Quentin Tarantino on Bruce Lee – “Bruce Lee’s not a killer. If he’s facing a guy who could actually kill him, it’s a different story”
Quentin Tarantino recently addressed the controversy surrounding his portrayal of Bruce Lee during his Once A Time In Hollywood movie. For those out of the loop, there was a scene in this movie that showed Bruce Lee to be rude and arrogant, whilst shooting a fight scene. Such was the stigma surrounding the scene, is that it was supposedly the reason why the movie never got a release in China. According to many, Tarantino refused to edit the Bruce Lee scene out of the movie, so it was effectively blacklisted from the country.
Whilst on the Joe Rogan podcast, he was asked about his take on things and said, “The stuntmen hated Bruce, it’s always been known. That’s why Gene Lebell was brought on, to teach Bruce Lee respect for American stuntmen. Bruce had nothing for disrespect for them, he was always hitting them with his feet. It’s called ‘tagging’, when you hit a stuntmen for real. It got to the point where they refused to work with him.”
It is well documented that ‘Judo’ Gene Lebell playfully sparred with Bruce Lee whilst on set and Lee admitted that he had learnt a few moves from Lebell. Whether Tarantino’s claims are legit though will probably remain unknown.
He also spoke on the scene which showed Bruce Lee fighting Cliff Booth adding, “Cliff is a hand to hand combat killer who fought in World War II. If Cliff fought Bruce Lee at an Aaron Banks Madison Square garden tournament he wouldn’t stand a chance. As a killer in a jungle, he’d kill Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee’s not a killer. If he’s facing a guy who could actually kill him, it’s a different story. It’s in the book, he realizes, oh, he’s a killer.”
So, it’s fair to say that Tarantino has doubled down on his claims and is not really a fan of Bruce Lee. Regardless of his thoughts of Lee as a person though, it’s fair to say that as a martial artist he was one of the greatest of all time and his cultural impact lives on today.
