Thoughts on 'The Big Boss' (A.K.A Fists Of Fury)

 

The Hong Kong Movie Poster. So cool!

 

'The Big Boss' (formerly known as 'Fists Of Fury' in America) is Bruce Lee's first major movie where he has the lead role, and it catapulted him into super stardom. The movie had quite the effect on the Hong Kong film industry! In his autobiography 'I Am Jackie Chan', Jackie talks about his experience first watching the movie with Sammo Hung and his fellow friends/stuntmen, and how Sammo said about the fight scenes, "That is real! That is how it should be done." (paraphrased by me, of course). This movie made Bruce Lee a superstar, but his next movie made him a hero in Hong Kong...

'The Big Boss' is about Cheng Chao-an (played by Bruce Lee), a young man from China who has moved to Thailand to work at an ice factory. He has made a promise to his mother to never fight again, with a jade necklace worn around his neck to remind him of this. He ends up living with his cousins and experiences some of the negative parts of life in Thailand. This all eventually leads to Cheng getting involved in fighting against the Big Boss's son and henchmen and the drug smuggling racket the Big Boss is running. Cheng faces the Big Boss, and justice prevails, though it is not exactly a happy ending.

For a long time, 'The Big Boss' was my favorite Bruce Lee movie. That has changed over the years, but I still really like this movie. The fight scenes are a bit 'primitive' compared to current Hong Kong movies, or to even Bruce Lee's next movie, but they are still enjoyable. It's always great to see Bruce use his Wing Chun skills in the final fight scene. The fights are violent, bloody, but not gruesome. I do wonder how the handsaw scene looked in action, though. My favorite fight scenes are Cheng vs. the henchmen then the Big Boss's son at the ice factory and  the final fight scene against the Big Boss himself.

Growing up, I watched the Fox VHS version of 'The Big Boss' called 'Fists of Fury'. This version had an incredible English dub and soundtrack. The music in this version was composed by Peter Thomas, a German music composer. All I can say is, the music he composed for this movie is genius, incredible, and fitting. The soundtrack, besides Bruce Lee himself, is what I love the most about this movie. The music helps drive the anticipation of the fight scenes coming up, and helps heighten the emotion in more serious scenes. Peter Thomas should have won an Oscar and the Nobel Prize for this soundtrack!

I mean, listen to that opening theme song! How could you not be pumped to watch The Big Boss?

(I eventually got the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra soundtrack for the Big Boss, but it was missing the song I loved the most: the song when Bruce defeats the Big Boss's son. That song actually makes me all emotional. It's so awesome and fits the scene so well. I NEED THIS SONG!)

Since this was Bruce Lee's first major movie, his influence over his character or the movie itself was minimal. We don't see his philosophy so much in this movie. Even so, Bruce Lee plays Cheng Chao-on with understated humility and grace, but is totally a hero you can believe in. He is a conflicted hero, but he rises to the challenge. The other great performance belongs to Li Kun, who plays Ah Kun. He plays his character with such enthusiasm and believability. When his character turns on Cheng Chao-on, he makes you feel anger and resentment toward how he is treating Cheng. He has a few comedic scenes, too!

The version I watched for this blog post.

 

Later on, I got 'The Big Boss' on DVD in the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection. The picture quality is great! The sound is great on very version except the English dub. It has the dub I grew up with (with and extended scene that uses the more stereotypical 'kung fu movie dub-type voice for Cheng Chao-an), but the soundtrack and sound effects are ruined! It has the Peter Thomas Orchestra soundtrack, but it has added music that doesn't go with the movie at all! There is no quiet anticipation anymore. There is a scene where Bruce Lee is running, and they added go-go dancing type music to it, so it seems like Bruce is dance running to his destination. Just terrible! They also added those horrible American sound effects that sound like a guy hitting a thawed turkey with a bat. So crappy. (If you've seen the Hong Kong martial arts movies ruined by Miramax/Dimension/New Line Cinema, then you know how those sound effects sound). 

Criterion Collection has released a Bruce Lee box set containing 'The Big Boss'. It apparently has the English dub with the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra soundtrack, but without the added terrible music. I NEED to get this box set! I will write my thoughts about it when I get it, for sure!

A star was born in 'The Big Boss', and that star rose into mega stardom with each movie he made. Bruce Lee's influence began here and has lasted ever since then!