The Big Boss (1972)

The Big Boss (1971) was Bruce Lee's big return to Hong Kong after starting out his career as a child actor, acting in twenty films before studying aboard overseas in the United States. Wanting to become a big star,Lee honed his skills as an actor by appearing in bit roles in Hollywood but being of Asian descent was a handicap due to the industry's glass ceiling. Already a celebrity due to his appearance on the television series Batman and his legendary fighting prowess, Bruce Lee was on the cusp of being a megastar. All he needed was one film to launch him into the stratosphere.Bruce Lee stars as country boy Cheng Chao-an who is sent to Thailand to live with his cousins due to some trouble in Hong Kong. During his stay, his relatives help him find work at a local ice factory. Unfortunately, the place is just a front for drugs and those who don't join in the festivities become permanent residents in the ice house. When his cousins start to disappear one by one, Chao-an decides to investigate and realizes there's more to it than meets the eye.What could have and should of been a regular action film has become one of the most innovating Kung-Fu flicks of the early seventies. Bruce Lee's physical acting and charisma are on full display here. But he's slightly handicapped by director's Lo Wei's hamfisted/cartoonish direction and action choreographer's Han Ying-Cheh's stiff style. Despite this, Lee's performance shines very brightly setting himself up for a fast track career to immortality.

"The Big Boss" was the first starring role for Bruce Lee after years of struggling to promote his own kind of Martial Arts onto the medium of cinema. Admittedly, the film is rather amateurish in the way it was made. Poor dubbing and poor sound in general really hamper the film. In addition, the lack of direction from Lo Wei is clearly in evidence. He and Bruce Lee weren't destined to get along and from the start, the atmosphere between them was fraught with tension. To be fair to Lee, Wei hardly took an interest in his own movie and didn't give much instruction to his actors. In spite of all these problems, "The Big Boss" is remembered for one thing: Bruce Lee. Even whilst not engaged in fight scenes, he still oozes charisma and not all stars in Martial Arts movies have that ability. When Lee springs into action, you are rooted to your seat. The speed of his hands in particular is a sight to behold. His kind of Martial Arts on film was a completely different kind to Asian audiences back in 1971 when the film came out. It is true that some of the violence is occasionally a bit comic strip but Lee isn't to blame for this as he wasn't the fight choreographer for the movie. The story is about as wafer thin as it gets but it serves its purpose. The climatic fight scene between Bruce and the chief villain is explicit but like poetry in motion. The blending of the different styles of Kung Fu is seamless. The movie broke box office records when released and Bruce Lee had finally arrived. Future Hong Kong stars like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Jet Li would all be influenced to a certain extent.

This is the first film starring Bruce Lee, which turns out to be his breakout film. His brilliant physical performances, and tough and gritty fighting style, earn him worldwide fame. An unprecedented and highly influential action star is born upon the release of this film. The fight scene with a lot of gangsters with knives is simply thrilling and entertaining.

(For purposes of personal continuity and preference, 1971's "The Big Boss" will from here on out be referred to as "Fists of Fury.")1971's "Fists of Fury" (also known by its original title "The Big Boss") is a bit of a hit-and-miss effort. But first things first, from a historical perspective, "Fists of Fury" has the distinction of being deceased martial arts legend Bruce Lee's first starring role in a film - and was also his first hit film - after failing to obtain any work in Hollywood because of negative racial stereotypes regarding Asians.As I already stated, the film is a bit of a hit-and-miss. I had previously seen Lee's greatest film - and the greatest martial arts movie ever, period - "Enter the Dragon" (1973) first, and "Fists of Fury" was the first of Lee's Hong Kong efforts that I saw not long afterward, and was disappointed. Then I saw "Return of the Dragon" (1972) (which I enjoyed a little bit more than this film) and then I finally saw "The Chinese Connection" (1972) (which I feel is Lee's greatest effort from China).In this film, Lee plays Cheng Chao-an, a young man from mainland China who has arrived in Thailand to work with relatives at an ice factory. Cheng has taken an oath of non-violence, his senior-aged mother having extracted a sacred promise from him to never fight again. Thus, "Fists of Fury" is a slow burn of escalating violence and tension, so people will be sitting on pins + needles waiting for Lee to get into action as Cheng and his cousins investigate the mysterious disappearances of other relatives and fellow co-workers.And when it does finally come time for Bruce Lee-styled Jeet Kune Do action, Cheng lets his fists and feet - his Fists of Fury, if you will - do the talking after he runs afoul of the corrupt owner of the ice factory, the so-called "Big Boss"/Hsiao Mi (Ying-Chieh Han), and his legion of disposable henchmen. (It's also worth noting at this point that "Fists of Fury" may very well be the bloodiest and most graphically violent of all the films Lee made while still in Asia - it reportedly had to be cut several times for its excessively bloody violence.)While I make it a point to mention that Bruce Lee doesn't finally get to see some real action until the film's climatic final 20 minutes, "Fists of Fury" is not a complete drag until then. There are plenty of other fisticuffs until then, including a big brawl at the ice factory involving Cheng's cousins and fellow co-workers against Mi's henchmen. Writer and director Lo Wei (who would later direct Lee's subsequent effort "The Chinese Connection") has uneven direction, but is quite skilled in handling the various fighting sequences. Lo Wei also injects a bit of meaningful morality into the story, involving the consequences of violence, revenge, and taking the law into your own hands - a point made crystal-clear by this film's explosive, well-known ending.In Bruce Lee's all-too-brief life and career, "Fists of Fury," while it was in fact his first hit film, is also his least accomplished effort as a lead actor and the most disappointing of his Hong Kong films.That's why I give it a "6."6/10