Biography
Chosen from thousands of candidates to play the late Bruce Lee in his final film, Game Of Death. This Korean martial-arts expert, not only had the world waiting to see what he could do, but (also) to see what his portrayal of Lee would be like. The film was a smash success, due in part to his excellent martial-arts skills and number of fight scenes masterfully choreographed by Samo Hung. He also starred in the sequel called Tower Of Death, which was choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping, who has given us everything from the Snake In The Eagle's Shadow to the Matrix.
This film, had everything a martial-arts fan could ask for and the final battle against Wang Jang-Li won 1981's "Best Fight Scene Award" and was ranked 4th, in the Top 10 Kung Fu Films, of that same year. Out of respect for Lee, Kim was said to have changed his name to Tang Lung (the name of Lee's character in the movie) but, eventually changed it back, to his original name.
This film, had everything a martial-arts fan could ask for and the final battle against Wang Jang-Li won 1981's "Best Fight Scene Award" and was ranked 4th, in the Top 10 Kung Fu Films, of that same year. Out of respect for Lee, Kim was said to have changed his name to Tang Lung (the name of Lee's character in the movie) but, eventually changed it back, to his original name.
In Tower Of Death, director Ng See-Yuen used leftover footage from Enter The Dragon (as filler), which he carefully built a story around. Kim performed most of his own stunts, which gave the film its authentic feel. Though he's only made a handful of films, it's hard to say that we've seen his true ability as a screen fighter, but from what we seen of him, his portrayal neither tarnished Lee's memory, nor hurt his own career.