Legacy of Rage (1986) User Reviews

Nothing special this time

[Bogey Man · 5/10 · 3 June 2002]

Legacy of Rage is directed by Ronny Yu, the genius behind Bride With White Hair. Rage stars Brandon Lee is his only Hong Kong production and Michael Wong, the guy who played the sicko role in Fatal Love, starring beautiful Ellen Chan. Legacy of Rage is normal HK actioner and nothing special. The fight and action scenes are okay as always in these films(well, at least almost always), and at the end fight, they are occasionally brutal, too. But considered what kind of achievements we have seen coming out from Hong Kong, this is very mediocre but still watchable and recommended, of course, to the fans of Lee family. I don't think Michael Wong is so bad actor, as some have said. I think he's okay and has nice eyes. Lee junior is pretty normal here and is not as powerful as in his future roles, but we must remember that this is so early work for him, and he may have had some pressure thinking about his father and his reputation..

After all a decent Oriental actioner with nothing particularly exciting or worth mentioning. Still, a must see for Hong Kong fanatics. 5/10

Pretty Cool

[ebiros2 · 7/10 · 15 June 2009]

Before I saw this, I thought Rapid Fire was Brandon Lee's first movie, but I like him more in this one than Rapid Fire. This movie shows that he really had talent. Michael Wong looks so young in this movie, and he's one good looking son of a gun. Regina Kent plays her usual role of bossy brat. Her career ended short like Brandon's.

The movie is dubbed, and it's a so, so job. You can still tell that its a dub because the lip and the word doesn't match.

Simple story, but it works, and is pretty good entertainment even after quarter century. One thing that's original about this movie is that each scene happens in a little bit different settings than you usually see, and each scene is beautiful.

See it for the charisma of Brandon Lee, and unusual settings where thing happens.

7.5/10

Underrated. Simplistic yet engaging revenge tale.

[tntokmenko · 7/10 · 23 January 2013]

I'm not understanding the fellow reviews of other posters here, seems like the general negative consensus is that Brandon Lee didn't do enough martial arts or with the finesse of his father. Well this isn't a martial arts film, so if you were expecting the successor to Bruce Lee you'll be disappointed. Immediately push Bruce Lee out of your head. This is an overly melodramatic action film from Hong Kong, falls into the genre also known as "Heroic Bloodshed", and in that respect the movie's hokey but simultaneously keeps strong pacing and high entertainment value. This film is from 1986 coinciding with the release of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, in which is set at the root of the new wave HK gangster genre. For being one of the first of its kind, it doesn't receive sufficient credit. This type of all-out gunplay in HK films doesn't appear until at least a year later. Brandon Lee plays a young waiter about to marry when a jealous/criminal friend purposely shatters his future. Brandon gets framed and sent to jail where he'll waste away for eight years. Luckily with some assistance from those on the outside who know the truth, he manages to escape where he wishes to find his fiancée and take vengeance on the friend who put him away. There are some twists in the story and the bullet-frenzied climax is very well done. The negative aspects about this movie are the shoddy soundtrack and dubbing, although once the plot takes off you forget about both. Lee is very charismatic in his character, and if you become attached to his story this should be a very fun ride. -7/10

He had an important "Legacy" to live up to...

[dee.reid · 6/10 · 1 January 2015]

The 1986 martial arts action flick "Legacy of Rage" has the benefit of being the first starring role of the late Brandon Lee (the ill-fated son of deceased martial arts legend Bruce Lee). It was also the only film that Brandon Lee made in Hong Kong, and likewise the film is spoken in Cantonese (though the voices are dubbed - as the practice at that time was to film movies without sound, and then dub in the actors' voices later).

Brandon Lee is in fine form here (despite never hearing his natural speaking voice), though the film itself - written and directed by Hong Kong action veteran Ronny Yu (who would later gain fame in the West with the American horror films "Bride of Chucky" and "Freddy vs. Jason," and the martial arts epic "Fearless" with Jet Li) - is somewhat of a mixed bag; it's more or less a standard action film, with lots of stuff about gangsters, drugs, and John Woo-style gun-play. Also, disappointingly, there isn't much of Brandon Lee using his father's patented Jeet Kune Do skills against the bad guys being sent his way.

