Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Birth of the Dragon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 1, 2017

First, there was Bruce Lee. Then, there was Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Now, there's Birth of the Dragon, a highly fictionalized recount of the true-life, highly publicized, but private and secretive clash between Bruce Lee -- the film and television icon -- and Wong Jack Man, a more traditionally oriented Kung Fu master. But the film is also as much the story of a pair of Lee's students, and one in particular whose forbidden love for a Chinese girl sees his allegiances challenged and code compromised, creating as much, if not more, chaos around him than even the growing rivalry between the masters. The film can be fun, the film can be silly. It's well made and largely enjoyable on the surface, but fans looking for a more traditionally oriented Lee biopic will not find it here.

Enter the Birth of the Dragon.

Bruce Lee (Philip Wan-Lung Ng) has used his mastery of Kung Fu to his personal benefit, making movies and teaching the art form to his American students, including an indebted and compulsive gambler named Vinnie (Simon Yin) and a man named Steve (Billy Magnussen) who is falling for an enslaved Chinese girl. He's become a popular master and ingrained in local culture and lore. But not everyone agrees with his style. When a mysterious Kung Fu master named Wong Jack Man (Xia Yu) arrives in San Francisco, Steve becomes starstruck and finds his loyalties wavering between the masters. Wong Jack Man disagrees with Lee's penchant for flair and opening the art outsiders. When it becomes clear that fighting will be the only way to resolve their issues, Steve seizes the opportunity to use the fight to free his girlfriend from servitude.

What's the one thing that any "about Bruce Lee" film has to get right? Bruce Lee. Whether Birth of the Dragon gets the character right or not is certainly up for debate, but as he's presented and depicted here, it's hard to find much fault within the movie's context. Philip Wan-Lung Ng makes for an agreeable leading man and presents the character's, again as he's drawn here, essence very well. Ng brings plenty of charm and charisma to the role, an assuredness that often intrudes into the realm of cockiness. He commands the screen in every scene; develops, carries, and refines the persona with ease; and always seems to get the character's motivations and process of action in every scene, evolving with the story and character and always staying on top of what the movie requires of him. He also boasts a serviceably cut and athletic physique to go with it, which carries over to fight choreography where, even beyond any camera trickery, he appears lightning-fast and smooth-as-silk in combat, whether training students or, more importantly, during his showdown with Wong Jack Man.

Even as Bruce Lee plays central to the story, Birth of the Dragon almost feels like a mildly misleading title. The film offers a snapshot into Lee's life and a key moment in it, but it's as much the story of his student Steve, an American who has fallen in love with a Chinese girl who reads baseball books to improve her English. Steve finds himself torn between loyalty to Lee and starstruck wonder with and gravitational pull towards Wong Jack Man. He manipulates the masters' fight into a means of freeing his love interest from slavery. Much of the film resultantly feels more than a little trite and hackneyed, shifting focus away from the masters but adding a layer of accessible urgency to the proceedings. Fortunately, its doesn't cheapen the fight once it comes -- it's well choreographed and performed, even if it does devolve into a few moments of corny physics-defying goofiness along the way -- even as the fate of the romance essentially hangs in the balance.

The film further pulls away from a Lee-centric narrative by putting the spotlight more on dueling Kung Fu philosophies. Fortunately, this clash receives story-driving prominence and offers viewers an interesting look into cultural saturation, where one man chooses to share his passion with the world and the other chooses to fight to keep it a guarded, ethnic-centric secret. Both sides have merit, and the film doesn't necessarily champion one over the other. In fact, it never makes Wong Jack Man a typical dark nemesis. He's a fully fleshed out character, strongly performed by Xia Yu, and both men play to the strengths of their character, who are both guided by their foundational principles and view of the place of Kung Fu in their lives and the world around them.

Birth of the Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Birth of the Dragon features an agreeable 1080p transfer. Despite some erratic source noise -- which can be rather severe in certain lower-light scenes -- the image presents very well, offering a fairly stable, organic and filmic, appearance. Textural bounties are evident throughout. Close-ups yield satisfying complexity. City environments spring to life with not shortage of tangible concrete and brick work. Clothes are sharp and precise. Image clarity extends to every inch of each frame; there are no soft or smudgy corners to be seen. Colors are abundant and refined, offering plenty of punch and effortless nuanced saturation. Black levels are deep and honest with only a few occasions when they drift into murky crush. Flesh tones appear accurate. This is a satisfying presentation from Universal.

Birth of the Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Birth of the Dragon features a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music plays with effortless width and clarity; it's suitably big and precise throughout the range and offers an agreeably modest surround implementation. The track additionally offers well defined environmental ambience. City din -- pedestrian chatter, passing traffic -- draw the listener into the film's bustling urban exteriors while restaurant chatter, rolling waters heard from a pier, and other inconsequential but location-specific elements enter the stage with impressive precision and placement. Crowd chants and cheers immerse the listener into a fight around the 33-minute mark. Smaller action sounds never struggle to find just the right positioning or depth. Dialogue is clear and refined with positive front-center placement.

Birth of the Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Birth of the Dragon contains four featurettes, all lumped under a single banner called 'Birth of the Dragon:' Behind the Scenes that altogether run less than six minutes. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

• Becoming the Dragon (1080p, 1:28): Half movie clips, half interview combined with behind-the-scenes footage.
• Building the Story (1080p, 1:19): More machine gun movie clips paired with interviews that explore the movie's plot whittled down to its essence.
• The Stunts (1080p, 1:30): A rapid-fire exploration of the fight choreography and how it builds, tells, and supports the story.
• The Fight (1080p, 1:20): A quick exploration of the main fight between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man and the attitudes and philosophies the characters bing to it.

Birth of the Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Birth of the Dragon is not be the Bruce Lee biopic its title might lead one to believe it to be. It strays, it meanders, its focus isn't laser-like, but at the same time it's a surprisingly enjoyable little film that's built on quality acting, well-drawn characters (again ignoring any liberties the movie may take with them), sharp fight choreography, and a decent, if not fairly hackneyed, love story that propels much of the plot. Perhaps the film's most interesting angle comes in the exploration Lee's and Wong Jack Man's dueling philosophies on the place of Kung Fu both in their own souls and in the greater world around them. If one approaches the movie with an open mind and sets aside all expectations and want for adherence to fact over fiction, one may find the movie to be a fairly enjoyable diversion. Universal's Blu-ray offers quality video and audio alongside a few extras. Recommended.