In China, TV audiences are getting a big dose of Bruce. China Central Television, the country's state broadcaster, just started airing The Legend of Bruce Lee, a big-budget, 50-part prime-time dramatic series on the life and career of Bruce Lee: China state TV to air 50-part Bruce Lee biography.
Shot in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Italy and Thailand over nine months, the series, which started Sunday, will air daily on the CCTV's flagship channel, with two episodes airing consecutively every night in a two-hour slot. That's twenty-five straight nights of Bruce! Awesome.
The series is touted as a detailed retelling of Bruce Lee's life, from his teenage years in Hong Kong to his move to the U.S., to his movie career and early death at age 32. Though, judging from the lengthy trailer that popped up earlier this year, I imagine they'll be taking more than a few dramatic liberties with the story.
Bruce Lee is played by Danny Chan, the guy who played the goalie with a striking resemblance to Bruce in Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer. He's definitely got the look, and appears to do a pretty mean impression. The series also stars Michelle Lang, Mark Dacascos, Ray Park, and Michael Jai White, among others.
If you've been reading the site for a while, you know they actually announced this series a while back, and started filming nearly a year and a half ago. This is actually China's first movie or TV series on Bruce Lee. You could say they came kind of late to the Bruce Lee party. You know, with that communism thing and all. (I like the part in the trailer where Bruce screams, "I am Chinese!")
As a huge Bruce fan, you know I've been looking forward to seeing it. Yes, the cheese factor is high. Like I care. The only question is if and when this series will ever make it over to our shores, on DVD or in some other form, preferably with some English subtitles. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
UPDATE: Looks like the series is already available on DVD in all-region, PAL format, but without any English subtitles: The Legend Of Bruce Lee (H-DVD) (End) (China Version). You can also watch the series online here, but again, no English subtitles (except for the cheesy, ridiculously long opening song). I can wait.
