I recently watched this documentary, which does a decent job on letting the viewer in on the major aspects of the late martial artist’s life. It starts out near the end of his life, talking about how involved he was with his final movies (Enter the Dragon, Game of Death) and how upbeat Lee was that he was finally making it big. His death comes as a shock to the world, especially the Asian community.

The documentary doesn’t give too much time to talking about the events leading up to his death; there’s plenty of material out there for those who are interested. It instead focuses on how Bruce Lee developed his personality, his being, and how he defined himself. A progression is shown as we see the young Lee advocating Kung-Fu techniques during an interview, only to fully renounce all styles a few years later.

In this respect, the documentary does a good job showing you how Lee’s thinking changed over the years, and it walks you through the personal experiences he had which caused them. Particularly interesting was his philosophy on martial arts and life, which seem to be one and the same for Lee. His ability to overcome many obstacles in life show his determination and resolve, and his belief that “the only help is self-help.” At the end, you can only hope what more he would have accomplished had he lived longer.

The documentary is generally well done, and draws from the personal experiences of those close to him, including his wife, and those who trained and acted with him. However, the last third or so of the film consists of footage they found for the Game of Death, Lee’s last film, and this feels less in-depth and more like just a bunch of fight-scenes. Also, there are no interviews with Brandon Lee, his late son, since the documentary was made after his death.

After watching this, you’ll have much more respect for Lee, especially if you’ve only thought of him previously as an actor/fighter. Lee was a very deep-thinker, and was always evaluating himself and looking to self-improvement.

Recommended for viewing.