Quentin Tarantino Defends Bruce Lee's Depiction in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 

Tarantino's calling anyone arrogant or cocky is the real icing on the cake.

Linda Lee was quoting a film critic who said "Lee would likely beat Ali" Bruce Lee never said it and Linda never said it. Bruce loved Ali and thought the opposite.

Bruce Lee was asked if he could beat Mohammad Ali and he laughed and said “his hand is the size of my head”

They made Bruce lee so slow in the scene lol. People should watch real life videos of his actual skills. It was unreal and centuries ahead of his and our time

It is truly u unfortunate that Bruce Lee passed away too early. He could've shown the world something better and did something unbelievable.

Nope. Can't agree with Tarantino on this one. It doesn't confirm the accuracy of his depiction by citing something that Bruce Lee or his wife might have said. Someone being an "actual" warrior and seen combat isnt confirming anything in the other character either. The fact is Bruce Lee's true combat ability is a mystery compared to his known potential. Anyone trying to prove anything about his actual ability needs to bring facts related to that ability or lack of.

In Tarantino's next movie he'll portray George Washington as an Italian Mobster who shoots people in the back of the head

Ive always thought that Tarantino was kinda overrated. But him thinking he knows about fighting, and the difference between a soldier, a martial artist, a sports fighter when it comes to combat... thats some absolute arrogance driven by absolute ignorance.

Once upon a time in Tarantino's fanthasies.

Pure American Response.....Tarantino lost my respect...Now I kind of Hate Brad Pitt also for acting in that scene....

Arrogant who think himself as a total badass Are you talking about Tarantino ?

Tarantino lost it .. film should be a 4 on a scale of 10 .. if you don’t know a legend it’s not wise making him look bad .. you have issues

He did Bruce dirty!

Tarantino did something very classless and wrong here. He took a real life icon and diminished him in a fictitious encounter against a fictitious person. What the hell was he thinking?

Tarantino lost my respect.

the young generation dont understand why bruce lee is still so respected. In a time where the world was separated and in conflits between ethnic groups everywhere on the planet : the cold war, USA vs URSS/CHINA, the aparteid in AFRICA, the berlin wall in EUROPE, the vietnam war in ASIA came in hollywood a chinese guy, born american with german descent fan of mohamed ali, not allowed to learn avanced kung fu technique with his master yip man because he wasn't 100% chinese. So to complete his knowledge and not fall to the dark side of the force like most of the world's population in that time did : he fought racial prejudices and learned from others cultures and preached this philosophy his entire life.

I like Tarantino movies but he seems to hate a certain type of people in every one of his movies.

This is the part of the movie that disappointed me. I was excited to see the depiction of Bruce Lee, but this was so far from the legend. It is a shame, truly. For the younger people, this is all they see of the man.

Yeah I'm glad Joker beat this movie at the Oscars.

Bruce Lee invented Jeet Kune Do and the way he jump in the movie like an idiot is absolutely not the Jeet Kune Do way.

Man, Tarantino is making an ass of himself. Look, i really don't have a problem with the scene in which Bruce Lee is portrayed. It's a daydream that Pitt's character is having it's HIS DAYDREAM, ok. Our daydreams don't have to conform to a certain standard that is just ridiculous. Saying that, Linda Lee did not say that Lee would beat Ali in a fight, she was quoting an excerpt from a TV critic:www.quora.com/Did-Bruce-Lee-really-say-that-he-could-beat-up-Muhammad-Ali-in-Linda-Lees-first-biography-as-Quentin-Tarantino-claims Tarantino is just saying this to defend his own legacy but it's a lie, point blank and it's just really really sloppy that Tarantino would say this without knowing the real facts behind it. So, the scene where Bruce Lee says he would smash Ali is based on a lie and that is something i cannot be cool with

It is a bit strange how Quentin is able to say Bruce lee would lose in this fight scenario if it was real. Like its a big call!?

You should not touch Bruce Lee. That makes me dislike you Tarantino.

Is Quentin Tarantino really heard Bruce Lee said it? If he really heard it with his own ears.. Then i would believe him, if not.. Well Then he's just a low key jealous fan boy..

Tarantino wantsto destroy the image if Bruce Lee by lying to the public view when he said he heard people say and not knowing the truth about Bruce Lee so this movie is actually a hate towards Teacher Bruce lee.

No Lee had respect toward Mohamed Ali as he partly based his own style on Mohamed Ali’s fights.

bruce lee's movies were awful, I don't get why some people see him as God.

I wish there was an asian movie does the same with fake action stars like John Wayne, Chuck Norris or Clint Eastwood.

Why is everyone questioning whether Bruce was a good fighter or not when the biggest names in UFC give respect to Bruce and says he would've been a UFC champ if he was in his prime right now. Dana White, Joe Rogan, Jon Jones and even Conor (who was last person he gave respect to?) give Bruce props. Bruce will always be a legend.

been great Fan of Tarantino watched all of his movies. Tarantino Just killed himself. I Promise never to watch his movie again.

