It was July 20, 1973. George Lazenby, star of the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was waiting for Bruce Lee in a Japanese restaurant in Kowloon, Hong Kong to further discuss the details of their movie idea. They already had lunch earlier that day and hung out for 3 days after Lazenby journeyed to Hong Kong to meet Bruce. Raymond Chow was there, too. He was the founder of the Hong Kong-based film company, Golden Harvest, that employed Bruce Lee. Together, they were determined to make a film that would become a Bruce meets Bond extravaganza.
However, Bruce was uncharacteristically late to the dinner. Apparently, he had as serious headache and was knocked out after taking something for it. So, Raymond Chow and George Lazenby dined without him but when the James Bond actor returned to his hotel, he had a phone call from the press who asked him, “So, Bruce Lee is dead. What are your thoughts?”
Bruce was the biggest star in Hong Kong, maybe the biggest star that Hong Kong ever had, but he was now sadly gone at the age of 32. Both of his first two films smashed box office records in Hong Kong and Enter the Dragon was about to become the highest-grossing martial arts film ever made (which is still true to this day).
Much can be said about Bruce’s life, his stardom, and his cultural impact. However, this is a story about the movie that Bruce Lee and George Lazenby were going to make together. In fact, the movie actually was made, obviously without Lee, but with some commitment to Lee’s idea.
The story had developed rapidly after George’s journey to Hong Kong just 3 days prior to Bruce’s untimely passing. Lee would constantly help progress the idea and come up with numerous aspects of the script, even calling up Lazenby one night at 4 a.m. just to tell him another idea he had for the film.
Of course, Golden Harvest couldn’t use the James Bond name, but his character in this film could basically be a James Bond-esque character and they apparently discussed marketing it as “Former James Bond actor, George Lazenby…”
Many point out that Enter the Dragon can be interpreted as a Bond movie if Bond was a Chinese martial artist. Perhaps it’s best to say this element was inspired by the hugely popular Bond movies in that Lee plays a special agent and is sent on a mission to uncover the kingpin of a drug smuggling ring by his lonesome.
Taking down a drug smuggling kingpin would also be the (unoriginal) plot for the Bruce-Bond movie. Lee had also wanted Japanese actor, Sonny Chiba, to be in the film and he allegedly agreed. Chiba was a black belt in Karate and made an impact on Japanese television shows but was about to become a breakout martial arts movie star (shooting to international stardom with Street Fighter in 1974). However, after Lee’s death, Chiba’s heart was not into it and he decided not to commit to the project.
Although Chiba was out, Raymond Chow actually got George Lazenby to commit to it. Lazenby had already gone back to England, but Chow convinced him and eventually signed him to a 3-picture deal. Chow also sent an expert martial artist to train Lazenby for weeks. The Bond actor later commented, in retelling the story, that the martial artist that Raymond Chow sent was also an ex-con who went to prison for murder. Surely, Lazenby was wondering what he got himself into.
However, despite Lazenby’s stardom, Chow knew he wouldn’t be enough to carry the film since it was intended to be for Hong Kong audiences. Without Lee and Chiba, Chow needed another Hong Kong star.
Enter Angela Mao.
A few years ago, I personally had the pleasure of speaking with Angela Mao. She discussed how Bruce Lee had become like a big brother to her, especially on the set of Enter of the Dragon, where Bruce actually plays Mao’s brother (though they share no scenes together). Actually, Mao only has one appearance in the film but it showcases her intense fighting ability and how she’s able to come across the screen with such stunning ferocity that it feels like she’s kinda kicking the audience’s butt.
Mao, only 22 years old at the time, was in Enter the Dragon because she was a budding star for Golden Harvest and their key female martial arts lead. She already starred in the now-martial arts classics Hapkido and Lady Whirlwind, which would also become her nickname (though she is also known as Lady Kung Fu).
Raymond Chow decided that, for this film with Lazenby, Angela Mao would star in what was roughly supposed to be Bruce Lee’s role.
