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Game of Clones Blu-ray box |
Comparison between the American Blu-ray from Severin Films (The Game of Clones box set) and the German DVD from Laser Paradise, both showing the Export Cut of the movie
Many other master errors with a duration of < 0.5 sec each were not listed in the report.
Many different versions of GOODBYE BRUCE LEEIn addition to Enter the Game of Death, Disc 3 contains Goodbye, Bruce Lee - His Last Game of Death, a rather trashy film starring Bruce Li, which in 1975 was still one of the early Bruceploiters that superficially dealt with autobiographical elements. Curiously, there are even three different versions of this film, which must be considered "official" in their own right. 1. Hong Kong version / HK-DVD from IVL - 86min in PAL speed 2. German export version / German DVD from Laser Paradise - 79min in PAL 3. US export version / US Blu-ray from Severin - 83min in 23.976fps Before we look at the more extensive differences of the Hong Kong original version to the Export Cut(s), we will first present the two different export versions in this comparison. As just described in the overview: On the one hand, the introduction to the movie has been changed quite strikingly. The intention here was obviously to make some use of the interviews and hence the presumed involvement of the big US stars in the actual film. It must have certainly contributed to the good box office results, especially when you think about the set photos of Bruce and Kareem that were already known at the time and fueled up people's imagination. On the other hand, the US version is missing a complete fight scene on one floor at the end - much like the alternative versions of the "real" Game of Death. Admittedly, the fight is pretty unspectacular, but for many interested parties it is probably an annoying intervention. Interestingly, Severin has included deleted scenes in the bonus material on the US Blu-ray, but only the exclusive footage of the German export version from the German DVD (presented in this report). So if you really want to see everything from the film or the more extensive exclusive scenes from the Hong Kong version, there is currently no way around a Hong Kong import. Runtime information is arranged according to the scheme The German DVD starts with the in-house logo, while the US Blu-ray refers to Aquarius.
In the following, first archival shot of Bruce, only the US Blu-ray still has a reference to Atlas film distribution. The rest of the opening credits sequence is identical, although some of the clips shown appear slightly offset in time. Both versions also show German magazine covers from Bravo, for example. However, this is important and cannot be shown on pictures: While the German DVD plays the song "King of Kung-Fu" for this, the US Blu-ray plays "Also Sprach Zarathustra", which was quite known at the time for being the theme song from Stanley Kubrick's 2001. But as the movie progresses, the US version also plays "King of Kung-Fu" several times.
Alternative / Re-ordered scene 01:37-06:41 or 08:07-10:03 / 01:04-03:55 The movie then starts almost completely different after these credits. On the German DVD (as in the original Hong Kong version!), the training sequence in the gym starts right away, while it only comes a few minutes later on the US Blu-ray. There are many unimportant deviations in the frame area and the following further differences highlighted on a colored background. German DVD longer
09:42 / 03:14-03:35 After his jump, Bruce can be seen longer on the German DVD still and then walks over to Lu Ping. She throws him a towel and he drinks some water. His next routine on the trampoline starts a little earlier. 20.4 sec
Alternative / Re-ordered scene / German DVD longer 09:52-10:03 / 03:45-03:55 The trampoline exercise is also a little longer on the German DVD. She brings him the towel and the two of them cuddle again.
The US Blu-ray now shows Bruce walking past a waterfall with Lu Ping and then cuts back to him drinking water (see previous deviation). An off-screen narrator says that the chosen actor should also play the real Lee adequately. An additional shot of a studio light (of course it doesn't fit at all with the fight scene outside on a lawn that immediately follows) says that test shots were taken.
Blu-ray 0.4 sec longer Back in the orginal flow of the scene (before the colored section), the US Blu-ray instead shows a drawing of Bruce and the off-screen narrator talks about his legend status. A few rare "behind the scenes" shots of his filming would now follow. Shots from a film set are jumbled together with much poorer quality shots from films of the real Bruce. Quotes and interview snippets from Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are interspersed. The voice-over narrator talks about Lee's birth in San Francisco and how he trained his body mercilessly. He has learned everything from karate to "Taikwan-do" and other martial arts, right up to his own fighting style Jeet Kune-Do. His family is also mentioned and that they started looking for a successor after his death.
