Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51559 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-06
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: Cantonese Chinese
• Subtitled in: Dutch, English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
English
Cantonese
Region 2
Dolby AC-3 5.1 Channel Surround Cantonese English
Dolby AC-3 5.1 Channel Surround
Trailers
Interview
Audio Commentary
Dutch\English

Synopsis
A gang war erupts amidst the verdant jungles of exotic Macao in this early Triad actioner.

From the Back Cover
Now totally uncut for the first time ever. Experience the Greatest Martial Artist of the 20TH Century in the motion picture that created a legend. Presented as a brand new, restored and digitally re-mastered, anamorphic transfer , with a host of collectable special features, "The Big Boss: Special Edition" is the perfect DVD showcase for one of Action-Cinema's most enduring classics.

Customer Reviews

Bruce Lee's kung-fu classic in a refreshened state.
After so many years of awkwardly cut, low-quality video releases of Bruce Lee's film, they're at last available in enhanced versions with improved picture quality and special features. Seeing THE BIG BOSS - Special Edition was a delight. The film is more than 30 years old but the picture is represented on this DVD with crisp, clear colours and in Widescreen. Most overwhelming of all must be the fact that it is totally uncensored (!), which is one of many reasons for owning this article. Among the DVD's many special features there's the possibility to have a look at the original cinema trailers as well as a few take-outs, that is scenes that were omitted by the director. This DVD is definitely worth the while for any lover of kungfu films. I trust the rest of Lee's films from the same studio (Media Asia) will be presented with the same fantastic quality.

Bruce Lee's first film of fury
Finally UK martial arts fans get to see Bruce do his thing UNCUT in his ground breaking debut movie. The basic plot rovoles around a shy bruce being sent to stay and work with his relatives in Thailand. However, being a Bruce Lee film, this means that as soon as he gets off the boat all hell breaks loose - which of course leads to all out kung fu mayhem!!! Made way back in 1971, this film not only started Bruce's film career but also the whole Kung-Fu craze. Without this film the careers of Jackie Chan, Van Damme and Jet Li would have been nowhere near as big as they have become. The DVD itself is of course another first rate R2 release from Hong Kong Legends, who continue their quest to produce the most superior version's of hong kong classics in the world. Packed with many features that include rarely seen deleted scenes, as well as an interesting audio commentary track from martial arts expert Bey Logan. All in all this is an impressive DVD from which to be introduced to Bruce Lee's films. In fact the battle between Bruce and 15 villain's in the Icehouse is worth the price of this purchase alone - check it out to see what I mean!!!

Bruce takes care of business in his first starring role
I'm by no means a martial arts enthusiast, and I know almost nothing about Asian cinema, but there is just nothing better than a Bruce Lee movie. The Big Boss (marketed as Fists of Fury in the US) marks the point in which Bruce finally sheds the silly mask of the Green Hornet's sidekick Kato and becomes a full-fledged star in his own right. Certainly, The Big Boss is not Bruce's best film, and I don't believe he even choreographed the fight scenes himself, but to me this is a vastly underrated film.

The film opens with Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) arriving wherever it is this story takes place to live and work alongside some of his cousins. His uncle as well as the locket he wears around his neck are constant reminders of the pledge he made to his mother that he would never fight anyone again. I have to tell you, it's pretty hard not to fight in this environment. Before he even gets to his new home, he has to watch a gang of thugs intimidate a poor young lady and kick a little kid around. He holds himself back, but his cousin does not; he takes on all comers and walks away smiling. Cheng's new life is turbulent from the start; the foreman at the ice shipping factory where all the men work is a brute of a man, some guy gives him a knuckle sandwich for no good reason on his first day, and the business itself turns out to be beyond crooked, but the real problem is even more insidious. Cheng's friends and relatives slowly begin disappearing, usually after having a talk with the manager or the nebulous Big Boss. When the men revolt and start an all-out fight at the plant, Cheng hangs back- until, that is, someone cuts him. This marks the first appearance of the Bruce Lee so many of us know and love; the look in Cheng's eyes right after he is slashed foretells the imminent demise of his oath of peace, and the fight ends rather quickly once he joins the fray. He wanders off the path somewhat after this, taken in by a promotion and the frills that come his way as a result, but his destiny is to face the dope-smuggling, preternaturally cruel Big Boss mano a mano.

Bruce Lee's acting talents are easily apparent in this first of his feature films. Starting as a country bumpkin of sorts, Cheng's shyness and feelings for the lovely lass Chow Mei (Maria Yi) are expressed both subtly and convincingly. His face also bears clearly the inner turmoil he feels early on as his oath keeps him from joining a fight that is morally justified. His expressions when the decision to fight is basically made for him are priceless, but he really comes into his own during the fight scenes. No one will ever come close to matching Lee's fighting performances, and while the fights in The Big Boss aren't as elaborate as those of later films, they are plenty impressive to me. Who else but Bruce Lee could take on the ultimate bad guy and his minions while purposefully eating a bag of crackers?

The Big Boss is a dark film; let there be no mistake about that. You won't come away from this movie feeling happy or light of heart. It has a pretty high body count, and while none of the deaths are shown in gruesome detail, there can be little doubt about the levels of blood and pain that surely coincide with a good many final breaths. Evil and cruelty run rampant on the streets, and even the brotherhood of the good guys is greatly diminished at one critical juncture of the story. I doubt that the American public had ever really seen a movie such as this Hong Kong production back in 1971, but two things are certain: The Big Boss played a very important part in making Bruce Lee the super-human legend he is and always will be, and it also helped make martial arts films a hearty new staple to be enjoyed by untold numbers of people across America and much of the rest of the non-Asian world.