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
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Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
Directed by Wayne Wang • 1985 • United States
Starring Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor WongWayne Wang’s follow-up to his watershed indie CHAN IS MISSING is a family portrait that gracefully combines the director’s signature gentle humanism and eye for poignant detail. Offering another fresh pers...
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A Great Wall
Directed by Peter Wang • 1986 • United States, China
Starring Peter Wang, Kelvin Han Yee, Sharon IwaiThis delightful comedy was the first American feature shot in the People’s Republic of China. When San Francisco computer programmer Leo Fang (cowriter and director Peter Wang) is passed over fo...
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Living on Tokyo Time
Directed by Steven Okazaki • 1987 • United States
Starring Minako Ohashi, Ken Nakagawa, Mitzi AbeIn this offbeat, charmingly lo-fi romantic comedy, a young Japanese woman (Minako Ohashi) trying to find herself in America enters into a marriage of convenience with an aimless Japanese American pu...
