Cast:
Bruce Lee (Cheng Chao-an), Maria Yi (Chow Mei), James Tien (Hsu Chien), Marilyn Bautista (Miss Wuman), Han Ying-chieh (Hsiao Mi), Tony Liu (Hsaio Chiun), Lee Kwan (Ah Kun), Nora Miao (Drinkstand Owner), Shan Chin (Hua Sze), and Rhoma Irama (Xin Chang) Directed by Lo Wei and Wu Chia Hsiang.
Review:
Bruce Lee was the man. It is hard to believe that it has almost been forty years since his sudden death at the age of 32, days before his biggest triumph. Lee was born in San Francisco to the son of a Cantonese opera star, who was travelling abroad because of his concert tour that took him away from Hong Kong. It was his father that showed him the power of film, since he appeared in a number of films as a child, even co-starring with his father in The Kid (1950). He trained under the famous instructor Yip Man in martial arts along with tai chi and boxing before his dabbling in street fights led to his parents suggesting he move to the United States. He completed his high school education in Seattle while becoming a teacher of martial arts, which he would do rather than continue his studies at the University of Washington (where he had studied drama), with his exhibition at a 1964 tournament in Long Beach being particularly noteworthy. His first key role in American media was as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet, which ran from 1966 to 1967 as a showcase of his martial art skills that ultimately got him a handful of small parts over the next couple of years (such as karate advisor on The Wrecking Crew in 1969). When Lee struggled to get any of his ideas onto Hollywood, he decided to follow a suggestion to try his luck in the Hong Kong industry. Fortunately, his efforts in The Green Hornet had made the show quite popular. As such, he first received an offer from Shaw Brothers, but he decided to take the offer from Raymond Chow and his new company Golden Harvest, complete with filming in Thailand. The script was developed by Ni Kuang, a novelist behind over 300 film screenplays, but when Lo Wei stepped into the director's chair (after Wu Chia Hsiang was taken out after a few days), he re-wrote the script and thus got credit in the final print. Lo Wei directed over sixty movies (doing so until 1979) as a director with countless others written and produced, having shifted to directing after being an actor in his younger years of Hong Kong during the 1950s. The release of the movie proved better than anyone expected, as it set the box office record upon release in Hong Kong. Five months later, Lee and Lo returned for Fist of Fury, which was even more popular. Strangely enough, when it came to dubbing in America, the movie was retitled Fists of Fury while Fist of Fury was called The Chinese Connection - it also saw its final death scene trimmed to get an R rating, serving as one of the many edits made both in Hong Kong and America over the years. Five months later, Lee and Lo returned for Fist of Fury (1972), which was even more popular. Lee would star in one more Hong Kong film with The Way of the Dragon (1972) before his biggest hit would come with Enter the Dragon (1973), released days after his death as the first kung fu film by a major American studio (his work on the incomplete Game of Death, which he shot only the climax for, would be finished with stand-ins by Robert Clouse in 1978).
Strangely enough, when it came to dubbing in America, the movie was retitled Fists of Fury while Fist of Fury was called" The Chinese Connection" (to add onto the fun, Lo Wei would direct New Fist of Fury in 1976, and there were also two sequels to the original Fist of Fury that had Bruce Li as the star - but Bruceploitation is another story). The Big Boss also saw its final death scene trimmed to get an R rating, serving as one of the many edits made both in Hong Kong and America over the years (such as trimming fights); you can tell there are considerable cuts and changes made in and during production with how Tien is the first one to be shown fighting in the film, and he basically is one of the main folks followed for a good chunk of the first third of the film more so than Lee (Tien was an established presence in the film industry, of course). There are also numerous music scores, one of which that includes music cues from numerous films and music groups such as Pink Floyd (specifically, "Time", and yes, it was as weird to hear it in real time as it is to write about it). Told in a mix of Mandarin, Cantonese, and Thai for 100 minutes, the movie is pretty decent for all of its brief ambitions of telling a semisolid story to setup its martial arts sequences, ones that don't see much of Lee...until nearly halfway through. When it does drop the pretenses and gets to business, it does prove quite enjoyable for the pleasure of seeing him charm the screen. Of course, the production was a tough one for him, with ankle sprains and miserable shooting conditions to go along with hesitancy at the suggestions done by Lo Wei (such as having a man be punched through a wooden wall and leaving an outline in the wood). Lo Wei seems to have known how to give the audience what they want in an action film: a charming lead who doesn't have to say too much with a quiet plot that can fall into the background for jumping and kicking without falling into outright parody. You have folks fighting with tools or in places that look like country clubs while outmanned (while drugs are hidden...in ice), how can you go wrong? Lee handles the path of eventual revenge with the timing that comes straight of an old-fashioned Western to go with his graceful fists of fury that makes him the most interesting presence in the whole film. Tien, before he gets killed off not even midway through the film, is at the very least someone who can help carry some of the building blocks for what would've probably been an "okay" movie if Lee wasn't there at all. Yi and the others and all okay in stock characterizations, but one is really here to see Lee kick a villain, so seeing Lee against Han proves quite serviceable for the climax. As a look upon maintaining the spirit of oneself in spite of temptation with a bunch of kicks and jumps, The Big Boss is a solid winner, one boosted by the lightning charisma of its main star that will prove just fine for anyone looking for some quality entertainment from across the world.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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