Lee plays Brandon Ma, a hard-working average Joe with a beautiful girlfriend named May (Regina King, in her film debut) and dreams of buying a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael (Michael Wong), who is also the son of a local Hong Kong gangster and is looking to take over his father's business and thus make a name for himself. He also has unrequited feelings for May, and he soon cooks up a scheme to get rid of Brandon so that he can have her for himself. This scheme would involve the murder of the undercover narcotics detective that has been hassling his father's organization, and then setting up Brandon as the scapegoat. The plan goes off without a hitch, and Brandon is sent to prison for eight years for the crime. But when he learns the truth about what's happened to him and why, that's when he sets out to get revenge and save May.

While we all know Brandon Lee's tragic story (he was killed while filming a scene of his last film, 1994's "The Crow"), "Legacy of Rage" definitely shows the talent the younger Lee inherited from his more-famous father. Brandon Lee may not have been as skilled a martial artist as his father (this is really debatable and a pointless argument, if you ask me), but he certainly may have been a stronger and more charismatic and charming actor. He certainly did not want to be remembered as a martial arts star like his father, but he did want to be remembered as an ACTOR. "Legacy of Rage" may not have much in the way of kung-fu action, but it does show that Lee was a strong and capable action hero, much like he would show in his later English-speaking features "Showdown in Little Tokyo" (1991), "Rapid Fire" (1992) and of course, "The Crow" - his last and most famous film.

So "Legacy of Rage" is worth viewing maybe once or twice, as a worthy introduction to the skills of the extraordinarily talented Brandon Lee.

6/10

P.S.: Bolo Yeung (who appeared as a villain in Bruce Lee's last completed film "Enter the Dragon") also has a brief appearance here, as well.

When will they stop dubbing?

[Khwaj · 5 April 2002]

This was another interesting but not very exciting film. For me I was rather in-between about liking and disliking it.

To begin with it was nice seeing this as one of the very few not to mention early Brandon Lee films. At first this struck me more as a US production, considering that it was officialy released in the UK around 1993 (the same year he tragically died on the set of "The Crow").

I got my chance to watch this back in 2001. The thing that made me feel emotional after watching the film was wishing he'd still been alive to make other quality films. For me The Crow is still one film that stands out a brilliant achievement, it's not surprising to learn that there would've been so many promising role for him in the pipeline.

My only disapointment with Legacy of Rage was the fact that not much martial arts was demonstrated despite the showdown with "Enter the Dragon" co-star and Bruce Lee student Bolo Yeung. You couldn't help but feel slightly put off considering the fight didn't seem to last that long since things were more geared towards gun battles. But to top it off the dubbing was real annoyance as it's becoming both lame and outdated with most of these actor's not being able to speak their native languages, what a crock of s**t.

Overall not a bad film at all, but it's high time that voice dubbing becomes a thing of the past?

Brandon Lee makes it in Hong Kong cinema

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 29 March 2018]

LEGACY OF RAGE is a decent Hong Kong action thriller of the mid 1980s and a film that marked a rare foray into Hong Kong cinema for Bruce Lee's son Brandon. He plays a mild-mannered and somewhat simple young waiter whose romance with a fellow employee is soon destroyed by the misadventures of his crime boss buddy, as played by a slimy Michael Wong. The plot that follows is surprisingly serious and slow-paced, a prison film for much of the running time, although the last fifteen minutes makes up for the earlier lack of action by letting rip with some crazy vehicle stunts, explosives, and violent shoot-outs. This film boasts strong production values and an excellent cast of Hong Kong cinema greats, including Michael Chan Wai-Man as another gangster, Hoi Mang as a key ally, and Ku Feng as a prison guard. I loved it.

"Legacy of Rage" is an entertaining and interesting hybrid action/drama/prison movie

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 27 May 2010]

"Legacy of Rage" is an entertaining and interesting hybrid action/drama/prison movie and a personal favorite genre, revenge movie.

Brandon Lee plays Brandon Ma, a mild-mannered (that is, unless you push him too far) waiter with a loving and devoted girlfriend, May (Regina Kent). When Brandon's "friend" Michael, who is a gangster rising in the ranks, frames Brandon for manslaughter and sends him to jail for eight years, he thinks he can get in good with May (by attempting to rape her while she's pregnant, a great plan). In an intriguing plot development, while Brandon is in jail, May forges a relationship with an older gentleman who just wants "a companion" and offers to take her to Brazil.