The movie would be called Shrine of the Ultimate Bliss, foolishly released in some areas as Stoner, which is the poorly-given last name to Lazenby’s character. We say poorly given because the movie is about him taking down a drug kingpin and his character’s name is Stoner!
Bruce Lee’s idea was basically to have Lazenby and himself play roles that are at odds with each other intially as they would both be on the good side without knowing it, thus a Bruce-vs-Bond scenario. Of course, they ultimately realize that they’re on the same side and then fight together to take down the drug ring.
Whang In-Shik, whom fans may recognize as one of the fighters who faced Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon, plays the role of the drug kingpin in Stoner. His name is Mr. Big and that’s yet another questionable name for other reasons that we won’t get into at this time.
Meanwhile, Angela Mao plays Li Shao Hu (a name with no other hidden meaning) who is a Taiwanese cop whose mission is to take down this drug ring. Lazenby’s character, an Australian cop, is motivated to take confront them because their drugs killed his girlfriend.
Truth is that there’s a lot of unnecessary sleaziness in this film, which really only serves to bring it down. Nonetheless, Lazenby does well with his fight scenes, though Angela Mao steals the show in her finale fight with Whang In-Shik.
Sammo Hung is also in the movie but one can’t help but think of how different the film would’ve been with Bruce Lee in it and how they likely deviated from the main story, though that’s left for speculation.
Both of Lazenby’s follow-up films were better, including The Man From Hong Kong which, though good, has a surprisingly strong score on Rotten Tomatoes of 100%, though the audience score is just 61%. Lazenby has a scene where his character catches fire and, convinced to do his own stunts, his arm did indeed catch fire and he suffered what turned out to be minor burns. This scene made it into the film.
This time, Lazenby teams up with Jimmy Wang Yu, the guy who was the main martial arts star in Hong Kong before Bruce Lee, or more accurately before David Chiang who was really the main guy before Lee.
Yu had starred in numerous martial arts films in the mid-to-late 1960s, most famously the classic One-Armed Swordsman in 1967. David Chiang would become the main martial arts star come 1970, even starring in The New One-Armed Swordsman in Yu’s role (awkward!). The prequel would be called the Two-Armed Swordsman (just kidding!). Of course, both Jimmy Wang Yu and David Chiang would be replaced in that top spot by Bruce Lee in 1971.
The only real letdown of The Man From Hong Kong is it’s also about busting a drug lord but the performance from Yu and Lazenby is just, well, extremely fun, especially if you don’t take the movie too seriously.
To finish out his deal with Golden Harvest, Lazenby saved the best for the last, at least in my opinion. He teams up this time with both Jimmy Wang Yu and Angela Moa in a film called A Queen’s Ransom which, as the title suggests, is about an assassination attempt on the Queen. Some odd stuff here, and some stock footage is used to show the Queen, but it’s overall a very good film. Look out for Bolo Yeung of Enter the Dragon fame.
All 3 of these movies certainly have their issues, many of which Bruce Lee likely would not have accepted. However, it’s a shame that the first film is the least impressive because it likely steered people’s excitement away from the next two. The films also did not have significant international releases, which only helped their obscurity.
There is one thing that we just can’t seem to shake, however. How good of an idea is a Bruce Lee-type character for a James Bond film? I would be excited for that one. It would also be a way to have an Asian actor co-star directly with the James Bond actor in the film, if not become the next 007 himself. Bruce Lee would’ve made an excellent James Bond but he also likely would have created a new character in the James Bond style, which he practically was thinking of doing when brainstorming with Lazenby. I’m still surprised that there is no serious Enter the Dragon sequel but mimicking Bruce might be considered tasteless by some.
If there was indeed a James Bond film with an Asian martial arts star in it, then our five nominees for the title of that film are: A Better Time to Live, From Hong Kong with Fury, To Kill for Tomorrow, The Hong Kong Connection, and My Word is Bond.
I know one thing’s for sure, if they do make such a James Bond film it will have a significantly better title than Stoner.