Dynamo/Review

As a lifelong kung fu film fan and exploitation cinema lover, when I had the chance to review the new Blu Ray Release of the 1978 Brucesploitation classic "Dynamo" I jumped at the chance. Recently I've been noticing that this long overlooked genre has been getting some much needed attention online. For those of us that watch exploitation cinema regularly, it's just part of our life. Personally, I've always felt that Bruceploitation films are some of the most pure forms of exploitation cinema there is. By that I mean they contain all the staples and best aspects of these movies. They're exploiting Bruce Lee’s film persona, are low budget, shot quickly, have a lot of action and a quirky, offbeat style, usually contain stolen scores from popular movies/ music of the time period and are generally very entertaining because of these things. What separates Bruceploitation from other genres is the fact they were created to fill a void left in cinema after Bruce Lee’s death. The mere fact Bruce had an entire group of lookalike actors or “Clones” to take his place, just shows you how enormously popular he was. Brucesploitation is one of a kind in that regard. From the mid 70s to early 80s, hundreds of these movies were produced, and while all of them weren’t top notch, a good amount were genuinely well made action films. Which brings us to the first Bruceploitation film I’ve ever seen on BluRay ”DYNAMO” starring the King of Bruceploitation “Bruce Li”.

DYNAMO, like many films in the Brucesploitation genre, begins with a direct reference to the death of Bruce Lee. At the time this film was made, Lee had been gone for several years, so instead of focusing on his legacy like the early Brucesploiters did, it moves on pretty quickly to the story at hand.

When a Hong Kong ad agency begins to show signs of business trouble due to a rival, a young hotshot named Ms. Mary (Mary Hon) is sent in as a troubleshooter. A public relations agent, Mr. Leung, who picks her up at the airport, is quickly hired as her assistant. Miss Mary may look like an innocent Asian flower, but is actually more like a venus flytrap constantly scheming her way to success. Meanwhile, Lee Tien-yee (Bruce Li) a young cab driver, who clearly resembles Bruce Lee, is training in martial arts. It's only a matter of time before Miss Mary spots Lee Tien Yi and recognizes his potential as a star. Soon she sends Mr Leung to find him and they offer him a major contract to be a spokesperson and model for the ad company. Lee Tien Yi accepts and Mr Leung then brings in a trainer (Ku Feng) to make Lee Tien Yi an unbeatable martial arts champion. While Lee has some good moves and is pretty quick, his new teacher shows him he's not as good as he thinks and proceeds to kick his ass. For fans of Bruce Lee, one of the highlights of the film is seeing Bruce Li wearing the iconic yellow and black track suit (from Game of Death) as his teacher sets up a match between a gang of fighters to see how well his skills have progressed. Lee Tien Yi is becomes a true dynamo and holds his own against each of them which pleases Mr Leung and Miss Mary. His frustration at gossip stories in the papers since becoming famous begins to cause friction. Soon after, Lee is challenged to a fight by a tough guy and the face off at the martial arts schoolis another awesomely cool action sequence thatshowsoff Bruce Li's own explosive fight techniques. Although he wasn't on Bruce Lee's level, whenit comes to this genre, he's my favorite of the Bruce Lee lookalikes.

The film makes nice use of some stolen scores and pop music that I enjoyed including “Nobody Does It Better” from the James Bond film ”The Spy Who Loved Me”, “For A Little While” the end ballad from the 1976 Burt Reynolds hixploitation classic Gator, as well as the disco hit “The Devil’s Gun” by CJ & Co.

DYNAMO remains a Brucesploitation classic and a film that old school kung fu fans will want to add to their collection.

Blu Ray Extras

Audio Commentary with Michael Worth and Iain Lee: Theres a good amount entertainment and information presented. Michael Worth, a kung fu film expert, explains the history of Bruceploitation his own love of the genre. Iain Lee, a British Radio personality, grew up watching kung fu movies and is excitedly recounts his youth collecting and watching the movies. A very enjoyable commentary track.

Kung Fu Reborn: Film restoration producer Jeremy Brunner and Kung Fu Film Aficionado and Archivist Dan Halsted express their passion for keeping classic kung fu films alive and well in a brief but informative featurette.

Drawing Dynamo: Illustrator Ian McEwan who designed the amazingly cool artwork for the DYNAMO BluRay release describes how he became a professional artist and how martial art cinema and graphic novels influenced his style of drawing.

Theatrical Trailer for DYNAMO