Meanwhile, Brandon is rotting away, seething, in prison. He develops a friendship with an arms dealer named Hoi (Hoi Mang), nicknamed "Four Eyes" in the joint because he wears glasses. Even after Brandon gets out of a hard stretch in prison, Michael still makes Brandon's life a living hell.

Finally, enough is enough, and after a whole movie of a nice guy being stepped on over and over again, Brandon reconnects with Hoi and his huge stash of weaponry, and they go together on a violence-packed, kick-ass revenge mission against Michael's gang. Will Brandon get justice? Will he reunite with May? Will he be able to have a relationship with his estranged son? Interestingly, the movie, at least in the English-speaking world, is called LEGACY of rage, obviously trying to link Brandon with his legendary father Bruce, as if that was really needed. Maybe it was just a marketing thing. But there IS plenty of rage! "Legacy of Rage" definitely delivers the goods. It has a good story, is well-filmed, has great action, brutal violence, a satisfying ending, and is all handled well, with energy, style and flair by director Ronny Yu.

According to author Thomas Weisser from his great book Asian Cult Cinema Boulevard, 1997)"This is the only made-in-Hong Kong movie with Brandon Lee. Reportedly,Brandon was reluctant to make HK movies because he was afraid of critical comparison between himself and his superhero father Bruce Lee" (pg.117). I would just add that I'm glad he did, especially in the great year for action movies, 1986. The timing couldn't have been better. I wish he did more Hong Kong action movies.

I love movies where the good guy is really good (he even helps a little girl in need after her mommy gets on a bus without her!), the bad guys are really bad, and the good guy doesn't want to fight, but he has to because he's taken too much crap for too long. This D&B (not "Dave and Busters", Dickson Poon's --no smirking -- Hong Kong production company)falls into that esteemed category! Fan-favorite Bolo Yeung appears very briefly (one short scene)in the beginning of the film as a gangster looking for protection money from the restaurant where Brandon works.

It was nice to see him, and if I have one complaint about the movie, it's that it could have used more Bolo.

But on the whole, I would heartily recommend "Legacy of Rage".

Pretty good action, predictable crime drama plot.

[dave13-1 · 5/10 · 15 April 2012]

Brandon Lee was offered the lead in this rather routine actioner and was apparently reluctant to accept, not knowing how well he would be received as a successor to his now-legendary father. The response was a positive one. Brandon showed himself to be a good actor, as did co-star Michael Fitzgerald Wong in an early role as a smooth baddie, and Brandon also showed off some impressive martial arts chops. The fight scenes are the main reason to watch this movie at this point. The double-crossed- by-my-best-friend-now-I-have-to-get-revenge plot line has been done to death by now and it was not exactly fresh stuff at the time (1986). This one, like Rapid Fire, shows off Brandon as an 80s action hero who could fight, do stunts and act too. He was evolving into an international action star and had he survived the accident on the set of The Crow, that one role would have made him an A-lister. Brandon Lee made so few movies by the time of his death that every one is a curiosity, although The Crow is the only one that is actually really good. Oh, what might have been.

Be warned that most of the dialogue is in Cantonese, which neither the California raised Brandon nor New York City native Michael could speak. If you read their lips, they were actually speaking English and post- synched into Cantonese by actors who sounded nothing like them. Of course, when a scene requires them to actually speak English, instead of using their own voices, the editors dubbed in English dialogue using yet another actor who had a thick accent and sounded even less like them! You would think the producers would take advantage of having English speaking actors around to dub their own English dialogue, but it is instructive of the high-speed factory approach to film making common in Hong Kong at the time that this was not done. Production units and editors had little contact with one another, and in any case one or the other used whatever talent was on hand at the time rather than looking for opportunities to refine the finished product.

Great Debut For Brandon Lee!, It's Action Packed, With A Very Cool Story And Excellent Performances!

