Must See Movie...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

Saw this in a theatre in 1971 and just revisited it 45 years later.Conclusion: As a film, it suffers badly from the massive improvements in choreography, skill, and staging that MA films have enjoyed in the interim. What seemed sort of "OK" in a dark theatre in 1971 becomes, after several decades, almost a slow dance of awkward fighting moves, with off-sync sound effects and blows that never seem to connect with anything.In this instance it is not fair to judge the old by the new ... so, no rating.And then there is the topic of Mr. Lee.History tells us that Bruce Lee exploded into Asian cinema on this film and anyone can see why. IT IS AS IF HE IS OPERATING AT A FAST CAMERA SPEED AND THE REST OF THE CAST AT A SLOW CAMERA FEED. Of course, the speed of the camera is the same throughout, it is the speed of the actors that differed.The cast were the usual bunch that made many dozens of these films in a year. They looked slow and awkward because they actually were slow and awkward.Mr. Lee on the other hand lived (and ultimately died) for his craft. His whole life was MA and even today the debate continues as where he would have ranked against the best fighters of all time. At the top is my guess.In essence, this is almost an audition tape for Mr. Lee and not much else. But it is a piece of history and deserves great respect.

I like Bruce Lee, but he had a couple of misfires in his career. Most people consider Game of Death to be Bruce's worst film, but I give that dubious honor to this movie. Bruce Lee's dormant attitude by promising to never fight gets old very quickly. He doesn't start fighting until around the 45 minute mark. Throughout the movie, when Bruce isn't fighting or somebody else is, it's very talky. I really shouldn't be surprised though, considering Wei Lo directed it. Even Bruce's fight scenes in this one are somewhat disappointing. I'm used to Bruce's fights being one-sided in movies, but at least they contained excitement. This doesn't really have any of it, aside from the final fight at the end. He's never in any immediate danger, even when he looks to be heavily outnumbered. Let's face it, Bruce Lee is probably the only reason you decided to watch this movie to begin with. He's so fast and acrobatic. He has to deal with poor camera work and fight scenes that aren't exactly fluid. His performance is nothing to write home about, he relies on intensity and facial expressions. It works very well. What was up with that internal monologue of his? I don't get why this is rated so highly. It's poorly paced, unexciting, atrociously dubbed (At least the version I watched is) , and hard to get through. Stick to Enter The Dragon and Chinese Connection in lieu of this one4.6/10

"Cheng Chao-an" (Bruce Lee) is a young man from the country who decides to seek employment with some relatives and friends at a factory far from home. What he doesn't realize is that the factory is a secret conduit for heroin. Natually, where there are illegal drugs there are also hoodlums present. When they inevitably cause trouble for Cheng's group he has to decide on whether to obey a promise he made not to fight or help to defend those closest to him. Now, while this film isn't nearly as good as a couple of other Bruce Lee movies, it did have a big influence on starting the martial arts genre that we enjoy today. I believe that it is because of this reason that many people rate it so highly. However, upon closer inspection I think that most people would see that there are obvious faults to this film. The film quality isn't good, the dubbing is bad and there are parts that seem to drag on way too long. But there is plenty of action and a few pretty ladies to lend some nice scenery. I especially liked "Miss Wu-man" (Marilyn Bautista). Even so, this is a very basic martial arts film and I rate it as average.