Bruce Lee was inspired by Mohammed ali and it inspired his style of fighting he would never say that..Taeinto is a liar.

I'd like to think that it was in Cliff Booth's version of the story.

I had the good fortune to interact with Bruce Lee at the 1967 Internationals and the Cal State tournament in San Francisco, 1969. I was one of the only white practitioners of Chinese Gung Fu in U.S. Karate tournaments at the time, and James Yimm Lee invited me to the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute at his home in Oakland; where Bruce and Linda first went after leaving Washington. Bruce was one of the coolest guys I ever met; not the insecure, mortido-oriented little braggart Tarantino portrayed in the film. Bruce was a bigger person than that. In general, I thought OATIH was based on a brilliant idea: "What would have happened if the Manson Family went to the wrong house that night?" Now, Quentin gets to slaughter someone everyone in Hollywood hates. Genius, really. But trashing Bruce in the process was uncalled for That said, Bruce would have laughed at it. The portrayal was like the rest of the movie: intended as a humorous abstraction of life. I get that and I think Bruce would have, too. Still, I think Tarantino should have considered the family and friends, first.

This tarantula guy needs to be punished

It being a fantasy doesn't make it less disrespectful. He wouldn't do this to a legend like Muhammed Ali, so he shouldn't have done this to Bruce.

The Movie is not meant to a biographical portrayal.....its an alternate reality, fictional as it gets and its a joke.

I love this film, really.....but I despise Tarantino so much to do that to the legendary Bruce Lee (I can't understand because he made a great tribute to him in Kill Bill)

I do not like what Quentin did with the Bruce Lee character.

TARANTINO IT HAS NO HONOR.

Well I live in Japan and it was uncomfortable to watch that scene, I know Lee was not Japanese but he was from Asia and the theater was full of people who I guess must enjoy Tarantino’s movies. All the characters were getting their nice shots, hell even Manson got it better than Lee. I don’t understand why showing that scene, mocking a martial artist legend who also passed in a young age and whose son would die tragically in the set of a movie (Brandon Lee The Crow) But then again this is Tarantino not Spielberg we’re talking about, and the overall movie wasn’t good, but I liked the happy hypothetical ending.

I think cliff was on acid. Sifu Bruce lee wasn't this meowing cat, "wooo-aaahh" kind of guy. He was a true martial artist. Quentin Tarantino should be more respectful to a legend who brought the arts to the west

Absolutely love Bruce Lee, and respect and admire and remain inspired by him to this day. I think people don’t see what a lot of scenes were setting up.....that Brad’s character Cliff was the toughest superhero like guy in the movie.. It was great! And it was a fairytale.

Scene was kinda out of character with Bruce Lee getting beaten by this stuntman dude who is drinking and smoking heavily. This guy is clearly not an athlete at all.

I think Quentin doesn't really want to say it...but his depiction of Bruce Lee was a microcosm of how hollywood actors behave in general.

After reading his defense, i think Quentin is more like his depiction of Bruce lee in this film... 😂 He was so sure on what he was doing... Heck, he killed Hitler...

We know his legacy but depictions this day and age are powerful...

"Historical Fiction" is one of Tarantino's deals... Remember "Inglorious Bastards?"

theres no need to humiliate lee like that. coming from a tarantino fan.

I'm a Bruce Lee fan and a Tarantino fan as well. I really don't think they showed Bruce in a bad light. It was a fictional encounter. If anything, a seasoned war veteran that fought hand to hand is not gonna leave an opponent unscathed. I dont think that Bruce got beat in that scene. He just got taken down a notch, like everybody in the world does. But it was fictional, anyways. An awesome movie. It was like a window to the past.

#QuentinTarantino is desperate it seems! Done with him! #IWantHisScalpNow #SomeoneGiveHimThePinkMist 👍🏾😆

Wow, Tarantino is such a hypocrite. Disappointing and disrespectful depiction of a true legend that Bruce was

I will never watch this movie. I will never forgive how they disrespected him.

The film is fiction and is directed by Quentin Tarantino I don't see a problem

This movie only shows one thing and one thing only Tarantino did not do his homework on Bruce Lee. Look up Joe Lewis on RU-vid on Bruce Lee he could hold out a 75 lb barebell straight out for over 30 seconds Bruce Lee would destroy whoever they put in front of him.

Even chuck Norris said Bruce was the real deal. Quentin made a mistake doing this

For the family and true fans of bruce lee, I WILL NOT GO TO SEE THIS FILM...