[callanvass · 8/10 · 27 July 2005]

This was a great debut for Brandon Lee, it's action packed, with a very cool story and awesome performances. all the characters were great, and it had quite a few shocking moments, plus Michael Wong is extremely menacing as the main villain. The violence in this film is not pretty, and, the ending really pours it on, plus Brandon lee had good chemistry with all of the cast. It's exciting throughout, and the finale is full of gunfire, plus Brandon lee's dubbing was surprisingly not that bad at all!. They really don't make em like this no more, and the film is very stylish, plus the film pulls no punches. Yes it's a little predictable, however i still enjoyed it very much and Brandon Lee's presence clearly helped a lot, plus the prison scenes were really cool!. There isn't a lot of martial arts action however it's quite exciting, plus the ending was great. This was a great debut for Brandon Lee, it's action packed with a very cool story, and awesome performances, i highly recommend this one!. The Direction is very good. Ronny Yu does a very good job here, with great camera work, awesome angles keeping it stylish, and he kept the film at a very fast pace. There is TONS of blood and violence. We get a stabbing, lots of harsh bloody beatings,Hundreds of extremely bloody gunshot wounds,people spurt out blood all over the place throughout,eye bashed out,gory impaling and tons of blood!. The Acting is excellent!. Brandon lee is AMAZING as he always was, and was amazing here, he is extremely likable, witty, kicked that ass had good chemistry with the cast, and was just tons of fun to watch!, his dubbing wasn't too bad either(Brandon Ruled!). Bolo Yeung is good in his very short role, however his dubbing was terrible, and i didn't see enough of him sadly. (Bolo Rules). Regina Kent is good in her role, she was cute and had good chemistry with Brandon. Michael Wong is excellent as the main villain, he was extremely menacing and unpredictable. Rest of the cast are fine. Overall i highly recommend this one!. ***1/2 out of 5

Brandon Lee's Only Hong Kong Film

[The-Sarkologist · 6/10 · 29 June 2013]

This was Brandon Lee's (the son of Bruce Lee) only Hong Kong movie. It was claimed that he was reluctant to do this movie because he did not believe that he could compete with the reputation of his father. Des Mangan says that he did a fine job in this movie but I disagree to an extent. I thought his acting ability was okay, and he martial arts were good, but the execution of the movie was very bad. As for competing with his father, the only decent Bruce Lee movie I have seen is his last one, Enter the Dragon.

The action in this movie was very bad in my opinion. Most of the movie dealt with how he tried to come to terms with the fact that his best friend had betrayed him and sent him to gaol for eight years. In gaol he learns of his friend's betrayal and tries to escape but doesn't succeed. Instead his is given a lecture of how it is not something he wants to do because he will end up in worse trouble. This itself is good because it deals with his struggle between his desire for his revenge and his knowledge that if he let that desire overcome him he will be much worse off.

In the end he lets his desire get the better of him when his girlfriend and son are kidnapped and he learns of this. He goes to his old friend and gets his help in going after his former friend. This is where the bad action scenes come in. The rest of the movie is Brandon Lee shooting up BMWs coming towards him. There are about five of them and they all seem to happen on the same stretch of road. This seems to be low budget action and really the movie could have done without it.

With low budget movies, the story counts for much more than effects and action. In this movie the story is good, and concludes in the hollow victory - the one where they win, but at a huge cost. These hollow victories seem to be my favourite at the moment. Here, they win, but the woman dies, and both men land up in gaol. Sorry if I spoilt the end for you, but it is something that sets the movie apart. The problem is that this is really only tacked on at the end. The movie closes with them speeding off in a speedboat but a subtitle explains what happened - pretty poor I thought.

This movie is okay, but I find that the attempts to improve it really fall flat on its face. As such, the Legacy of Rage does not stand out for me.

For a supposed action film, there's very little of it

[donbendell · 4/10 · 26 January 2007]

"A good kid (Lee) is framed by his Triad buddy (Wong), who then attempts to seduce and then rape his wife while he's in the clink. Lee gets out of prison and goes for revenge.

Yawn... oh, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off while watching this clunker. I'm beginning to think that the one Brandon Lee movie I like (Rapid Fire) is a fluke. Simply put, they don't come much worse than this. The plot is stale with a horrible, by-the-numbers script. Both Lee and Wong are (or, in Lee's case, were) not native Cantonese speakers and it shows. I think if you look up "mook jung" (a Chinese phrase meaning "dead wood" used to call someone stupid) in a dictionary, you would see a picture of the two "actors" in this movie. Watching Lee and Wong (long known as one of the worst actors in HK cinema) try to interact with each other is literally painful. Did I mention that Lee and Wong use their real first names in the movie so they would know when they are being spoken to? Agh. The filmmakers should have saved us a whole lot of trouble and just let them speak in English so we wouldn't have to sit through this slow torture. Then again, neither Lee nor Wong are/were that great in English-speaking roles either.

