But for the die-hard army of martial arts movie buffs, history could be repeating itself. On July 29th in Los Angeles, California, United Artists is premiering a film title, Kentucky Fried Movie, starring Donald Sutherland, Bill Bixby and a well-known martial artist by the name of Bong Soo Han.

What? Donald Sutherland in a martial arts movie? Well, not exactly. Bill Bixby then? No, not him either. You see, this is a very different kind of film. It doesn't have just one story line; it's got several. The production is comprised of a series of unrelated satirical sketches all strung together into a feature length film.

The interesting aspect for the martial arts movie fans is the fact that the longest, and reportedly one of the most amusing segments of the film, is called Fistful of Yen, a slick, often uproarious takeoff on the incredibly successful Enter the Dragon.

Scripted by Jerry Abrahams and Jerry and David Zucker, the 40-minute short stars Bong Soo Han as the arch villain Dr. Klahnand Evan Kim as his pure hearted nemesis, Loo. The buxom and beautiful Swedish actress Agneta Eckmeyer brightens up the scenery, as one of the evil doctor's many mistresses.

Aside from the undisputed proficiency of Bong Soo Han, the man who helped make karate a household word by choreographing the exciting fight scenes in the action-packed films Billy jack and the Trials of Billy Jack, a whole army of experts are on hand and on film to assure the authenticity of the martial arts scenes.

Pu Gill, Hee II Cho, Simon and Phil Rhee, Damian Su, Kong Yi, Dong Lim, Chong Lee, and last but not least, Evan Kim himself, all turn out to show the public there can still be an awful lot of action in a 40-minute short, even if it is a comedy.

Much of the credit for the famously familiar form displayed by Kim, the young Korean actor who so effectively satirizes the counter part Bruce Lee played in Enter the Dragon, belongs to the action choreographer, Pat Strong.

The long time coordinator Russell Dodson to create the highly entertaining and authentic action sequences in the film - knows from where he speaks. Strong was one of Lee's first students and studied under the late, great martial artist for six years.

As far as the story line is concerned, it doesn't take too much imagination to draw the obvious parallel between Fistful of Yen and Enter the Dragon. But the idea here is to have fun with the original classic, not copy it. The evil Dr. Klahn, for instance, has the same built-in armament the original Dr. Han sported in the serious version. But in addition, he also has an attachable toothbrush, hair dryer, saw and as an added filup, a flame-thrower.

"I don't really know if it's my type of movie," Bong Soo Han chuckles as he refers to his role as the film's laughable villain. "I'd rather be in a more serious type of film than a comedy. But the people were really fun to work with, everybody was really nice."

Han's latest feature film - his seventh - is titled, To kill the Golden Goose, and is tentatively scheduled to be released in the late summer or early fall. In it, the hapkido master plays a police captain who's trying to track down a gang of killers led by still another martial arts great, Ed Parker.

"Both of us have been in the martial arts for so long," Han says of his opportunity to work with the head of the American Kenpo system, "but it's the first time we've worked together like this in a movie. I really enjoyed it. One fight sequence we did in a warehouse scene, we didn't even rehearse. We just figured it out, did it, and let it go from there. It only took one take. That was amazing. The timing was perfect and everything was just great."

But as far as action and technique is concerned the fight scenes in Fistful of Yen rank right up there as some of the best filmed. The stills, or photographs the film company releases for publicity purposes, bear startling resemblance to the much published photos Warner's released four years ago for Enter the Dragon.

"I guess the best way to describe my initial fears about portraying what was essentially a Bruce Lee Character," Admits Kim, "is like being a first year little league player and having someone come up to you, hand you a contract to play in the majors with the New York Yankees and say, 'Okay kid. Grab a bat and be another Babe Ruth.'"

According to Kim, both Bong Soo Han and Pat Strong put weeks of work into instructing their young charge in all the nuances of Lee's unique martial arts style. That meant hour after grueling hour of practice, drill and more practice. Like Lee, Kim had to familiarize himself with a wide variety of self defense systems including hapkido, tae kwon do, karate, wing chun, boxing and judo.

"On the other end of the spectrum," Kim recalls, "rest periods were spent pouring over everything I could find about Bruce Lee - photographs, magazines, books people and taped copies of his films. And, with the critical coaching and assistance of my closest friend, Nocona Arranada - an actor and resident Bruce Lee expert - we strived for a precise, meticulous and finally realistic interpretation of this incredible man."

Interestingly enough, the enthusiastic young co-star of the film is of the opinion that the movie is not only a slickley packaged, professionally put together entertainment package with wide appeal, but that it's also a very special tribute to the famed founder of jeet kune do.

"We have tried our best to entertain through laughter," says Kim seriously, "and at the same time, furnish a look at the martial arts that is a tribute to the memory of a singularly unique and dynamic individual."

Well, whatever it is, you'll have a chance to find out for yourself on August 10th when the film opens around the country at all the affiliated UA theaters. But one thing is for certain. For the first time in several years, a wide ranging movie-going public is going to get another look at the martial arts. Who knows. Maybe they might even like it as much as they did before.