Longstreet: The Way of the Intercepting Fist (1970-1971)

Director: Joseph Sargent

Producer: Sterling Silliphant, Joseph Sargent

Writer: Sterling Silliphant and Bruce Lee (unaccredited)

Cast: James Franciscus, Bruce Lee

Running Time: 90 min.

Plot: The pilot for the 1971 - 1972 series of the same title. The story of Michael Longstreet, an insurance investigator recovering from an explosion that killed his wife and took his sight. He decides to remain an investigator and find those responsible for his wife's death and his blindness.

RAVEN'S REVIEW: This pilot is Bruce Lee's best acting work. It's captivating to see Lee, a true pioneer playing a master to a blind student. Filmed almost a decade before Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master, Way of the Intercepting Fist displays some of the best training sequences ever. More importantly, this is the first, if not only martial arts film where the learning process is more important and fulfilling than any one punch or kick. In his only two other major North American productions (Marlow, Enter the Dragon) Bruce Lee as an actor was more of a silent loner, in a sharp contrast to Longstreet where he philosophizes, instructs, and shows the process of his art. This storytelling is what makes The Way of the Intercepting Fist a unique action film and has one wonder of Lee's own cinematic path had he lived to continue on the process.

RAVEN'S RATING: 10/10