You might ask why am I spending so much time bitching about the acting in an action film. Well, for a supposed action film, there's very little of it. Most of the movie meanders around, at times trying to be a serious crime/prison drama in the vein of Ringo Lam's On Fire series. Which might have worked if Lee could act, but... anyway, the fights (supposedly because of Lee's lack of talent in that area as well) are so short they're barely noticeable. In one scene, Lee beats up Triad enforcer Bolo Yeung in about 10 seconds. I don't think any of the "fights" last longer than that. Mostly it's just Lee giving a tough look, two or three blows and that's it. Back to another ten or fifteen minutes of boring exposition, another mini-fight, and so on. There is a fairly vibrant shootout near the end, but by that point, it's too little, too late.

Unless you're really (and I mean really) curious to see Brandon Lee in a HK movie, avoid this one. It makes most of Cynthia Rothrock's cheesy US B-movies look like Shakespeare by comparison."

Brandon Lee, H.K. Style!!

[Captain_Couth · 8/10 · 16 October 2003]

Brandon Lee is mad as hell in this mid 80's action flick from Hong Kong. Lee and his buddy (Michael Wong) are the best of friends, that's until a strange twist of fate changes their lives for ever. Crazy action and fluid directing by Ronny Yu keeps this from turning into your average mindless chop socky flick. Bolo Yeung makes a cameo appearance (completing the circle). Hoi Mang co-stars (as well as directing the fight scenes) along with Regina Kent (A Better Tomorrow II) and Ng Man Tat. The final act of this film is definitely one-of-a-kind and it is simply mind blowing!

Highly recommended for H.K. Cinema fans!! A Factoid: Michael Wong and Brandon Lee's voices are looped by other actors.

A decent HK action flick, with sadly minimal martial arts.

[b_kite · 6/10 · 17 November 2018]

It pains me to give a movie like this three stars because "Legacy of Rage" is a fun 80s HK action flick. But let's be honest your going into this to watch Bruce Lee's son kickass and put a martial arts beatdown on some fools. Well, that's few far and in between as Lee only breaks out his fathers legendary martial arts a couple of times and it's very limited. Not only that but the film slows down a lot towards the middle and I mean A LOT, it picks back up during the final 15 minutes with some awesome carnage, but, sadly watching Bruce Lee's son machine gun people to death just left me hollow. I heard different rumors that director Ronny Yu literally had to beg Lee to perform any sort of martial arts as he refused, not sure if this is true, but, sadly I walked away from "Legacy of Rage" glad I'd seen it, but, disappointed to a certain extent. Also Bolo Yeung appears briefly as a thug and is sadly wasted and never seen again.

Not very exciting

[BigGuy · 3/10 · 24 May 2000]

I thought, how could a movie with Brandon Lee and Bolo Yeung possibly be boring. I expected very little plot substance, but at least one or two good fight scenes. Even the climatic fight scene was ho-hum.

When Brandon Lee fights a bad guy in this movie, it is punch one or two punches and it is over. His fight against Bolo was just like that. Bolo goes for a punch Brandon punches twice and it is over, next bad guy please.

The acting is weak at best. Probably not helped by horrendous dubbing. But even the facial expressions weren't that great (perhaps on par with other really bad Hong Kong Action movies) with anger looking more like shocked constipation.

Definitely not worth the time.

"I only have these..."

[Victor Field · 26 July 2003]

Made by D & B Films (no need to thank me), "Long zai jiang hu" was the first movie I saw with Brandon Lee - unlike the other posters, I actually saw it when it came out - and it was ultimately nothing too special, but all of the action stars of the past and present have had to work their way up, and it was certainly better than "Rapid Fire" and "Showdown In Little Tokyo" (which was admittedly entertaining in a cheap way, Tia Carrere's obvious body double and the snuff video scene with that gorgeous blonde notwithstanding).

The action's okay, and the scene where our hero bursts a villain's eye with a garotte still makes me wince 16 years later, but the best bit is when our hero visits a wimpy friend to get some armed help; wimpy friend says "I only have these," and unveils an armoury that would give Charlton Heston wet dreams. Still, you do wonder what would have happened had Brandon lived.

