''Game of Death II'', also known as ''Tower of Death'' () or ''The New Game of Death'', is a 1981 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Ng See-yuen and starring

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

, Tong Lung, Huong Cheng Li and Roy Horan. This film was marketed as a sequel to Bruce Lee's last and only partially completed film ''

Game of Death ''Game of Death'' () is an incomplete Hong Kong martial arts film, of which portions were filmed between September and October 1972, and was planned and scheduled to be released by 1973, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee. Th ...

''. Bruce Lee died some years before the production of ''Game of Death II'' and most of his scenes are taken from Lee's older films, mostly ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien and Jim Kelly. ''Enter the Dragon'' was ...

''. Aside from the international English dub giving the "Bruce Lee" character the name Billy Lo, this movie appears to have no connection with

Robert Clouse Robert Clouse (March 6, 1928 – February 4, 1997) was an American film director and producer, known primarily for his work in the action/adventure and martial arts genres. He died on February 4, 1997, in Oregon of kidney failure. Clouse dir ...

's 1978 version of ''Game of Death''.

Plot

After a recent number of challenges, Billy Lo (

) and his friend Chin Ku ( Huong Cheng Li) begin to suspect that someone wants them dead. Billy later visits his younger brother Bobby ( Tong Lung), who is studying with Billy's former teacher, and leaves him a book on

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do (/ˌdʒiːt kuːn ˈdoʊ/; zh, c=截拳道, l=stop fist way' or 'way of the intercepting fist, j=zit6 kyun4 dou6; abbreviated JKD) is a hybrid martial art conceived and practiced by martial artist Bruce Lee. It was formed from ...

. Chin is soon killed and Billy goes to Japan to find his stepdaughter, May. May tells him that Chin had visited just before his death, and left a film for her. They are suddenly attacked, but Billy manages to escape with the film. A few days later Billy attends Chin's funeral, where he is turned away from viewing the body. A helicopter arrives during the burial and steals the coffin away. Trying to prevent the theft, Billy is carried up with the casket but is shot in the neck and falls to his death. Bobby Lo is told of Billy's death by their father, who tells him to find a man named Sherman Lan and avenge his brother. Sherman gives him the film, which shows Chin Ku at the Palace of Death. The Palace of Death is run by a crazed martial arts expert by the name of Lewis (Roy Horan). Any challenger who fails to defeat Lewis is fed to his pack of lions. Bobby decides to meet Lewis, who is impressed with Bobby's abilities. While investigating the Palace, Bobby is attacked by a masked man. Then he informs Lewis that someone is trying to kill him. Later that night, a woman is sent to Bobby's room to seduce and assassinate him. When she fails, one of Lewis' lions attacks Bobby. During the fight, the masked man appears and kills Lewis. Suspecting Lewis' valet, Bobby seeks him out at the Fan Yu temple, where the underground Tower of Death is rumored to be. After defeating the valet, Bobby spies the secret entrance into the tower. Battling his way through the tower he eventually confronts the operator, Chin Ku. Chin is the head of a global drug trafficking organization and staged his own death to throw off Interpol investigators. He tried to frame Lewis for his death and arranged for the coffin to be stolen to prevent it from being searched. Realizing the only way to defeat Chin's sword skills is with Billy's Jeet Kune Do, Bobby cold-heartedly uses Chin's sword, impales Chin's bodyguard monk (Lee Hoi-San) and Chin together, finally killing Chin and stopping his drug operation.

Deleted scenes

Deleted scenes are available on DVD in both the international and English version as a special feature in

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bough ...

. One particular scene in the Chinese version of ''Game of Death'', directed by

Sammo Hung Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a figh ...

, was intended for his Asian audiences. In the Chinese version, Hung replaced the action scene in the opera house with another scene from the glasshouse at night with Casanova Wong in his karate clothes. The new fight scene, particularly the flips between Tong Lung and

Yuen Biao Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one o ...

, is reminiscent of Bruce Lee's fighting style.

Versions

Much like the original ''Game of Death'', there are several versions of ''Game of Death II''. * The first main version is the original Hong Kong version, titled ''Tower of Death'' (死亡塔). Most of this version's music was sourced from Les Baxter's score for ''

The Dunwich Horror "The Dunwich Horror" is a cosmic horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of ''Weird Tales'' (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massa ...

''. This was approximately 86 minutes long, and is the version used in the U.K. Hong Kong Legends DVD. * The second main version is the international English-dubbed version, retitled as ''Game of Death II''. This does not remove any footage, but instead uses Bruce Lee and Lee-related stock footage to create new scenes, the most prominent being the above-mentioned greenhouse fight with Casanova Wong. Other scenes include a childhood montage of Billy Lo, taken from Lee's childhood films, and a funeral dedication, which uses footage from Bruce Lee's real funeral. However, it is done more tastefully than its use in ''Game of Death'', since it appears as more of a real tribute to Lee than a movie funeral. The international version also includes a proper end credits montage. This version is more widely available than the original version, even appearing in the Hong Kong Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection DVD set. * The third version is an extremely rare official South Korean print of the film. This uses more footage of the Korean actors

Kim Tai-chung Kim Tai-chung (June 5, 1957 – August 27, 2011), also known as Kim Tai-jong or Tong Lung (唐龍; Chinese stage name), was a South Korean martial artist, actor and businessman. A Taekwondo practitioner, he is best known for his martial arts fil ...

and

Hwang Jang-lee Hwang Jang-lee (; born 21 December 1944) is a South Korean martial artist and actor best known for his Hong Kong martial arts films. He is a ninth- dan grandmaster in Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo who began training in 1957. Prior to his acting care ...

