A production of Starsea Motion Pictures, the same Hong Kong film company that gave us cheap, greasy potboilers like "The Chinese Godfather" and "Kung Fu Massacre", "Fist of Unicorn" (aka "The Unicorn Palm" and "Bruce Lee and I") is notable for its marginal association with the late Bruce Lee. Some background: the star of this film, Sheau Chyh Lin or Little Unicorn (miscredited at the end of the Bruce Lee film "The Way of the Dragon" as 'Unicon'), was Lee's best friend. As children, they had acted together in Chinese films of the late '40s and '50s, and Unicorn remained active in the industry after Lee had moved to the United States to attend college. When Lee came back to Hong Kong, Unicorn put him in touch with various producers (including the Shaw Brothers) so that the martial artist could revive his movie career. In 1972, Starsea gave Unicorn--never an actor or fighter of any note--the opportunity to play the lead in one of their films if he could somehow secure the participation of Bruce Lee, the new Hong Kong superstar! The creator of Jeet Kune Do declined to appear on screen in such a small-time production, but agreed to choreograph the fight scenes. Problems arose, however, when the producers of "Fist of Unicorn" secretly filmed Lee choreographing a couple of fights. The camera jerks, the footage of Lee is fleeting--but it's there in the international print of the movie, and Unicorn was a willing participant in this unsavory attempt to exploit his best friend's star power. (This should be obvious to anyone when watching the additional scene in the international print, in which Unicorn shares screen time with one of those infamous Bruce Lee doubles! The double is filmed from behind, and split-second clips of Lee choreographing the movie are sloppily interspersed throughout the scene as well.) Sheau Chyh Lin--who played the lead in just two more films, "The Bloody Hero" and "Deadly Snail vs. Kung Fu Killer", before perishing in a car accident--was able to hold his own in a long fight scene with veteran screen villain Yasuaki Kurata, so he wasn't quite as bad as people say, but he certainly wasn't believable as the hero in a movie of this kind. In the last analysis, "Fist of Unicorn" is intriguing only as a study in grimy exploitation. The DVD contains both the Mandarin and international versions of the film, as well as some extras (including the infamous "Last Days of Bruce Lee" short subject, narrated by Betty Ting Pei, and an interview with Lee stuntman Bee Chen).
