Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to stirring the pot, but the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene between Cliff Booth and Bruce Lee didn't just stir it—it basically threw the pot across the room. People are still arguing about it. You’ve probably seen the clip: Brad Pitt’s rugged stuntman character squares off against Mike Moh’s Bruce Lee on the set of The Green Hornet. It’s a moment that feels both incredibly cool and deeply uncomfortable, depending on how much you worship at the altar of the Little Dragon.
Honestly, it’s a weird scene.
It starts with Lee holding court, bragging about how he’d turn Cassius Clay into a cripple. Cliff Booth, leaning against a car with that classic Pitt smirk, scoffs. Then comes the challenge. Best of three rounds. First round, Lee knocks Booth on his ass with a flying kick. Second round, Booth catches Lee mid-air and slams him into the side of a parked car, leaving a massive dent in the metal and a lot of bruised egos in the dust. Before the third round can really get going, the fight is broken up by Janet (played by Zoë Bell).
People lost their minds. Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter, was publicly vocal about her distaste for how her father was portrayed as an "arrogant asshole." But looking at it through the lens of Tarantino’s specific brand of historical revisionism, there is a lot more going on than just a "disrespectful" caricature.
Why the Bruce Lee Portrayal Sparked a Firestorm
Tarantino didn't just wake up and decide to take a swing at a martial arts icon for no reason. Or maybe he did? He's gone on record multiple times, most notably on The Joe Rogan Experience, defending the depiction. He claimed that Bruce Lee was, by many accounts of people who worked with him, a bit of a "braggart" on set.
But here’s the thing: fans didn't care about "accounts." They cared about the legend.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene works because it disrupts our collective memory. We see Bruce Lee as this untouchable, almost mystical figure of perfection. By making him lose—or at least get embarrassed—by a fictional stuntman, Tarantino is signaling to the audience that this isn't the real world. This is Cliff Booth’s world. It’s a fantasy where the old-school, rough-and-tumble American stuntman can still hang with the new, flashy "theatrical" martial arts style coming out of Hong Kong.
Matthew Polly, who wrote the definitive biography Bruce Lee: A Life, noted that while Lee could be cocky, the scene exaggerated his arrogance for comedic effect. It’s a parody. But when you parody a god, people get twitchy.
The Mechanics of the Fight
Let's talk about the choreography for a second. Robert Alonzo, the supervising stunt coordinator, had a massive task. He had to make Mike Moh look like Bruce Lee—which Moh does incredibly well, right down to the chirping vocalizations and the fluid footwork—while making Cliff Booth look like a guy who just knows how to hurt people.
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Cliff doesn't use Kung Fu. He uses "stuntman fighting." It’s heavy. It’s grounded. When he catches Lee and throws him into that car, it isn't elegant. It’s a power move. This contrast is the entire point of the sequence. It’s the clash of the 1950s "tough guy" archetype against the 1960s "martial artist" archetype.
- The first kick: Lee’s speed is undisputed. He wins the first round easily because Booth underestimates the sheer velocity of a Jeet Kune Do practitioner.
- The counter: Booth adapts. This is the hallmark of a veteran. He realizes he can't out-speed Lee, so he uses Lee’s momentum against him.
- The stalemate: The third round is interrupted, leaving the "who would win" question technically unanswered, though the damage to the car says a lot.
Is Cliff Booth Actually Based on a Real Person?
To understand why the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene matters, you have to understand who Cliff Booth is supposed to be. He isn't just a random guy. He’s heavily inspired by Gene LeBell.
LeBell was a legendary stuntman and martial artist who famously choked out Steven Seagal (allegedly making him soil himself, though Seagal denies it). He was a "tough guy's tough guy." There’s a long-standing Hollywood rumor that LeBell had a run-in with Bruce Lee on the set of The Green Hornet. As the story goes, the producers asked LeBell to "rein in" Lee because he was being too rough with the stuntmen. LeBell supposedly picked Lee up in a fireman’s carry and ran around the set with him while Lee screamed, "Put me down or I’ll kill you!"
LeBell didn't kill him; they actually became friends and trained together.
Tarantino took that kernel of truth—the old-school wrestler/stuntman putting the young martial artist in his place—and dialed it up to eleven. If you know the Gene LeBell connection, the scene feels less like a hit piece on Bruce Lee and more like a tribute to the "invisible" tough men of 1960s cinema.
The Problem of Perspective
We also have to consider who is telling the story. The entire movie is a love letter to a version of Hollywood that never really existed, or at least, a version that was dying.
Cliff Booth is a man with a dark past. There are rumors he killed his wife. He’s a war hero. He’s a guy who lives in a trailer behind a drive-in theater with a pit bull. When we see the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene, it’s actually a flashback.
Is it a reliable flashback?