US Blu-ray 155.9 sec (= 2:36 min) sec longer Here are a few more comparison images across the movie. This is quite surprising: Apart from the obvious deficits due to the lower DVD resolution, overall the quality on the DVD is still quite ok, even though it's a bit too bright. The HD master also often has defects in the form of vertical stripes in the picture for a few frames.
German DVD longer 06:45 / 03:59-04:14 The German DVD has more shots of the quick steps up the stairs. 15.3 sec
Re-ordered scene 06:51-06:52 / 04:19 The US Blu-ray recycles a short additional shot from below. + 0.9 sec
Alternative / German DVD longer 06:53-06:54 / 04:20-04:21 And one more (not pictured), while the DVD shows Lu Ping again. Blu-ray 0.2 sec longer
Alternate / Re-ordered scene 07:00-07:43 / 06:21-07:31 Shortly afterwards, the US Blu-ray shows exterior shots of the houses. This comes a few minutes later on the German DVD and is much longer there, including more information about Bruce's alleged life. German DVD longer
07:02 / 06:22-06:45 The pan shot of the buildings is longer on the DVD and more archive shots follow. You can also hear some off-screen comments about Bruce: the speaker emphasizes his resemblance to the real Bruce and wants him to be in the film. 23.4 sec
Alternate 07:13-07:14 / 06:56-06:57 While the German DVD stays a little longer in the long shot (not pictured), the US Blu-ray shows Bruce and Lu Ping up close again. No time difference
German DVD longer 07:30 / 07:13-07:31 Bruce listens to the offer on the German DVD longer and then the two go out. 18.8 sec
07:30-08:07 / 07:31 Instead, the US Blu-ray shows a few archive shots of Bruce Lee and Bruce Li, which absurdly merge with the re-recorded soundtrack from 2001. An off-screen speaker also comments on how Li was transformed into Lee. A few short fight highlights follow. + 35.7 sec
German DVD longer 07:47 or 10:03 / 04:27-05:09 The US Blu-ray now shows the training scene block (as already described above in color), while the German DVD introduces Bruce and Lu Ping standing on the large meadow in more detail. The "King of Kung Fu" song continues and he does some exercises. Lu Ping laughs. She gives him a towel and the water again. 42 sec
German DVD longer 11:18 / 07:31-08:16 Before the movie screening scene continues, Bruce and Lu Ping are seen walking past the waterfall in the German DVD. In contrast to the super-short clip of it on the US Blu-ray, Bruce asks her here if he should do it. She says that the director is probably right and that acting is an interesting profession after all. The two are then shown into the theater earlier and sit down until the US Blu-ray starts in the middle of the shot. 45.3 sec
Alternative / German DVD longer 11:24-12:00 / 08:22-08:56 Bruce doubts his ability for much longer on the German DVD. The guy calms him down and orders the movie to start, which is also introduced with a corresponding timer from a film reel.
On the US Blu-ray, you see slow-motion shots from real Lee films instead and the voiceover praises Lee himself and that his last film was completed now. Finally, for a second time the title card follows.
Blu-ray 0.5 sec longer German DVD longer 75:05 / 69:26-72:01 Big miss on the US Blu-ray: The German DVD shows another floor where Bruce encounters a dark-skinned opponent. He prances around for a while and provokes Bruce, who looks concentrated. Bruce throws away his nunchucks and the two brawl around for a while. Bruce beats the crap out of him and the guy eventually runs away for safety's sake. Bruce goes to the stairs and the US Blu-ray also starts again with shows him grabbing the nunchucks that are still hanging there. 155 sec (= 2:35 min)
82:14-82:20 / 78:53 Interestingly, only in the US dub, Bruce says to the police officers that he always likes to do something for the law. Then a first, slightly more distant shot of the tower can be seen on the US Blu-ray and the following one also begins a little earlier. Incidentally, this shot is included on the German VHS, which otherwise (apart from a few missing parts of its own) corresponds to the version on the German DVD. So this is obviously just an unintentional cut on the German DVD. + 5.8 sec
Only the German DVD still has English credits, while the US Blu-ray has only black screen for about the same length of time (to what feels like the 4000th repetition of "King of Kung Fu" on the soundtrack).
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