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.