Bruce Lee in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”: what’s wrong with the fighter’s image?

In May this year, the world premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s long-awaited film “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” took place. The ninth movie of the director became the highest-grossing film of his career, collected a huge number of positive reviews and won a rating of 8.1 on IMDb.

However, there were also bad reviews. Many viewers were extremely dissatisfied with the fight scene between Cliff Booth, the hero of Brad Pitt, and Bruce Lee, played by Mike Moe. Mainly they were disappointed in what light Tarantino put the great movie actor and martial arts master of the last century. Let’s find out what’s wrong.

What was shown in the sensational scene?

The fight scene was shown as a reference to Cliff Booth’s past.

Once Rick Dalton, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, was starring in the movie “The Green Hornet.” At the same time on the set, Cliff, Rick’s understudy, hears Bruce Lee’s pathos speech. He declares that he would “cripple” Cassius Clay (real name Mohammed Ali) if they were to fight. Booth is outraged by such pompous behavior. He cuts into the conversation and says that Bruce Lee is unlikely to “leave more of a mark on Muhammad Ali’s life than a stain on his boxing shorts.” Barbed phrases fly one after another – a challenge to a fight, initiated by Bruce. In the course of it, the hero of Brad Pitt throws Lee in a parked nearby car so that it leaves a huge dent.

What does Mike Moe himself think of the scene?

In an interview for Vanity Fair, the actor admitted that he was stunned the first time he read the script.

I was so at odds with myself because Bruce is my hero. He was literally a god in my opinion. He wasn’t human to me, he was a superhero,” is how Mike Moe described his feelings.

However, the actor recommended treating the fictional scene as an episode of a Quentin Tarantino movie, from which you should always expect something extraordinary. Furthermore, Mike added that the director actually loves and honors Bruce Lee.

What are Quentin Tarantino’s arguments?

Fifteen years after his last visit, Quentin Tarantino was in Moscow again. At the press conference dedicated to the new movie, he answered the questions of the audience together with producers Shannon McIntosh and David Heyman. The question about the fight scene, of course, could not be avoided.

The director admitted that he may have exaggerated, but the goal was not to show Bruce as bad. In his defense, Tarantino said that in life Bruce Lee and in truth could be distinguished by arrogance. “Here’s everybody resenting the fact that Bruce never said he could have beaten Mohammed Ali. But I heard him say that!” – Quentin stated.

Tarantino cited the fictionalization of Cliff Booth’s character as the main aspect of the scene. No one is saying that Brad Pitt could ever overpower Bruce Lee. That’s what’s worth paying attention to. Before the conflict climaxes, Bruce talks about how he likes fights and real fighters. This episode just serves as proof that it is the fictional hero Cliff Booth who is the true warrior, he fights for real and for good reason takes one of the key, even fateful positions in the movie.