While we may never know...
...how The Game of Death would have
turned out had Bruce Lee lived...
...we do know, with unimpeachable
certainty, the vision Lee had for the film...
...during the time
that he was filming its finale.
According to his 12-page storyline...
...the film would begin on an airplane
that had departed from Hong Kong.
The character that Bruce Lee was to play
in the film was named Hai Tien...
...a retired, undefeated
martial arts champion.
Accompanying him on the flight
would be his sister and young brother.
The family are preparing to take a tour
of Southeast Asia. When en route...
...an announcement is made that
there will be a one-hour stopover in Korea.
The plane then touches down...
...and taxis into the gate
at South Korea's Kimpo Airport.
Later, in the training garden
of the boss's home...
...every member of the team
is training but Hai Tien...
...who is still reticent and worried
about the safety of his family.
Upon arriving at the compound...
...the team must first fight their way
through 10 guards...
...all black belts in karate.
After dispatching the karate men,
the team heads for the pagoda.
One man, the locksmith,
opens the door to the temple.
The martial artists enter
the pagoda to do battle...
...while the locksmith stands watch below.
It was within the pagoda
that the epic battles...
...in The Game of Death
were to take place...
...as each floor of the pagoda was to be
guarded by a skilled martial arts stylist.
On the first floor,
one of the team would be killed.
The second floor,
"The Floor of the Praying Mantis"...
...would see what was now the quartet
lose another member of the team.
Fortunately, the battle
on the third floor of the pagoda...
...and on the remaining floors as well,
Bruce Lee captured on film.
At the end of the film...
...an exhausted Hai Tien staggers
down the steps from the pagoda...
...and departs the village.
Although Bruce Lee never finalized
the details for the ending of the film...
...it is evident from his scene breakdowns
that the boss would be arrested.
Hai Tien, his sister and brother
would be reunited...
...after returning to the Korean airport.
The storyline perfectly justified the action
that would be required in the film...
...while the choreography
of the fight sequences...
...served to relate Lee's message
of personal liberation in the art of combat.