When superstar Bruce Lee quickly vanished from the cinema world, a vacuum was created for an energetic star like him. And as it turned out, almost exactly like him. For the next decade, a genre of martial arts films from the east would sell fast and furious to the world, one that we today affectionately call "Bruceploitation". The world of sunglasses wearing, bell-bottoms kicking and nose thumbing pugilists with names like Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee took over the cinemas through the 1970s and 1980s before settling into the bottom of Kung Fu history. Until now. Actor and director Michael Worth has spent over a decade shining a light on a dirty little link in action cinema history the rest of the world knows little about. Through his movie going youth, he collected posters, lobby cards and every thing else he could on a genre that helped fill a gap for him left by a legend gone too soon. Over 150 posters from his life-long collection are within, exhibiting an evolution and a view of a man that helped forge action cinema as we know it today with all its links to its humble but wild beginnings.
Martial Art: The Art of Bruceploitation Movie Posters
When superstar Bruce Lee quickly vanished from the cinema world, a vacuum was created for an energetic star like him. And as it turned out, almost exactly like him. For the next decade, a genre of martial arts films from the east would sell fast and furious to the world, one that we today affectionately call "Bruceploitation". The world of sunglasses wearing, bell-bottoms kicking and nose thumbing pugilists with names like Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee took over the cinemas through the 1970s and 1980s before settling into the bottom of Kung Fu history. Until now. Actor and director Michael Worth has spent over a decade shining a light on a dirty little link in action cinema history the rest of the world knows little about. Through his movie going youth, he collected posters, lobby cards and every thing else he could on a genre that helped fill a gap for him left by a legend gone too soon. Over 150 posters from his life-long collection are within, exhibiting an evolution and a view of a man that helped forge action cinema as we know it today with all its links to its humble but wild beginnings.