Review: The most interesting aspect about Fist of Unicorn is not the movie itself, but the actual story behind the movie. Labelling this film as a Bruce Lee movie would be quite wrong, as it features not more than a mere two seconds of footage of the Kung Fu star. Bruce Lee was indeed involved in the production, but only because he accepted the proposition from his good friend Unicorn Chan, who at the time, helped Bruce to get back into the Hong Kong movie industry. Apparently, before production started, the producers of the movie told Unicorn Chan that if he could convince Bruce Lee to co-star in the movie, Chan would get the major role in the film. Bruce probably smelled that something was fishy here; as it looked that he would only be used as a marketing tool. Bruce declined the offer to appear on screen but agreed to help his friend on the set and help promote the picture. Bruce ended up with the job of fight choreographer on Fist of Unicorn, while he was still preparing his big project, Game of Death.

However, while working on the set with the cast, Bruce was secretly filmed by the crew. The producers then took some parts of the footage and inserted it in the final product. They even used his picture on posters and publicity shots. What is unknown exactly, is if Unicorn Chan was really part of the evil producer’s scheme, or if Bruce was really aware of this and was just returning a favour to his friend. We are still wondering what court action Bruce Lee would have followed if he were still alive, as Bruce indeed took legal action against the production company, although procedures were interrupted by his death. However, one thing is for sure, Fist of Unicorn does not fit in the same league as other real Bruce Lee productions.

Besides the supposed appearance of Bruce Lee, there is nothing much to be thrilled about in this film. The rather simple story line, with old school kung fu movie clichés of course, doesn’t put the movie on high ground to begin with. The level of action and drama is not very well balanced, and you end up with too much space between the development of the story and the beginning of the real action. On the other side, the ending is quite funny. The many bloopers, the final shot of Unicorn getting at the girl, and the credits complete with Bruce Lee footage are all quite hilarious.

The character designs are of very poor quality too, and the acting, even from the main cast, does not support the characters credibility either. We are even questioning the choice of Unicorn Chan as the main actor. Even if you don’t compare him to his charismatic, legendary friend, Chan easily shows poor acting and his martial art techniques are not up to the standard of other great actors of his time. He is much more on the supporting actor level than anything else. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the chance to redeem himself as his life and career ended in a fatal car accident a few years after Bruce Lee succumbed to his cerebral oedema. It is also said that this film features an early appearance of Jackie Chan, probably as a stunt man, but unfortunately I couldn’t spot it.

Since the kung fu ability of the main character is not so impressive, most of the fights are generally ordinary. Even if the choreography is not too bad, it never really looks as good and dynamic as old Shaw Brothers productions or other Bruce Lee movies. It also takes a long time before the real kung fu action starts, as the story takes time to introduce the setting. It is not necessarily a bad thing, in a case where the story and the characters are interesting, but unfortunately it is not the case here.