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

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

'The Big Boss' (also known as 'Fists of Fury') is Bruce Lee's debute film after his return to Hong Kong from United States. The movie was groundbreaking and instant success breaking box office records not only in domestic Hong Kong, but all over Asia and turned Bruce Lee into international superstar.Bruce Lee stars as Cheng Chao-an, a man who has vowed to never fight again, who moves from Mainland China to Thailand to work in an ice factory. After his coworkers dissapear wihtout the trace, Cheng starts to investigate. After he is accidenitally drawn into fight (which he rules) all hell breaks loose, and all the bad guys get aquainted with his fists.Condsidering that the screenplay was practically nonexistent, containing only some notes when the shooting started, 'The Big Boss' is very well structured. Supergroovy soundtrack adds nice coolness to the movie. When the song starts over the opening titles you know you're about witness some kickass action.Kicking someone while eating snacks have never been cooler.

After trying to make a big name in the US with the TV series "The Green Hornet" which was a mixed bag, legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee traveled back to Hong Kong where he was very popular as a child actor in the past. He met producer Raymond Chow who allowed him to star in a martial arts film. "Tang Shan Da Xiong", or "The Big Boss" (U.S. Title: "Fists of Fury") was the film he starred in and was the result of the beginning of Bruce Lee's legendary martial arts film career.The film's original director was Ng Kar-seung. He choose James Tien to have the starring role. However, after only 1 week into production, Ng Kar-seung left the project and Lo Wei became the director. When he became the director Bruce Lee and James Tien's roles got switched. Bruce Lee got the starring role while James Tien was the co-star. "The Big Boss" is about a young Chinese man named Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) travels from China to Pak Chong, Thailand in search of a job. He goes to live with his distant cousins. They offer him a job at the ice factory. He works there and develops a good relationship with cousin Hsu Chien (James Tien) and a huge affection for Chiao Mei (Maria Yi). Cheng is a skilled fighter. However, he swore to his mother an oath of non-violence, keeping him out of fights and trouble. However, things get messy when his cousins start to disappear and the true dark secret of the ice factory is revealed. Cheng will now have to break his oath and fight Hsiao Mi (Han Ying-chieh).Directed by Lo Wei (1918-1996), the film was a turning point in martial arts cinema as it showed a flawed protagonist in a new setting. Before "The Big Boss", most martial arts films were bashers. Basher films were martial arts films where the fighting was just the waving of the hands and feet. There was no real style to it. Bruce Lee changed the martial arts world with this film because his fight scenes had style and charisma. This film, written by Lo Wei and Bruce Lee, has a ton of suspense and action. It is very different from most martial arts film as Bruce Lee's character doesn't fight until half way through the movie. This film not only made Bruce Lee an overnight sensation across Asia, but it inspired his later film making skills and changed the way martial arts films have been done ever since the premiere of The Big Boss on October 23, 1971 in Hong Kong. The Big Boss was produced on a small budget of $100,000. The film grossed $3,197,417. The Big Boss was the highest grossing film of all-time in Hong Kong, only being beaten by Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (AKA "The Chinese Connection") the following year in 1972. The film even beat The Sound of Music (1965). The Big Boss is the highest grossing film of 1971 in Hong Kong. Lo Wei, as a film director, has a very mixed reception with his films. The Big Boss (1971), however, is definitely one of his best films. However, Lo Wei, at times, would watch horse racing instead of actually directing the film that he is supposed to. Lo Wei was much more interested with being entertained with himself than with production of the film. Bruce Lee became incensed by this and only worked with Wei on one last film - Fist of Fury (1972). Bruce Lee was an amazing martial artist and actor. He perfectly plays his role in The Big Boss and delivers the best performance of the whole cast in the film. James Tien, Maria Yi, Malelene, Lee Kwan, Tony Liu, and Han Ying-chieh are also great. Nora Miao (Credited as Miao Ke-hsiu) makes a special guest appearance as a drinkstand owner. Granted, there are a few flaws to this film. It is somewhat outdated and many (not me though) will not like the fact that Lee doesn't fight for half of the movie, but I think that this makes the film even better. The reason why? We get to see Bruce Lee act a lot more (his facial expressions, personality, thoughts, fears, etc.). Despite the films flaws, "The Big Boss" (1971) is a classic and deserves a 9/10 in my book. Highly recommended.

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.

Bruce Lee movie which has some crudeness of production, but overall effect is great. There are some technical misgivings to overcome. I MYSELF, PERSONALLY, appreciate image and sound quality a lot, however am compelled to value movies as stories primarily. The STORY is very Nuanced and Sociological. THis is not an oversimplified action movie. I have heard some people listen to the music and watch the action and deem it a good action movie. My OPINION is that the action submits itself to this story. In LEE's later but perhaps more popular movie ENTER the DRAGON, the Story is very simple, and the action dominates the movie.The acting of Bruce Lee and his regular actors is quite good, some of the bad guy side acting is lacking a bit. The Fighting scenes are SOMEWHAT sparingly done, but all very poignant. The choreography of action is best in the popular world in my opinion. The realisticness of the hits, drama of fighting is fabulous. WHile the general cinematography is decent in this movie, the fight scene camera work, angles, editing, seems to be a science which few have perfected like Bruce Lee to this day. This spectacularness, along with well choreographed moves, sit on a foundation of a well developed story.T H A N K S F O R R E A D I N G ! ! ! !