Lui Calibre Goes to the Strip Club and Its Baby

1971 picture directed by Lo Wei

"Fists of Fury" redirects here. For the 1972 film, see Fist of Fury.

The Large Boss
Hong Kong film poster
Traditional	唐山大兄
Simplified	唐山大兄
Mandarin	Táng Shān Dà Xiōng
Cantonese	Tong4 Saani Daai6 Hing1
Directed by	Lo Wei Wu Chia Hsiang
Produced past	Raymond Chow
Starring	Bruce Lee Maria Yi James Tien Han Ying-chieh
Cinematography	Chen Ching-chu
Edited by	Sung Ming
Music past	Wang Fu-ling
Distributed by	Golden Harvest
Release date	23 October 1971 (1971-10-23) (Hong Kong)
Running fourth dimension	100 minutes
Land	Hong Kong
Languages	Mandarin Cantonese Thai
Budget	Usa$100,000[1]
Box part	US$fifty million [2]

The Big Dominate (Chinese: 唐山大兄, lit. "The Big Blood brother from Tangshan"; originally titled Fists of Fury in America) is a 1971 Hong Kong action drama pic produced by Raymond Grub, and starring Bruce Lee in his get-go major film every bit a leading star. The motion-picture show also stars Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien, Tony Liu and Nora Miao. Originally written for Tien, the leading role was given to Lee instead when the film'southward original manager, Ng Kar-seung, was replaced by Lo. The film was a critical success and excelled at the box role.^[3] Lee's strong functioning overshadowed Tien, already a star in Hong Kong, and fabricated Bruce Lee famous in Asia and eventually the globe.

The film went on to gross most US$50 million worldwide (equivalent to approximately $300 1000000 adjusted for inflation), against a tight budget of $100,000, approximately 500 times its original investment. It was the highest-grossing Hong Kong moving picture up until Lee's next picture, Fist of Fury (1972).

Plot [edit]

Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) is a Chinese human being who moves to Pak Chong, Thailand, to live with his adopted family and to work in an ice factory. He meets his cousin Hsu Chien (James Tien) and Hsu's younger brother past accident when Hsu stands upwards to local street thugs who steal dumplings from his blood brother. Cheng refrains from getting involved despite being tempted to, as he swore to his mother to never participate in whatsoever fighting. He wears a jade amulet around his neck as a reassurance of his pledge.

Cheng begins his work at the ice manufacturing plant. When an ice block is accidentally broken, a pocketbook of white powdery drugs falls out. Two of Cheng'south cousins pick up the purse and are told to run across the manager after that nighttime. The factory is actually a forepart for a drug smuggling band led by Hsiao Mi (a.k.a. the Big Boss). When Cheng's cousins refuse to bring together them, the director sends his thugs to kill them and dispose of their bodies, thereby preserving the secret.

Hsu Chien and Ah Pei, another one of Cheng's cousins, go to Hsiao Mi'south Mansion to notice out what happened to the 2 cousins. Hsu doubts Hsiao's claims that he doesn't know anything and threatens to go to the authorities. Hsiao sets his gang on the duo as a result, and after a brutal battle, they are both killed also and their bodies hidden.

When the Chinese workers at the ice manufacturing plant acquire that Hsu is missing likewise, they decline to work, and start a anarchism against the Thai management, who are joined past a group of hired thugs. During the chaos, 1 of the thugs accidentally rips off and breaks Cheng's amulet. Enraged, Cheng jumps into the brawl and beats some of the thugs, causing them to abscond.

To reduce tensions, the water ice factory managing director makes Cheng a foreman, inviting him to a dinner that night. This subsequently causes much unease for Cheng's family and friends, who believe that Cheng is growing arrogant and spending more time reveling in his new position than helping to look for their brothers. They abound to resent him, all except Chiao Mei, his sis, who stands up for him.

Cheng gets boozer at the dinner party and is seduced by Sun Wu Human (played past Marilyn Bautista), a prostitute who attended the dinner. She later warns Cheng that his life is in danger and reveals that Hsiao Mi is running a drug trafficking functioning. Immediately afterward Cheng leaves, Hsiao'due south son, Hsiao Chiun, sneaks in and kills Lord's day past throwing a knife at her heart from behind. Cheng breaks into the factory and first finds the drugs before discovering a hand, the head of Lord's day, and the caput of Hsu Chien in the water ice blocks. He is surrounded by Hsiao Chiun and a group of his men. Cheng fights his way out, killing Hsiao Chiun and his gang in the process.

He returns home to find that his remaining family members accept been murdered, while Chiao Mei is missing. Mourning his loss past a river, he vows to exact his revenge at all costs, even if he dies. Cheng later on storms Hsiao Mi's mansion to fight him and his men. Meanwhile, one of Hsiao Mi's disgruntled slaves frees Chiao Mei, who was being held hostage past Hsiao Mi in a cramped room used as a prison cell. She runs away to get help from the Thai police. Cheng finally kills Hsiao Mi after a trigger-happy fight, by deflecting the knife Mi throws at him with his shoe. In one case he knows that Chiao Mei is safety (as she came running forth with the police division), he surrenders to the constabulary when they make it at the mansion, and is arrested. The moving picture ends as the crowd walks back to the police force car to leave the mansion.

