They Call Me Bruce? (1982)

Just perfect...

Excellent but underrated film

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Watched at face value, this movie was decent. The jokes were sporadic enough to keep the otherwise monotonous story interesting. As this was a low budget, low production, small time movie, the expectations should not be too high.As for the past comments on stereotypes and lack of plot, this movie was designed to be a spoof of the Bruce Lee/martial arts movies at the time. Yune's character is unable to live up to the stereotypes which have been given to him through Hollywood (eg. Bruce Lee's machismo) and struggles with his identity. As an Asian American, Yune cannot live up to the macho Asian image yet is rejected (possibly as a threat) by the so called "real" white Americans.Unlike Hollywood movies, Yune's character is a regular Asian American male, neither hyper-masculine, feminized, asexual (by his many vulgar jokes), or a confused foreigner (Long Duk Dong). Though not overtly pursed, there seems to be some attraction by Pam Huntington's character towards Yune.Yune's character follows no stereotype, and is instead just a regular Asian American male. In the process, he is able to attract the attention of a white female as well as receive an on-screen kiss – something Bruce Lee, Jet Li (as was cut out of Romeo Must Die), and the apparently three dimensional Jackie Chan have all been unable to achieve in mainstream American media. If this movie ever had the chance to become Hollywood, all the above would have been undoubtedly cut.For the movie's failure to live up to preconceived images and stereotypes of males of Asian descent, alone, I give it an 8/10.As for previous comments on how one should not draw conclusions from a comedy movie, one should not draw conclusions from any movie at all.

Some of these people are being way too critical over the quality of the script and social stereotypes. People should take it for what it is...it's a spoof. It's not like they have money to recruit big-name stars. It's a movie that should be enjoyed by the public...it's not an oscar contender. Are the gags mundane? yes. Are there asian stereotypes? Yes. The movie plays on these stereotypes and they know that's how the general public viewed them at the time. Someone commented on how Johnny's acting was bad...but excuse me...there was no royal academy of acting in korea. Like Margaret Cho said, "There was war." And also...where do people get the idea that the character Bruce is Korean? Don't people see the Chinese motif in the story? Chinese flour, Chinese noodles, Chinese food? Marco Polo? The actor is Korean, yes, but they said nothing of Bruce being Korean.

This is one of the worst comedies I have ever seen. The plot is ridiculously dumb and the jokes are really bad. I wouldn't even recommend this for kids, even really stupid kids. I saw it recently amongst friends (we were having a contest as to who could rent the worst movie) and it felt really dated, even though it wasn't made THAT long ago. This movie is much worse then it's rating and should be avoided at all costs. The good thing about this movie is that it isn't carried at most video stores! But if yours has it do me a favor rent it and throw it in the trash then pay the fee to buy it (shouldn't be that much). This is a great way to help the public and it doesn't take up as many hours as community service. Be a leader in your community and help destroy all copies of this movie!Zoopansick

I decided to watch this again, after reading some of the other comments, and perhaps find a funnier movie than the one I remembered seeing, but it still wasn't there. "They Call Me Bruce?" does have some funny jokes in it, but also too many flat ones. The whole production looks clumsy and amateurish, but the film's biggest mistake is its overreliance on fight scenes and on the needless plot. Still, it's not the kind of movie you can genuinely hate, and Johnny Yune is not the most dislikable actor you could find.... (*1/2)