(including an extended version of the sword demonstration with Hwang's character), while downplaying the Bruce Lee angle by cutting most of the stock footage of Lee.

Cast

as Lee Chen-chiang (李振強) / Billy Lo (盧比利) in English dub (

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

) *

as Lee Chen-kwok (李振國) / Bobby Lo (盧博比) in English dub (doubling for Bruce Lee) (credited as Tong Lung) *

as Chin Ku (credited as Huong Cheng Li) * Roy Horan as Lewis (credited as Roy Haron) *

Roy Chiao Roy Chiao Hung ( zh, 喬宏; 16 March 1927 – 15 April 1999) was a Hong Kong-American actor. Nicknamed "the Lion of Cinema" for his athletic physical stature and powerful screen presence, he was a popular leading man throughout the 1950s and '60 ...

as The Abbot * Ho Lee Yan as Billy's Father * Casanova Wong as the Korean Martial Artist (Lau Yea-chun) * To Wai-Wo as Lewis' Servant *

Hoi Sang Lee Lee Hoi-sang (April 15, 1941 – September 9, 2024) was a Hong Kong martial arts film actor and martial artist, known for his roles in ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (as Abbot Li Hai Sheng) (1978), '' Shaolin Challenges Ninja'' (1978), ''The In ...

as the Bald Monk *

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

as Guard in the Cave * Miranda Austin as Angel * Tiger Yang as Strongman in Leopard Suit *

as Blue Staff Monk *

Bolo Yeung Yeung Sze (; born February 7, 1946), better known as Bolo Yeung, is a Hong Kong former competitive bodybuilder, martial artist, and actor. Primarily known for playing villains in action and martial arts films, he is regarded as one of the most i ...

as the Guard

Soundtracks

* Dancer - performed by Gino Soccio (only in Cantonese/Mandarin versions) * Jealousy - performed by Amii Stewart (only in Korean theatrical version)

Box office

In Hong Kong, the film grossed 1,950,391 (). In South Korea, the film's 2016 re-release grossed () in

Seoul City Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, adding up to at least grossed in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

Home media

DVD releases

Universe (Hong Kong) * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) letterboxed * Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1) * Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese * Supplements: stars' files, trailer, trailers for ''

The Big Boss ''The Big Boss'' (; originally titled as ''Fists of Fury'' in the United States) is a 1971 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Lo Wei (who also wrote the film) and Wu Chi-hsiang. Bruce Lee stars in his first major film in a lead role, and ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Legacy of Rage ''Legacy of Rage'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by Ronny Yu. The film stars Brandon Lee, Michael Wong, Regina Kent and a special appearance by Bolo Yeung, who appeared alongside Lee’s father Bruce Lee in his posthumous 1973 f ...

'' * All regions, NTSC Fortune Star – Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection (Hong Kong) * Released: 29 April 2004 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic * Sound: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (2.0 Mono) * Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English * Supplements: original trailer, new trailer, celebrity interviews, still photos, slideshow of photos, ''Game of Death'' outtakes, unseen footage, ''

'' alternative opening credits, 32-page booklet * Region 3, NTSC Fox (America) * Released: 25 May 2005 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic * Sound: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1) * Subtitles: English * Supplements: Original trailer, new trailer, bonus trailers * Region 1, NTSC Fox – Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection (America) * Released: 18 October 2005 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic * Sound: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) * Subtitles: English * Supplements: original trailer, new trailer, ''Game of Death'' outtakes, bonus trailers, still photos, slideshow of photos * Region 1, NTSC Hong Kong Legends (United Kingdom) * Released: 5 November 2001 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic * Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) * Subtitles: English, Dutch * Supplements: commentary by Bey Logan and Roy Horan, original trailer, HKL promotional trailer, biography showcases, bonus trailers, interviews with actors Casanova Wong and Roy Horan, deleted scenes (in English) * Regions 2/4, PAL

Blu-ray releases

Criterion - Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits (America) * Released: 14 July 2020 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:30:1) anamorphic * Sound: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) * Subtitles: none * Supplements: none * Notes: upscaled from standard definition source * Region A Arrow Video - Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest (United Kingdom) * Released: 17 July 2023 * Aspect ratio: widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic * Sound: Cantonese (1.0 Mono), English (1.0 Mono), Mandarin (1.0 Mono), Alternate English (1.0 Mono) * Subtitles: English, English SDH * Supplements: Hong Kong Cut titled Tower of Death, Korean Version, US Video Version * Notes: All cuts of the film are presented in HD from the best elements possible, 4K version also released * Region B

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Game Of Death Ii 1980s Cantonese-language films 1981 action films 1981 films 1981 martial arts films Bruceploitation films Game of Death Golden Harvest films Hong Kong films about revenge Hong Kong martial arts films Hong Kong sequel films Kung fu films 1980s Hong Kong films