The Big Boss (1971)

A young man sworn to an oath of non-violence works with his cousins in an ice factory where they mysteriously begin to disappear.

Directors:

Wei Lo, Chia-Hsiang Wu (uncredited)

Writer:

Wei Lo (screenplay)

Stars:

Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien

Cast

Credited cast:
Bruce Lee	...	Cheng Chao-an
Maria Yi	...	Chow Mei
James Tien	...	Hsiu Chien
Marilyn Bautista	...	Miss Wuman (as Malalene)
Ying-Chieh Han	...	Hsiao Mi (The Boss)
Tony Liu	...	Hsiao Chiun (Mi's son)
Kun Li	...	Ah Kun (as Quin Lee)
Nora Miao	...	Drinkstand owner (as Mao Ke-hsiu)
Shan Chin	...	Hua Sze
Chia-Chen Tu	...	Uncle (as Chia-Cheng Tu)
Chih Chen	...	Ice Factory Manager
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Chan	...	Ah Pei (as Hui-yi Chen)
Lung Chan	...	Gatekeeper / Blue Shirt Henchman
Stephen Chang	...	Disciple
Ching-Ying Lam	...	Ah Yen (Cheng's cousin)

Storyline

Cheng is a city boy who moves with his cousins to work at a ice factory. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fight. However, when members of his family begin disappearing after meeting the management of the factor, the resulting mystery and pressures forces him to break that vow and take on the villainy of the Big Boss.

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Plot Keywords:

jeet kune do | kung fu | cult film | martial arts | factory | 

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Taglines:

KARATE/KUNG-FU! The oriental sensation now gives America the action it's been waiting for!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States]

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

February 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fists of Fury

Filming Locations:

Pak Chong, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 115 min (uncut) 87 min (original rejected english dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wei Lo was a compulsive gambler and was far more concerned with what was going on at the racetrack than what was happening on the film set. Because sound was not recorded at the same time as the action was filmed, he arranged to have the commentary of the horse races booming across the set while the actors were attempting to rehearse a scene. Bruce Lee was incensed by his lack of involvement in the film.

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Goofs

During the fight inside the ice factory when Cheng gets caught, he ducks down a little too obviously before his opponent throws an object at him.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cheng Chao-an: Uncle, is this it?
Uncle: Yes, right over there. That's the town, Cheng. That's right. Not much further to go.

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Alternate Versions

The 2016 Shout Factory blu-ray features a bonus audio track simply labeled "bonus Mandarin mono mix". This is actually a unique mix made especially for this release, which uses a late 90s Mandarin dub (first featured on the Hong Kong Universe Laser DVD), but with the Peter Thomas music score used in the western releases of the film instead.

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Connections

Referenced in Ghostbusters (2016)

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Soundtracks

Time
Written by David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright
Performed by Pink Floyd
(Only in Cantonese version)

User Reviews

Crude and uneven, but the first Lee-starring film still has a certain power

The first of the four Bruce Lee starring movies[ well, five, if you count Game Of Death]is technically the weakest. However, it's easy to see how it caused such a stir. Unlike most martial arts movies of the time, the film was set in the present day and attempted things like characterisation and even realism. These touches sometimes seem crude and even laughable now [for instance, check out the scene when the other workers of the factory are waiting for Lee to return, with it's exaggurated 'passing the time' actions]but when the film came out, it was a major step forward.

Even more daringly, the film has less fighting, with the fights being structured around the plot rather than the other way round, and bravest of all, the star of the film does not go into action into half way through. Instead, it cleverly builds suspense by having Lee as a guy who has sworn not to fight, and when he eventually cuts loose the result is exhilarating. However, it's obvious that none of Lee's opponents are a match for him and only the sequence when he battles a group of heavies in and around an ice factory really stands out. The clumsiness of much of the action [Lee was only allowed to choreograph the ice factory scene]is almost redeemed by the huge amount of gore and brutality.

Despite it's shoddy aspects, the film does have an odd power,especially towards the end. Lee's character is a very flawed hero who for a while badly strays from goodness and there is a sense that killing all the bad guys will not bring him redemption. In all three of Lee's Hong Kong films, violence never really solves things, it just makes things worse. Maybe that is why Lee's dated, sometimes awkward films are still watched again and again while many other films of the same time and genre have faded into obscurity. Well, that and Lee.