Oliver Wang at The Current:
In the conventional canon of Asian American cinema, you’re unlikely to find They Call Me Bruce mentioned. This is in spite of the fact that it arrived right after Wayne Wang’s lauded debut, Chan Is Missing (1982), as arguably the second Asian American feature to ever gain theatrical distribution (and probably the first to turn a substantial profit). This makes its absence from the canon all the more curious, and both They Call Me Bruce and its primary creators are overdue a reconsideration.
Like their film, Elliott Hong and Johnny Yune are fascinating but largely forgotten. Hong, in particular, is an enigma; it’s hard to find much information about the Korean American filmmaker, though he directed several features—mostly independently produced action movies—beginning with Kill the Golden Goose (1979). They Call Me Bruce’s B-movie trappings—cheap production design, amateur action choreography—tend to fall somewhere between “so bad they’re good” and “just plain bad,” but it’s important to think about the film as a reflection of both its era and its limited budget, both of which have contributed to its neglect.
more here.