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Maybe not. Cliff is remembering his own "glory days" while he’s stuck fixing a TV antenna on Rick Dalton’s roof in the blistering sun. It’s entirely possible—even likely—that Cliff is remembers himself being a little bit cooler and Bruce Lee being a little bit more of a jerk than what actually happened. Memory is a funny thing, especially when you’re a washed-up stuntman looking for a win.
The Cultural Impact and the "Censorship" Controversy
The fallout from this scene wasn't just limited to Twitter arguments. It had real-world consequences for the film's global release.
China actually canceled the release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood because Tarantino refused to cut the Bruce Lee scene. The Chinese film authorities, reportedly at the request of Shannon Lee, asked for a version where Bruce wasn't portrayed so "disrespectfully." Tarantino, being Tarantino, said no.
He took a massive hit at the box office to protect the integrity of a five-minute fight scene.
That tells you something about how important this moment is to the movie's DNA. It isn't just filler. It’s the moment that establishes Cliff Booth as a legitimate threat. Without this scene, the ending of the movie—where Cliff takes on the Manson Family—doesn't have the same weight. We need to know that Cliff is a man who can hold his own against the best in the world, even if he’s doing it in a way that makes us wince.
How Mike Moh Handled the Heat
Spare a thought for Mike Moh. The guy is a massive Bruce Lee fan. In interviews, he’s talked about how conflicted he felt. He grew up idolizing Lee. Suddenly, he’s cast in the role of a lifetime, but he’s told he has to play him as a bit of a Diva and then get tossed into a car.
Moh played it with incredible nuance. If you watch his face during the scene, he isn't playing a villain. He’s playing a guy who is incredibly talented and knows it. He’s got that 1960s "I’m the king of the world" energy. Moh’s performance is actually quite a beautiful tribute to Lee’s physicality, even if the script required him to take an "L."
Breaking Down the "Best of Three" Logic
The fight is structured as a "best of three" match. This is a classic trope, but Tarantino uses it to subvert expectations.
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In a standard movie fight, the hero might struggle and then find a way to win. Here, the "hero" (Cliff) is arguably the antagonist in this specific interaction. He’s the one poking the bear. He’s the one being the "old man" shouting at the clouds.
- Round 1: The "Art." Lee shows off the beauty and speed of his craft.
- Round 2: The "Reality." Booth shows the brutal efficiency of a guy who fought in a war and throws bodies for a living.
- Round 3: The "Mystery." We never see how it ends, which is Tarantino's way of letting the legend of Bruce Lee remain somewhat intact while still giving his fictional character the "moral" victory of the second round.
It’s a masterclass in tension. The sound design—the way the wind whistles, the sharp snap of Lee’s suit, the dull thud of the car door—makes it feel visceral.
Lessons for Film Buffs and Martial Arts Fans
What can we actually learn from the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene?
First off, it’s a reminder that movies are not documentaries. Tarantino isn't trying to tell you who Bruce Lee was; he’s trying to tell you who Cliff Booth is.
Secondly, it highlights the transition period of Hollywood. 1969 was the year everything changed. The old studio system was collapsing. The "tough guys" like Rick Dalton were being replaced by the "New Hollywood." Bruce Lee represented the future—international, stylized, and fast. Cliff Booth represents the past—rugged, silent, and blunt.
When Cliff slams Lee into that car, it’s the old guard refusing to go quietly into the night.
Practical Insights for the Modern Viewer
If you want to appreciate this scene more, do a little homework. Don't just take the scene at face value.
- Watch 'The Green Hornet': See how Bruce Lee actually moved in 1966. He was significantly faster than everyone else on screen.
- Look up Gene LeBell: Read about the "Judo" Gene and his influence on modern MMA. It puts Cliff Booth in a whole new light.
- Check out 'The Big Boss': Watch Lee's Hong Kong debut to see the difference between his American persona and his true cinematic power.
- Listen to the soundtrack: Tarantino uses music and ambient noise to set the era. Notice how the sound of the set disappears once the fight starts.
The scene remains a polarizing piece of cinema, but that's exactly why it works. It forces you to have an opinion. It makes you defensive of your heroes or appreciative of the grit required to be a stuntman in a world that doesn't care about your name.
To truly understand the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fight scene, stop looking at it as a slight against a legend. Start looking at it as a character study of a man who knows his time is running out. Cliff Booth isn't beating up Bruce Lee; he's fighting against the realization that he's becoming obsolete. That’s a fight we’re all going to lose eventually.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Re-watch the sequence specifically focusing on Mike Moh's footwork versus Brad Pitt's stance. Notice how Pitt keeps his center of gravity low, while Moh is constantly on his toes.
- Read 'Bruce Lee: A Life' by Matthew Polly to get the actual history of the Green Hornet set and decide for yourself if Tarantino's "arrogant" take has any merit.
- Compare the final Manson fight to the Bruce Lee fight. You’ll notice Cliff uses almost the exact same "catch and throw" technique against the intruders as he did against Lee, proving he’s a consistent, "muscle memory" fighter.