Although his allies try to help out, they are handily defeated, and Hai must face each of the martial artists in one-on-one combat. While inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. At the base of the pagoda, they fight 10 people, all black belts in Karate.

The pagoda, called Palsang-jon, is the only remaining wooden pagoda in South Korea. The setting of the pagoda is at Beopjusa temple in Songnisan National Park in South Korea. Hai, as well as four other martial artists (two of whom were played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan), then fight their way up a five-level pagoda, encountering a different challenge on each floor. When Hai refuses, his younger sister and brother are kidnapped, forcing him to participate. They would be the second group to try to do so, as the first attempt with a previous group had failed. The gang boss wants Hai to be a part of a group whose purpose is to retrieve said item.

They tell him the story of a pagoda where guns are prohibited, and under heavy guard by highly skilled martial artists who are protecting something ( which is not identified at all in any surviving material) held on its top level. The original plot involves Lee playing the role of Hai Tien (海天), a retired champion martial artist who is confronted by Korean underworld gangs. The film is also known for Lee's iconic yellow-and-black jumpsuit as well as his fight scene with NBA player and student Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, both of which have been referenced in numerous media. The original version's concept of ascending a tower while defeating enemies on each level was highly influential, inspiring numerous action films and video games. It was an influential film that had a significant cultural impact. This revised version received a mixed critical reception but was commercially successful, grossing an estimated US$50,000,000 (equivalent to $220,000,000 in 2022) worldwide. The final part of the film uses some of Lee's original film footage, but with the pagoda setting changed to a restaurant building, where he fights martial artists hired by the mafia in an attempt to rescue his fiancée Ann Morris (played by Colleen Camp). The 1978 film's plot was altered to a revenge story, where the mafia attempts to kill Lee's character, who fakes his death and seeks vengeance against those who tried to kill him. The story of Lee's original 1972 film involves Lee's character, in order to save his younger sister and brother, joining a group of martial artists who are hired to retrieve a stolen Chinese national treasure from the top floor of a five-story pagoda in South Korea, with each floor guarded by martial artists who must be defeated while ascending the tower. After Lee's death, Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse was enlisted to finish the film using two stand-ins it was released in 1978 as Game of Death, five years after Lee's death, by Golden Harvest. At the time of his death, he had made plans to resume the filming of The Game of Death. Lee died of cerebral edema before the film's release. Much of the footage that was shot is from what was to be the climax of the film.ĭuring filming, Lee received an offer to star in Enter the Dragon, the first kung fu film to be produced by a Hollywood studio ( Warner Bros.), and with a budget unprecedented for the genre ($850,000). The remaining footage has since been released with Lee's original Cantonese and English dialogue, with John Little dubbing Lee's Hai Tien character as part of the documentary titled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Over 100 minutes of footage was shot prior to his death, which was later misplaced in the Golden Harvest archives. The Game of Death ( Chinese: 死亡的遊戲) is an incomplete Hong Kong martial arts film, filmed between August and October 1972, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, in his final film project.

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