should not even be getting a dime from Asian audiences.