Bruce Lee lights up the screen in his initial martial arts actioner. He plays Cheng-Chao An, a young man who joins up with various cousins to work in an ice factory. He's promised his uncle (Chia-Chen Tu) that he will avoid fighting and violence, but finds that this will be nigh on impossible when confronted with the sleazy machinations of the guys in charge of the factory. Soon, family and friends go missing, and our hero will be on a mission to find out what's going on...as well as get some revenge.
Written and directed by Wei Lo, "Fists of Fury" a.k.a. "The Big Boss" is kind of clunky, at least when you compare it to the more accomplished Lee vehicles from this period. It's also very comedic and silly most of the time. The biggest indication of this occurs late in the film when a bad guy is knocked through a wall. (However, the final quarter hour switches the tone dramatically, with some grim developments that will help further spur Bruce to vengeance.) There is plenty of entertaining action to go around, and this is when the film is at its most amusing, with lots of grunting and impact sounds on the soundtrack. You'll notice, too, that if you watch the 101 minute long uncut version, things get pretty violent and gory (albeit with a lot of that bright red movie blood that looks more like paint). The widescreen photography is good, and the music by Fu-Ling Wang is downright funky and a hoot.
There are some very gorgeous women in the cast: Maria Yi, Marilyn Bautista, and Nora Miao, the latter a recurring co-star for Bruce during this time. Bautista even bares her breasts for the occasion. Among the supporting cast are James Tien (who was originally set to star) as inquisitive cousin Hsiu Chien and the wonderfully grandiose Ying-Chieh Han as the ultimate villain of the piece.
This definitely has its value as an introduction to the charms and physical prowess of Lee as an action star, and may whet ones' appetite for more of his classics.
Seven out of 10.
Written and directed by Wei Lo, "Fists of Fury" a.k.a. "The Big Boss" is kind of clunky, at least when you compare it to the more accomplished Lee vehicles from this period. It's also very comedic and silly most of the time. The biggest indication of this occurs late in the film when a bad guy is knocked through a wall. (However, the final quarter hour switches the tone dramatically, with some grim developments that will help further spur Bruce to vengeance.) There is plenty of entertaining action to go around, and this is when the film is at its most amusing, with lots of grunting and impact sounds on the soundtrack. You'll notice, too, that if you watch the 101 minute long uncut version, things get pretty violent and gory (albeit with a lot of that bright red movie blood that looks more like paint). The widescreen photography is good, and the music by Fu-Ling Wang is downright funky and a hoot.
There are some very gorgeous women in the cast: Maria Yi, Marilyn Bautista, and Nora Miao, the latter a recurring co-star for Bruce during this time. Bautista even bares her breasts for the occasion. Among the supporting cast are James Tien (who was originally set to star) as inquisitive cousin Hsiu Chien and the wonderfully grandiose Ying-Chieh Han as the ultimate villain of the piece.
This definitely has its value as an introduction to the charms and physical prowess of Lee as an action star, and may whet ones' appetite for more of his classics.
Seven out of 10.