Stray Dog

Stray Dog (Nora inu). Akira Kurosawa, 1949.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #233, released 2004. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 122 minutes.

Summary: From 1:01:20 through 1:01:45, a narrated journal entry tells of killing a forlorn stray cat. Although considered a mercy killing by the diarist and not graphically described, it is distressing and unnecessary.

A post-production sound effect of a cat meowing plays during the narration. Kurosawa used this same sound recording during a long and otherwise quiet outdoor scene in Sanshiro Sugata or Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two. In that film, there is no mention of a cat or reason to include the sound effect. The meowing in Stray Dog also seems odd as no other such sound effects stand out in the film.

The opening titles are superimposed over a close-up of a dog panting in summer’s extreme heat. It seems like foreshadowing the death or abuse of the dog, but we see nothing more.

An arcade shooting gallery includes two small pinball machines of unknown type or name (0:26:00-0:27:00). They are seen only from the side and have no back boxes or distinguishing graphics.

Game of Death & Game of Death Redux

Game of Death. Robert Clouse and Bruce Lee, 1972-1978.

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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray box set #1036 Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits, released 2020. Original English dub. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.

Summary: An exotic fish in an aquarium quickly snaps up two small fish put in as feeders, 9:25-9:32.

The distraction of filming Enter the Dragon followed by Lee’s shocking death left the 1972 Game of Death abandoned until 1978, when a new director and leading man were hired to replace Lee. Scant footage of Bruce Lee constitutes only about ten minutes of the completed film. The replacement actor is a perfectly acceptable kickboxer, but the resuscitated film falls flat, lacking Lee’s charm, charisma, and much of the original storyline.

The final scene of the 1978 Game of Death finds Faux Bruce Lee fighting his way up three floors of a pagoda, much like a video game with each Boss tougher than the last. But back in 1972, Lee was so excited about this exciting 34-minute action sequence that he completed it early in production with himself in the starring role of course. That footage was not in the 1978 release and instead was re-shot with the new actor.

 * Game of Death Redux *

In 2019 producer Alan Canvan cleaned up Lee’s original Triple Boss Pagoda Battle finale and released it as the 34-minute Game of Death Redux, both a wonderfully good-humored viewing experience and a poignant reminder of what the original film might have been had Lee not left us. Highlights include the elusive Shave-and-a-Haircut nunchuck technique, Lee’s charming reaction shots while fighting, and an awesome surprise for the third Boss. The Game of Death Redux short is recommended to everyone including those with no interest in martial arts films.

The Criterion set includes the 34-minute Game of Death Redux, starring and directed by Lee himself and salvaged by Canvan. This must not be confused with the unrelated posthumous Game of Death II, also in the Criterion set.

Game of Death II

Game of Death II (Tower of Death / Si wang ta). Ng See-Yuen, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, and Corey Yuen, 1981.

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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray box set #1036 Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits, released 2020. Original English dub. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Game of Death II was conceived and created after Bruce Lee’s untimely death. It includes some unused footage from real Bruce Lee movies, primarily Enter the Dragon, but most of the film dawdles around a skeletal plot featuring the same actor who carried most of Game of Death.

It’s a silly film. The final showdown takes place in the titular “Tower of Death”, which when first mentioned in a veil of mystery is paired visually with a gift shop pagoda held upside-down. Oh my!

Indeed, our Not Bruce Lee must descend to the top of the tower, challenged along the way by a sequence of silly enemies including an inept fighter in Versace pajamas and a nicely choreographed dance troupe in silver Star Trek leotards. Upon finally digging down to the top, he must successfully traverse a short hallway of colorful lights similar to a walkway I remember connecting two terminals in Chicago O’Hare Airport in the 1980s. That challenge vanquished, he finds the ultimate enemy in a James Bond-style underground lair complete with cryptotechnical instruments and a gigantic international map with lights that flash pointlessly. I presume the source literature explained why an aging kung-fu master held the codes to prevent unilateral atomic extermination or something to that effect.