Bruce lee was to the max, athletics, art, creativity and humanism....sure he was cocky....but this is only a tarentino movie 🍿 lol who cares

People really ought to chill out like they said it is just a movie! And I've got to say the most entertaining film I've seen in a long time and some of Tarantino's best work! Two thumbs up for me!

I don't think of Bruce lee any different...its just a movie guys calm down

RIP Bruce Lee, RIP Muhammad Ali, mad respect to Quentin Tarantino for such a wonderful and enjoyable movie

No one could beat Bruce Lee, there it’s solved

Tarantino stuffed up here Bruce Lee's speed & power would have dominated this chap

Before seeing this I could defend that scene, because my thoughts were "oh he's just parodying how some people saw Bruce Lee" But with those explanations he gave. I can't and I'm disappointed. I love Tarantino as a director and love all the films I've seen by him, but he misrepresents an icon here. Also I don't care for how that fight went. Bruce Lees only hit is one Brad Pitts character probably let him have, it would have been ok if there wasn't a clear answer of who'd win, but it's ruined because Tarantino himself says Brad Pitts character would win.

uhmm, alot of these people going off in the comment section are idiots lol You know this movie was never meant to be historically accurate, right? if you don't enjoy the film for what it is, then don't watch it, that makes sense right?

The scene was funny as. Bruce is great but small, yeah a big guy would have probably picked him up and thrown him

The movie woulda been just as good without that Bruce Lee scene, absolutely unnecessary to take a dig at a legend who has passed.

If I was daydreaming about fighting Bruce Lee I'd think I could win too 😅😂🤣

This movie definitely had White supremacist feels to it. Especially with that scene. The GREAT White Hope!!

I think they are making too much of a deal out of that, Bruce Lee os still one of the most badasses actors of all time, no matter what, even that scene in the movie

Did he believe that that guy being a war hero somehow give him some special powers? Bruce Lee was considered the first MMA fighter because he Incorporated style from everybody and everywhere. Alyssa so cold war hero had some type of hand-to-hand combat training he would stand zero chance of coming anywhere near Bruce Lee. As far as Muhammad Ali goes it would be similar results to Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather. If it is all-out combat Bruce Lee would win if it is boxing Muhammad Ali would win

I am a practitioner of Jeet Kune Do which is Bruce Lee fighting method . I will say that I saw the scene and yes at first before the actor portraying Bruce took off his shades ,he looked and sounded like Bruce . But after that happened the mistake that takes place in all movies concerning Bruce happened . Anybody who ever portrayed Bruce failed horribly 😤 . They never truly moved, fought or performed like Bruce . Bruce never fought in the streets the way that these directors or writers portrayed him in their movies . Although Tarentino scene and portrayal of Bruce vs the stunt man was as funny as watching some one throw 2 shoes at President George Bush junior at a news conference , the way they portrayed Bruce Lee was inaccurate 🥋

Who cares? It was a three minute scene meant to ask whether Bruce Lee would win in a fight against someone who was trained in actual fighting, and clearly had no resolution. No need to make such a big deal out of what was clearly an homage to Bruce's skill and impact on Hollywood and lives of many people.

I don't really care about depicting him as arrogant just the idea that some run of the mill stuntman would be able to beat him in a fight seems a bit silly.

So I've made a number of comments on this brouhaha...and here I go again, lol. People are worked up on both sides of the issue; many are ones defending Bruce's character and many are like, "Chill the fuck out, guys; it's just a movie." Here's my two yen on that shit: Bruce Lee means a LOT to people. Asians have a looong-ass history of being marginalized and lampooned and stereotyped in the movie/TV industry, and the ONE TIME where one individual went "I'mma CHANGE all that" was when this little Chinese guy who played Kato on The Green Hornet and made it THE show to watch got denied the lead role in a TV series he fucking CONCEIVED and decided to blast his foot through Hollywood's backdoor by returning to Hong Kong and starring in a handful of kickass movies that revolutionized martial arts pictures, broke box office records all over Asia, and had goddamn Warner Bros-the studio that screwed him out of the Kung Fu series-practically begging him to do the very FIRST international East/West collaboration with Golden Harvest Studios, the film company he put on the global map with his unstoppable and borderline fanatical drive, talent, and self-belief. No Asian that followed him has even come CLOSE to achieving what he did. Like the equally iconic Ali-someone he admired the shit out of in spite of what Tarantino would have you believe-Bruce transcended being a martial artist or an actor/filmmaker or even someone of Asian descent who straddled the Eastern and Western continents with ease. He was, as he stated in his famous Lost Interview, a human being. And one who connected not just to Asians but to all minorities around the world. As I heard someone say once, "In the '70s, if you walked into any young black man's room, you were almost guaranteed to see three posters: The Jackson 5, Muhammad Ali, and..." I'll give you one guess who. And as many Asian dudes from that era will tell you, after Lee exploded on the scene-and this period of time didn't last long enough for me-non-Asian dudes would think TWICE about fucking with you because, "Hey, that tiny Bruce Lee cat is one bad motherfucker so who knows about THIS one?" Yeaaah…those were the days, lol. Anyway, all that and more, my friends, is what Quentin is stepping on when he fucks with the image of the Little Dragon, so try to have a tad more empathy for the negative reactions. ‘Cause if you DON’T…cue cracking knuckle sound.

