Fight Clip Club: Game of Death

Some of the very best unarmed fighting in cinema. Don’t agree? I will fight you. With my hands though, only.

Game of Death is a mess of a film, having been remade and broken apart and unfinished and patched together again… but the fights at the end, as our protagonist moves up the pagoda with each victory, remain a sparkling gem in the middle of the mud of the film itself, and a crown jewel of cinematic fights in general. And this particular fight scene among those is the most scintillating facet of the footage that has remained.

You can find all the lore and legend you want on Bruce Lee, revolutionary martial artist and fight filmmaker extraordinaire. Is he man, or is he demigod? Who’s to say. You can feel free to go down the Bruce Lee / Jeet Kune Do rabbit hole on your own—I won’t do it in this article or we’ll be here forever. But even if you’ve never seen a movie with a fight scene in it before, you’ll still be familiar with the name Bruce Lee, and even with his image: standing in a strong kamae, wearing his yellow jumpsuit with the black stripe. (A signature outfit which originated here, in his last movie, btw.)

However! I would be so very remiss if I didn’t take a moment to give a seven-foot two-inch shout-out to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his incredible legacy (and of course, his brilliant writing here on Substack). Abdul-Jabbar has written many times before about how martial arts ameliorated his already amazing athletic talents at basketball, and how his journey from Aikido to Jeet Kune Do became a deep study into the martial art as well as a deep friendship with his teacher, Bruce Lee. 

Abdul-Jabbar’s mysterious, sight-inhibited Game of Death adversary has gone down in film combat legend as one of the coolest, most gripping fight scenes ever filmed, among fans as well as stunt fight professionals like myself. His incredible height combined with graceful athletic movements, keeping right up with the master, Bruce Lee, himself? It’s epic. Also? how amazing, to portray a living boss monster, long before such things were a thing in pop culture. A wonderful fight. Let’s look at it.