Das Spiel des Todes (1978)

Das Spiel des Todes: Directed by Kuo-Hsiang Lin, Joseph Velasco. With Bruce Le, Bolo Yeung, Chi Ling Chiu, Michael B. Christy. World War 2 is approaching, and China is suspecting an invasion from Germany and Japan. Mr. Chang Bruce Le is hired by a Chinese espionage group to recover a secret document – crucial in winning victory – hidden on the top floor of a 6-storey building, and to do so, must fight his way up the tower and get to the last floor.

“As its clumsily concatenated title suggests, this film is 100% Brucesploitation, with a role for Enter the Dragon baddie Bolo Yueng and a finale that takes place on the many levels of a tower, as in Game of Death. Star Bruce Le (just the one u0026#39;eu0026#39;) even dons a Game of Death yellow and black tracksuit while doing his best impression of Bruce Lee (two u0026#39;eu0026#39;s).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut even though this is derivative stuff designed to cash in on Leeu0026#39;s fame, itu0026#39;s not without merit: Leu0026#39;s martial arts are impressive, his many Lee mannerisms (high pitched squeals, shuffling footwork, brushing his nose etc.) are fun to watch, and thereu0026#39;s just enough silliness to ensure that things donu0026#39;t become too monotonous.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film quickly gets the plot out of the way in order to concentrate on the plentiful fighting: Chang (Le) accepts a mission to find a secret document before it falls into the hands of the enemy. This leads him to battle a variety of foes, with the highlight being his ascent of a pagoda, each floor guarded by a different fighter.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eParticularly amusing is Changu0026#39;s battle with a white-haired old man in a room full of snakes, who not only does snake style kung fu, but also does kung fu with snakes ie., he uses the reptiles as weapons, throwing them at Chang and using them like nunchakus. At one point, he bites the head off one of his snakes, spits it out, and sprays blood from the stump at his foe.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso rather entertaining are a tussle with a guy who can only fight in red light, the level four fight with Hagrid, several very short altercations with assorted black dudes and Westerners (non-Chinese are clearly inferior warriors), and the inevitable showdown with burly Bolo. In the end, Chang saves the day for China, with a little help from a couple of sidekicks and plucky beauty Lisa.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile Le certainly isnu0026#39;t on a par with Lee, the almost non-stop fighting from start to finish means that the film should delight martial arts fans, most of whom were probably expecting something far less enjoyable.”