This is Tarantino's version of Avengers Endgame, in which he's showing us the 1 outcome, out of over 14 million outcomes, that Bruce Lee actually loses a fight.

An insult!!!!!!!

I am a Bruce Lee fan I think it was dirty the way he did Bruce not happy 😒

*People need to lighten up.* I'm old enough to remember Bruce Lee when he was still alive, and he was cocky. That's why that parody of him in the movie worked. It was very funny because you can easily imagine it. I also like Once Upon A Time because for once Quentin Tarantino didn't use the "n" word in a movie. That's a huge improvement.

Bruce lee is a legend and he must be respected, as far this movie his image won’t be spoiled everyone know that, but still shanon has the right to be angry,

Tarantino could've simply apologized and explained that his movie was not meant to depict Bruce Lee as is but it was intended to be satirical, like so many of his fans are trying to cast it as. Instead he crosses them by proving that he really doesn't know shit for someone claiming to be a fan of Bruce Lee and becomes a perfect example of someone insensitive to the racial history of Hollywood by not doing proper research. This isn't the first time he did this in his decades of directorship, however, so I don't even want to bother with wasting any more breath on shaming him.

My guess is if he used chuck Norris instead he would have beaten brads character easy no problem. Hmmm

Bruce Lee was a martial artist no doubt he was a good fighter , he made movies that made him appear like he was a fucking super hero fighting off 50 guys lol if any of you people had common sense what do you think would happen if all 50 had rushed his ass or even two black belts rushed his asss he would have gotten beat to death in real life , it’s movies and plus he passed away which makes people think oh he was the best ahhhh no he wasn’t he wasn’t as much a decorated fighter as chuck Norris , Chuck would have beat his ass , in the movie where he fought chuck he asked he told chuck hey you know I have to win 😂

I don't see anything wrong with taking some air out of the giant hot air balloon that fans have created regarding how incredible Bruce Lee was and how he could beat pretty much anyone. The way fans talk about him, you'd think he was the Second Coming or something.

didn't like the depiction but i'll ignore it as it's fiction and I like tarantino

If you mix up fiction with reality you're on thin ice. Where do you draw the line in what is acceptable and what is not. Making a real once existed character like Bruce Lee saying things he never said,let him behave like a fool and let him being beat up by a fictional character. What would you say if Sly Stallone made a movie about Rocky Balboa beat Mohammed Ali.... played by an actor who depict Mohammed Ali but as a totally out of character hate mongering muslim. Yes makes you upset unless you don't care about respect. So we can stretch and bend reality and fiction to our liking and have no respect for people who can't defend themselves anymore because it's fiction...what a great entertainment.

Personally I don't like Bruce Lee either but it's sneaky to stain a deceased decent guy's name at the same time put him on the film poster

This is fucking Bruce Lee! He was his time so far ahead #Legend

How did they use him? CGI Maybe Bruce Lee gave a shot to his mom.. Anyway everyone knows what his legacy is..so that's fine. Nothing will happen how they portrays him..

Quentin Tarantino says he heard Bruce say things like Bruce died in 73.... QT was born in 1963 so he was 10 yes old

in a boxing ring, bruce would lose to Ali hands down. but in a real fight, bruce would demolish Ali. just stating the truth

Quentin Tarantino just messed with everybodys hero and really really messed with History especially the Fight scene. How dare you include that part of history and change it in a Negative way. Mr Tarantino do you have any idea about Jeet Kune Do? Or the way of the Intercepting Fist? Bruce Lee was Way ahead of your time quentin. A big shame.

I don't think this will hurt his reputation. I'm pretty sure on that.

I think Tarantino is a great filmmaker, but he doesn't know a shit about martial arts and combat systems

Tarantino is full of BS. He is doing, to a martial arts icon, what he wouldn't like anyone doing to him.

Shannon Lee was all of 4 years old when Bruce Lee died so her opinion is pretty much what other people have told her about him.

This is Hollywood we are talking about here. Can't expect much from that septic tank.

Bruce lee was an actor. Not some fighter. God people need to stop idolizing every single shit they watch on the web

i'm a life long lee fan and this scene was hilarious people need to lighten up i don't see anybody complaining about sharon tate NOT getting butchered ? and quentin will be a fan of Bruce just as much as any of us hence the nod to game of death in kill Bill

Am I the only one who doesn't care and just enjoyed the film

Tarantino: “This is a work of fiction”