Act of betrayal...

[fmarkland32 · 6/10 · 26 February 2008]

Brandon Lee stars as Brandon Ma, a waiter who is set up for man slaughter by his "best friend" Michael (Michael Wong) while on the inside, Michael tries to rape Brandon's girlfriend and it comes to surface that Michael set Brandon up. After getting out of prison Brandon tries to live a normal life but Michael kidnaps Brandon's girlfriend and son (Conceived before Brandon's prison stay.) Brandon is given no choice but to settle the score. Legacy Of Rage has its share of plausibility issues (Why the hell does Brandon Lee call up Michael Wong to let him know he's coming for him?) but it is a decent film. I liked The Crow the best but this is his second best movie to date. (Though considering the fact that Showdown In Little Tokyo is third place, this says very little.) The main flaw is that the movie takes too long to set up its premise. There is just too many sequences of Brandon Lee going fishing, too many scenes of Brandon Lee running after a bus, too many escape attempts from prison and that is what hurts the movie. That being said the shootouts (In particular the finale) are well staged and very exciting. Interestingly though Brandon Lee's martial arts ability aren't very well used, indeed the fight between Brandon Lee and Bolo Yeung is over like 5 seconds! The movie gets most of its mileage out of the heroic bloodshed angle, mainly in the relationship between Brandon Lee and Wai-Man Chan (Four Eyes) which provides the movie with its heroic bloodshed moments. Also the final shootout alone makes this rise above mediocrity. So while Legacy Of Rage isn't in the league of Hard Boiled, it is at least a perfectly decent movie.

* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty Good)

A shining star from Brandon's tragically short career

[DanTheMan2150AD · 7/10 · 7 February 2024]

Notable for being the late Brandon Lee's first starring role and his only Hong Kong production, Legacy of Rage is an explosive extravaganza and highly entertaining little jewel of Brandon's tragically short career. Yeah, the plot and melodrama are standard eighties action fodder, but Ronny Yu's direction, Lee's reverting presence and exceptional acting chops more than carry the film through the more clichéd aspects of its story. The action possesses a raw intensity and some exceptional choreography which makes it rather a shame there isn't more of it sprinkled throughout the film, however, there's an outstanding climactic car chase and final shootout that feels very much in the vein of John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, all accompanied by a badass score courtesy of Richard Yuen. Given this is the film where Brandon fights Bolo Yeung (who had fought his father in the iconic Enter the Dragon) and featuring a gloriously slimly Michael Wong as its villain, you'd be hard-pressed not to love of Legacy of Rage's rough and ready emotional camaraderie.

Brandon Lee's first film

[gridoon · 6/10 · 23 October 2005]

"Legacy of Rage" proves that Brandon Lee had enough talent to become an action star in his own right, without counting only on his famous father's name. He is a strong, likable, handsome, assured and charismatic hero - and this is only his film debut! And when he gets angry, he is one dude you don't want to mess with. Regina Kent is adorable as his girlfriend, and Michael Wong turns in a convincing performance, as he changes from a bitter young man to a ruthless crime boss. The film itself is rather slow and unexceptional story-wise (half prison flick, half revenge flick), distinguished from similar American fare mostly by a few superb hand-to-hand fight scenes and the amount of blood in the climax. (**1/2)

No surprises

[Keltic-2 · 5/10 · 18 April 2000]

Despite the novelty of hearing Brandon Lee speak Cantonese (dubbed, apparently), this is a standard action flick. There are a few good scenes, but on the whole rather average and lacklustre. In particular, the editing of many action scenes becomes confusing, so that you're never quite sure what happened to who. Not excruciatingly bad, not breathtakingly great... just blah.

Why the awful dubbing?

[raven_guest · 9/10 · 27 April 2020]

I love this movie. It's ridiculous, over the top and cheesy as hell, but it's also really entertaining. The actors who dubbed Brandon etc all sound waaaaaay too old to be the voices of the characters and it really takes away from the enjoyment. Unsure about the name and why the keep promoting it with Bruce Lee's image as it has nothing to do with him and the 'legacy' angle has no place in the story. The fight scenes are well done and it's evident that Brandon was destined for amazing things x

His Career Gets Better

[damianphelps · 2/10 · 9 August 2023]

Brandon Lee's first and only Hong Kong movie...thank god for that.

