What are the original language tracks for Bruce Lee's films?

[TripMasterMunky]

I know Enter the Dragon was always in English, but what about Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon? Are their original language tracks Mandarin or Cantonese? I've always thought they were Mandarin, but every time I watch one of these films, I keep on reminding myself to double check one day but I always forgot. So here I am, just to make sure.

So - what language were these films originally in? Cantonese or Mandarin?

Thanks.

[Asmo]

Mandarin.

[Killer Meteor]

Bruce himself is speaking Cantonese in the films, and I find his performances come across better in the Cantonese versions - even though it is not his voice in either version.

The Cantonese track for Fist of Fury has the full score unlike the Mandarin version, which is missing a section

The Cantonese version of The Big Boss was completely re-scored, and fighting cries from Bruce's later films have been dubbed over the original fight sound FX

[The Dragon]

...The Cantonese version of The Big Boss was completely re-scored, and fighting cries from Bruce's later films have been dubbed over the original fight sound FX

I hate when they do stupid stuff like that, as with the re-scored ETD, and John Little dub-overs! :(

[Markgway]

BOSS - Mandarin (despite what Bruce was speaking)
FIST - Mandarin
WAY - Mandarin
ENTER - English
GAME - English
TOWER - Cantonese (though half the cast was Korean)

[TripMasterMunky]

Wait, so there's some conflicting responses. Is the original language track supposed to be Mandarin or Cantonese? And which does Bruce speak?

[Killer Meteor]

Wait, so there's some conflicting responses. Is the original language track supposed to be Mandarin or Cantonese? And which does Bruce speak?

All the Chinese films were just originally shot without sound and dubbed into Mandarin only. Bruce is speaking Cantonese but chances are given the standards of the time he'd have been dubbed by someone else even if there were Cantonese versions

The Cantonese dubs for Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon were recorded later but are IMO fine alternatives. Big Boss was completely rescored for its Cantonese version so it is not authentic to the film's original conception

So the first 3 are supposed to be Mandarin, but the Cantonese for Fist and Way is an OK alternative

[WuxiaFan]

Here's more information from HKFlix:

A lot of people ask where they can get Bruce Lee films with his original voice. The short answer is that out of the four major movies he completed (He died during production of "Game Of Death"), the only one that featured his voice was ENTER THE DRAGON (USA version only), where he did a few bits of English dialog. He also did Bob Baker's voice in "Fist Of Fury" (on some dubbed versions). Bruce also did the war cries (screams) on most Mandarin dubs of "Fist Of Fury" and "Way Of The Dragon".

Why wasn't Bruce's voice on his movies with the few exceptions above? Like practically all Chinese movies during this time, actor's voice was not recorded during filming. This was done for several reasons:

- Cost. It is much cheaper to film action with out sound, then to go back and fill in the dialogue later. Chinese films during this time were all done on a miniscule budget.

- Most actors in Hong Kong, including Bruce, did not speak Mandarin. The primary market for these films was the Mandarin language market.

- Creating a dub is an art much like acting is an art. Bruce, like most other actors didn't have any experience sitting down in a sound studio and making a dub. That's why he didn't do his own dubs.

[Killer Meteor]

In the Chinese versions of Way of the Dragon, Bruce can be heard randomly dubbing several characters, including the Boss, even though English performers were already dubbing them!

[The Dragon]

The whole dubbing thing for those films were a hack.
The Shaws were dubbed best, I think.

[TripMasterMunky]

Hm, very interesting. I didn't know all that, thanks for clearing that up.

Yeah I was wondering about the war cries too, because on my version of Game of Death (from the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection,) they're pretty crazy lol.

[Killer Meteor]

On the English version of Game of Death, the cries were badly done by one Chris Kent. The different Chinese version uses well edited genuine Bruce cries

[The Dragon]

Here's more information from HKFlix:

A lot of people ask where they can get Bruce Lee films with his original voice. The short answer is that out of the four major movies he completed (He died during production of "Game Of Death"), the only one that featured his voice was ENTER THE DRAGON (USA version only), where he did a few bits of English dialog. He also did Bob Baker's voice in "Fist Of Fury" (on some dubbed versions). Bruce also did the war cries (screams) on most Mandarin dubs of "Fist Of Fury" and "Way Of The Dragon".

Why wasn't Bruce's voice on his movies with the few exceptions above? Like practically all Chinese movies during this time, actor's voice was not recorded during filming. This was done for several reasons:

- Cost. It is much cheaper to film action with out sound, then to go back and fill in the dialogue later. Chinese films during this time were all done on a miniscule budget.

- Most actors in Hong Kong, including Bruce, did not speak Mandarin. The primary market for these films was the Mandarin language market.

- Creating a dub is an art much like acting is an art. Bruce, like most other actors didn't have any experience sitting down in a sound studio and making a dub. That's why he didn't do his own dubs.

-Appeal: some actor's actual voices didn't bode well for what some directors were aiming for, so assigning a dubber with a more stronger pitch in their voice could really enhance a performance, crazy as it may seem.
:D

[Drunkenmasterbates]

rub a dub dub

[Markgway]

Many of the actors spoke Mandarin correctly on set but were still dubbed by others because of their Cantonese accents.