Directed by Elliott Hong • 1982 • United States
Starring Johnny Yune, John Louie, Bill Capizzi
This unabashedly goofball martial-arts spoof gave an Asian American comedian a rare chance in the spotlight. Stand-up comic Johnny Yune stars as a Korean immigrant living in California whom everyone calls Bruce, after Bruce Lee. When the gangsters he works for recruit him to transport (unbeknownst to him) a cargo of cocaine across the country, the hapless Bruce is launched on an epic misadventure in which he’ll have to channel his legendary namesake in order to survive.
Up Next in Asian American ’80s
-
West Is West
Directed by David Rathod • 1987 • United States
Starring Ashutosh Gowariker, Heidi Carpenter, Pearl PadamseeHandsome and broke, Vikram (played by Ashutosh Gowariker, future director of the Oscar-nominated LAGAAN: ONCE UPON A TIME IN INDIA) arrives from Bombay to find his college plans have fall...
-
Community Plot
Directed by J. T. Takagi • 1984 • United States
Four neighbors form an uneasy alliance after a case worker from family court is accidentally killed in their building. With a gutsy sense of humor, this satiric comedy captures the chaos and cultural diversity of New York’s Lower East Side.
-
Pak Bueng on Fire
Directed by Supachai Surongsain • 1987 • United States
Two young Thai men struggle to survive in Los Angeles.