This is a pretty terrible movie and really only deserves to be watched for those on a Brandon Lee completionist journey. Otherwise if it pops up on your TV (and why would it) switch the channel to the test pattern or the shopping network.

Watching this makes you wonder how he survived it to go an and not only make another movie but actually some really good ones.

The story is redundant, the acting cardboardish or cartoonish, take your pic.

Brandon exhibits some charm and some skills but nothing that you would need to sacrifice 90 minutes of your life on :)

I Really liked it - could be more Action

[BloodyPredator2 · 8/10 · 18 January 2022]

Legacy of Rage is Brandon Lees first major role and he did a decent job here. The Plot is nothing new but it was well filmed and the pacing was good. The Director Ronny Yu made some great Movies in the past like Fredy vs Jason or Bride of Chucky but he shows he can Action too, The Final Shootout was very enjoyable and stylish reminds me of John Woo Movies.

Legacy of Rage is a solid Action/Drama and recommended for all Brandon Lee and Action Fans.

An average action movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 28 December 2015]

For a first movie with a leading role, then "Legacy of Rage" was a very generic and not particularly memorable movie for Brandon Lee. I was, however, surprised that Brandon Lee actually seriously started his career in Hong Kong cinema.

I was unfortunately watching an English dubbed DVD without the option to switch to the original Cantonese audio track. Granted that it was dubbed, it wasn't the worst of dubbing jobs in Asian movies, but still...

The story was adequate, but it was just a bit too forced and scripted, and Brandon Lee weren't given that many opportunities to showcase his skills, neither acting nor martial arts.

Aside from Brandon Lee then "Legacy of Rage" also starred Michael Wong, in what might actually be one of this more impressive and memorable roles. I didn't know that Michael Wong had acted opposite Brandon Lee, so that was a nice treat. The movie also has a small appearance by Bolo Yeung (yep, the memorable bad guy from "Blood Sport").

While fun to watch Brandon Lee's first movie in a leading role, then "Legacy of Rage" wasn't particularly memorable. This movie might appeal to die-hard fans of Brandon Lee, but it doesn't offer much for the fans of Hong Kong cinema.

Great flick! Lee at his best.

[ManBehindTheMask63 · 15 August 2006]

Legacy of Rage is a great action/drama film. The film's plot is simple. Brandon Ma (LEE)is set up by his friend Micheal, so Micheal can still Brandon's girl. when Brandon gets out of jail, he has only one thing on his mind...REVENGE.The film has much more acting in it then expected but it is a joyful treat. Lee shows off his acting chops and showcases some sweet martial arts skills. Legacy of Rage also has some good gunplay scenes and the over the top violence is fun to watch. I believe this is Lee's 2nd best film. A must see for Brandon Lee fans. The film had a good budget and the storyline is exciting. It's a fun flick. But if you aren't a big foreign films person...don't bother with it.

Did they run out of money

[talllwoood13 · 4/10 · 19 October 2021]

The story is pretty solid, some great shots of Hong Kong that just make me want to play the video game Sleeping Dogs again. I even had a snicker out of one of the people who made this movie. His name is Dickson Poon. Yes I'm still 11 at heart.

The story is a good revenge story. Simple but a lot more memorable than the last Asian movie I watched with subtitles. The fighting is so much better than for instance his movie "The Crow" and good for Brandon if he really did learn how to speak the language for the role. I really do think this movie has potential if they remade it today as it is still as relevant.

I really disliked the musical score it came off as cheap. I wasn't expecting top 40 music from popular artists or epic multi million dollar orchestras to convey each scene as if you were there but they were bad.

However my big concern with this movie is it seems the last bit of the movie just came off as rushed or pieced together when Brandon gets out of jail. He tries to escape this guard says, better to spend your 8 years there. No escaping for you. Then 5 seconds later the 8 years are up. No gray hairs, nothing. Then after about 10 or so minutes he goes and gets his revenge. The ending not necessarily the happiest which can work but the bad guy worked, not amazing but was believable. If anything the last bit of this movie they should have done a better job writing. It's just lazy like come on we only got another 100 grand to finish this movie, sniff sniff I mean 99 grand.

Would I watch this again? No. I'd watch showdown in little tokyo instead and you should too.