Bruce Lee documentary on FUEL TV gives the dragon his due

By Stacey Harrison


Nearly 40 years after Bruce Lee’s death, one might wonder what is left to say about the martial arts master that hasn’t already been covered in the many books, documentaries and movies about his life.

Call it quite an achievement then that the makers of Bruce Lee Lives! manage to find a fresh approach. The new six-part documentary — the second part of which airs tonight on FUEL TV — is less concerned with being a standard biography than with reintroducing the Enter the Dragon star to a new generation who might not even realize his vast influence.

“If you’re in your teens and 20s, you might know Bruce Lee, but you might not really know who he was as a man and an influence,” says executive producer Joey Allen. “We wanted to bring him to a younger demographic. We wanted to show that all the people you idolize, these mixed martial artists, these DJs, these action sports guys, they’re living his philosophy whether they know it or not.”

The thrust of the story is told through interviews with contemporary figures from the worlds of martial arts, film, music and sports who cite Lee as a primary influence in their lives. Among those “superfans,” as Allen calls them, are actor Ryan Phillippe, music legend Carlos Santana, mixed martial arts star Chuck Liddell, magician Criss Angel, director Zack Snyder, Jesse Ventura and many others. Elements of Lee’s philosophy — most easily gleaned from his never-ending supply of memorable quotes, hardly any of which have much to do with martial arts — are shown to have parallels in their lives, making his approach to life as relevant as ever.

Allen says the producers cast a wide net searching for participants, and those who said yes were eager to share their devotion to Lee, who died this month in 1973 at age 32.

“I’ve never done a documentary where I’ve been thanked by the people I’m interviewing more than I’m thanking them for doing the interview,” he says. “They just feel like this is somebody they live with in their life constantly, and to have the opportunity to give their feelings for a television show like this, it means so much to them.”