10 Best Bruce Lee’s Movies/TV Shows, Ranked (According To IMDB)

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, martial arts films were at their peaks. Whether it was Black Belt Theater on Saturday afternoons, or going to a drive-in theater, it was a must to see the latest kung fu flick. There was no one greater who help shape or define the martial arts culture more than Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee, to this day, is still seen as the master of martial arts. He has been copied with look-alikes (“lee-alikes”) and is responsible for martial arts legends like Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li (just to name a few). But there was only one Bruce Lee, and although his life was cut short in 1973, his legacy still lives on today. These are his best films according to the scores on IMDb.

10 The Green Hornet (5.1)

The Green Hornet is a 1960s television show about a masked crime fighter and his sidekick starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee as Kato. Introduced initially on The Batman television series as anti-heroes, the series only lasted for twenty-six episodes. But in that short time, The Green Hornet became a cultural phenomenon because of an action-packed fighting machine, Bruce Lee.

When The Green Hornet was released in China, it was known as The Kato Show because of Lee’s popularity. Even though his lines were scarce and storylines mostly consisted of other characters, when he came on screen, the kung fu dynamo stole the show. Lee’s portrayal of Kato had a significant influence on the rise of martial arts in the United States. It represented the start of his dominance as an action hero cultural sensation.

9 Game Of Death II (5.2)

In the sequel to Game of Death, Bobby (Tae-jeong Kim) is seeking revenge after the murder of his brother, Billy Lo (Bruce Lee). It is curious why IMBD users rank Game of Death II how they do, but let’s examine.

This film consists of a composite of scenes from Lee’s older movies and actual news footage. Producers incorporated scenes from Lee’s childhood movies and footage of his funeral. Because of his short movie career, Game of Death II was added to this list by default. It was produced two years of his death.

8 Game Of Death (6.1)

Martial arts expert Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) fakes his death to find out who is trying to kill him. The plot was changed several times because of Lee’s death.

Fight scenes are incredible, including one with 7’ 2” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the final battle in his iconic yellow jumpsuit, Lee battles his way, level by level, inside a pagoda to get to the crime boss. The fighting footage in the final scenes was filmed in 1972. Lee was pulled away from the film to work on his first American movie release, Enter the Dragon. Tragically, he died before he could return to finish the film.

Game of Death was released in 1978 using a Bruce Lee stand-in. Auspiciously, viewers would see him in shades, or the camera’s perspective would be of the actor’s profile.

7 Marlowe (6.4)

Bruce Lee plays Kung Fu expert Winslow Wong, who is hired by a mob boss to threaten Philip Marlowe (James Gardner) not to pursue a case to find the missing brother of a young Kanas City woman.

Here again, despite not being the lead, when Lee appears onscreen, he is larger than life. Dressed in a brown suit with a gold turtleneck, Lee kicks a hole in the wall then chops a coat rack in half. Appearing in only two scenes, he leaves viewers wondering who is this new sensation as he ignites his movie career from co-star to lead actor.

6 Gu Xing Xue Lei (6.8)

Gu Xing Xue Lei or An Orphan’s Tragedy is a 1955 Hong Kong film where Bruce Lee plays a young man who becomes a mentee of a convict and must make difficult decisions about the direction of his life.

Lee is not recognized for his martial arts in this film since he was only 13 years old at the time. His facial expressions would become his signature style as part of his persona witnessed later in his martial arts films, where he appears to be in pain or full of sorrow during his fighting scenes.

5 The Big Boss (7.1)

The Big Boss is Bruce Lee’s first major film and starts his legendary, sometimes seemingly mythical prominence in martial arts films. Never has there been someone with such dynamic appeal with velvet-smooth catchphrases.

Lee plays a man sworn to an oath of non-violence working with his cousins in an ice factory where he discovers that there are drugs in the ice. Previously in martial arts cinema, fighting scenes were long, with abundant counterstrikes in a tactical game of chess until one finally gets a punch in. Not with Lee. His action is full of strikes, highly energetic, and fierce with passion and emotion to match.

4 The Orphan (7.3)

Bruce Lee portrays Ah Sam, a misguided youth who begins to trust a headmaster of an orphanage after he stops Lee from robbing a man. The headmaster persuades Lee to join the school to keep him out of trouble with the Triad.

The Orphan was directed by famed Chinese director Lee Sun-Fung and filmed just before Bruce Lee left Hong Kong to come to San Francisco in 1959. He was eighteen years old, and at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards, the film was considered as one of the best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures.

3 The Way Of The Dragon (7.3)

Bruce Lee writes, produces, directs, and stars in The Way of the Dragon (released in the United States as The Return of The Dragon). It is set in Rome and there is an epic battle between two of the most prominent figures in martial arts history; icon (Bruce Lee) versus future icon (Chuck Norris). Undoubtedly, there are better storylines and even better fight scenes (for the most part) in Lee’s previous films. Still, for this reason, it ranks third on the list.

The action and choreography of the final fight between Lee, the good guy dressed in black, and Norris, the antagonist in white, is brilliant as a cat’s meow starts the encounter in the Roman coliseum. It is ten minutes of martial arts cinema masterpiece.

2 Fist Of Fury (7.4)

Fisty of Fury, released under the title The Chinese Connection, is Bruce Lee’s next leading film role directed by the same director of The Big Boss, Lo Wei. Lee seeks revenge for the death of his teacher, a formula that would be used in kung fu cinema for years to come.

Once again, a new style of kung fu emerges. He brings more realism to fighting and choreography and has one of the most famous fight scenes in kung fu cinema history. Although the scene is badly dubbed, Lee is surrounded by several students from a rival school. The camera pans back as Lee, dressed in black, is circled by a sea of white karate gis. Then, you get 210 seconds of non-stop action.

1 Enter The Dragon (7.7)

Enter The Dragon is a star-filled kung fu volcanic eruption. The juggernaut of martial art films, the pinnacle, and it is Bruce Lee’s finest film deserving the top spot on this list.

Bruce Lee’s portrayal of a spy invited to a crime lord’s tournament has been embedded in American movie culture for its memorable quotes and characters along with its extraordinary fight scenes. Quotes like, “Boards don’t hit back,” to fight scenes where Lee’s expressions are used for popular memes – an undeniable cultural influence.

This film has also been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, Lee was not able to enjoy the success of this film; as he died of a cerebral edema one month before the premiere.

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