Top 10 Bruce Lee Movies of All Time

Although the movie was released after Bruce Lee died in 1973, it comes in at number 10 on our list. There were several movies Bruce Lee wasn’t able to complete, and this is one of them. The movie has shots from previous Bruce Lee movies and critically, it’s not as good as some of the top movies on this list – however, it’s not unwatchable. It is a solid action movie of the 80s, with impressive fight scenes in what feels like a tribute to the late legend Bruce Lee. One for true Bruce Lee fans. 

Bruce Lee wrote, directed, and produced the movie. It was shot between September and October 1972 and was scraped together after his death. Although it’s not a complete movie, you should give it a watch. Most of the footage of the movie was later misplaced by production company Golden Harvest.

The story is about a guy who is on a mission to save his sister and brother. According to Bruce Lee fans, the movie is not one of his best. But still, a few things in the movie stand out. Including Lee’s famous yellow outfit that inspired Uma Thurman’s look in Kill Bill.

Marlowe is a neo-noir movie by Bruce Lee. The movie is based on Raymond Chandler’s novel “The Little Sister”. Although Bruce played the supporting role, it was one of his earliest Hollywood movies. The role is short but memorable. The story is about a young woman who hired a detective to find her brother. 

The movie sold a total of 496,076 tickets in Spain and France (sadly, we couldn’t find any information about the North American ticket sales).  Fans appreciated the cameo of Lee, who in 1969 was a well-known martial arts teacher in Hollywood.

Chu Kei directed this drama, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel Great Expectations. Lee, who was 15 in this movie, was praised for his performance in the role of Frank Wong Fuk-wan, based on the character Philip Pirrip. We’re not going to give any more away in case you don’t know Dicken’s original novel – this movie is worth a watch as the twist is worth the 113-minute run time.

The next one on our list is Fist of Fury.  The movie is also known as The Chinese Connection and was one of Lee’s Hong Kong martial arts flicks. It is the second kung fu movie from Lee. In it, he plays a student of a Shanghai Kung Fu master in the 1930s. He discovered his master was killed by the Japanese. So, he goes on a journey to take revenge. 

It is a patriotic movie for Chinese fans. The movie contains realistic fight scenes and earned around $100 million at the box office.  The budget was only $100,000. Jackie Chan appeared in the movie as an extra and stunt double. It was released in the U.S. market in 1972.

The classic The Return of the Dragon was co-produced, written, and directed by Bruce Lee. It was released in the United States as Return of the Dragon, elsewhere it was known as The Way of the Dragon.

The movie was Lee’s first and only which he directed completely by himself. The story is about Tang Lung (Lee), who is sent to Rome to protect a Chinese restaurant from the Mafia. Although the movie has a simple plot, Lee still stands out.

The movie was released in the USA on 30 December 1972. It was made on a tight budget but still able to collect $130 million worldwide. After the filming, there were rumors that Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris engaged in a secret fight in a hallway. It was a Best Feature runner-up at the 11th Golden Horse Awards.

The Kid is one of the earliest Bruce Lee movies. He was only 9 years old when he acted in the movie. It is an adaptation of a popular Hong Kong comic. Bruce Lee’s father, Lee Hoi-chuen is also present in the movie. 

The movie is about a poor child who runs a stall with his cousins. He is not interested in education and often gets into fights. The story then takes a twist. Despite negative reviews from critics, the movie has a 67% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and is not to be missed if you are a Bruce Lee fan.

The movie is considered to be Lee’s masterpiece. The movie was written by Ni Kuang and earned around $50 million. It was made on a tight budget of $1,00,000. 

Lee played the character Cheng Chao-an. He travels to Pak Chong, Thailand, to stay with his cousins from Guangdong, China. He made a promise to his mother not to fight. What happens next? Whether you are a fan of Bruce Lee or not, it’s worth watching to find out.

The Orphan is a drama by Lee Sun-Fung. In the movie, an eighteen-year-old Bruce Lee stars. It is the last movie Lee made in Hong Kong as a teenager as in 1959 he headed to New York. 

The movie is ranked among the top 100 Chinese Motion Pictures and is based on a Chinese novel named Au-Yeung Tin. The movie is about Ho See-kei, who helps rehabilitate Bruce Lee’s character.

Directed by Robert Clouse, Enter the Dragon is an influential classic action movie. The movie is one of the best action romps of the 70s – not to mention Bruce Lee’s best movie of all time. 

It is the most highly rated Lee movie on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. It was Lee’s last complete movie appearance before he died on July 20, 1973. Lee plays a martial arts master on a mission to stop an evil drug lord. The movie earned around US$400 million worldwide and made Lee an internationally recognized star.