Cast [edit]

• Bruce Lee as Cheng Chao-an (Chinese: 鄭潮安; Cantonese Yale: Zeng Ciu-On ), a fellow who, forth with his uncle, travels from Guangdong, China to Pak Chong, Thailand to stay with his cousins. Before departing, he swore an oath to his mother to not go into whatsoever fights. This is made legitimate past Cheng wearing his mother'southward jade amulet necklace to serve as a reminder to that adjuration he swore.
• Maria Yi as Chow Mei, a typical damsel in distress; Cheng's merely female cousin
• James Tien (a.chiliad.a. Paul Tien) equally Hsu Chien, a martial artist who usually fights with the local gangs
• Nora Miao equally a local common cold drinks vendor (guest star)
• Lee Quinn as Ah Kun
• Han Ying-chieh as Hsiao Mi ("The Big Boss") owner of an ice mill which is actually a front for his drug trafficking operation
• Lau Wing every bit Hsiao Chiun, Hsiao Mi's son
• Kam San as Cousin Ah Shan
• Ricky Chik as Cousin Ah Chen (likewise assistant managing director)
• Li Hua Sze equally Cousin Ah Wong
• Marilyn Bautista (a.yard.a. Malarin Boonak) as Miss Sun Wu Homo, a prostitute
• Chan Chue as the ice factory manager (also assistant manager)
• Chom as the water ice manufactory foreman
• Baton Chan Wui-ngai as Cousin Ah Pei
• Lam Ching-ying as Cousin Ah Yen
• Tu Chia-Cheng as Uncle Liu, Cheng's uncle (as well unit manager)
• Peter Chan Lung equally Hsiao Mi's henchman and gatekeeper

Background and formulation [edit]

The four years following the counterfoil of The Light-green Hornet was a difficult and frustrating time for Bruce Lee. In 1970, he was incapacitated for several months afterwards damaging a sacral nerve in his lower dorsum while weightlifting.^[4] Coin became tight as roles in Hollywood proved hard to come up by, and wife Linda had to work evenings at an answering service to assist pay the bills. Bruce was still not bad to develop motion-picture show and TV projects in Hollywood, but Warner Bros. was reluctant to take a Tv script project he had developed (the plotline of which was similar to, just not the aforementioned as, Kung Fu), and product on The Silent Flute had to exist suspended indefinitely afterwards a three-calendar week trip to Bharat with James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant to scout locations for the flick proved unproductive. In light of these recent events, Coburn suggested to Bruce that he try his luck in the increasingly growing Hong Kong film industry."^{[4] [5]}

In spring 1970, Bruce paid a visit to Hong Kong with his young son Brandon. Unbeknownst to Bruce, he had get famous there due to reruns of The Dark-green Hornet on TV, and the enthusiastic reception he received took him by surprise. He was invited to appear on popular HKTVB conversation show Bask Yourself This evening, where he was interviewed and gave a board-breaking sit-in.^[5]

Encouraged past the involvement in Hong Kong, Bruce asked his childhood friend Unicorn Chan to pass on his CV to Shaw Brothers, Hong Kong'due south largest picture product company. They offered Bruce a long-term contract but only US$2,000 per moving picture, which Bruce declined. Some other offer appeared unexpectedly from Raymond Chow, a picture show producer who had in 1970 left Shaw Brothers to form a new company, Golden Harvest.^[v] Chow, aware of the rejected offering from Shaw Brothers, had been impressed by Bruce's interviews on Hong Kong television and radio, and also by his confidence during a long-altitude telephone call. During that telephone call, Lee determined the best action picture show playing in Hong Kong and assured Chow that he could do much better.^[6]

In June 1971, Chow sent one of his producers Liu Liang-Hua (the married woman of director Lo Wei) to Los Angeles to meet and negotiate with Bruce, who signed a contract to brand two films for Golden Harvest for The states$15,000 ($10,000 for The Big Boss and $v,000 on completion of a second film tentatively titled King of Chinese Boxers and which became Fist of Fury). This eased the Lees' financial worries and permitted Linda Lee to quit her task.^[5]

With the contract signed, Grub hastily arranged a meeting with his Aureate Harvest executives and an erstwhile friend called Ma Thien-Ek (Fat Ma), a Thai businessman, motion-picture show distributor and movie house possessor. They knew that Shaw Brothers were making a Muay Thai boxing film in Thailand (Duel of Fists), and wanted to brand their new film there, which would also assistance to keep costs downward. Fat Ma, an expert in Thai diplomacy, offered to assist with locations and expenses.^[7]

Product [edit]

Writing [edit]

Veteran Chinese novelist and screenwriter Ni Kuang was commissioned to create a script based loosely on Cheng Chi-Yong, a prominent Chinese figure in Thai society in the early 20th century. Ni Kuang inverse the proper noun of the character to Cheng Chao-an, later on Chao'an county in eastern Prc, the home of Cheng Chi-Yong's ancestors. He likewise developed the idea of Cheng being sent by his mother to live and piece of work with young man Chinese migrants in Thailand, later his father had been killed in a fight. She gave her son a jade necklace symbolising peace, protection and good fortune, equally a reminder to avoid trouble.^[7]

It was not unusual in Hong Kong cinema for the director to amend the script during filming, and The Big Dominate was no exception. When Lo Wei replaced the original managing director in belatedly July 1971, he was unhappy with the script and re-wrote it, without Bruce'south noesis. Lo later recalled, "I wouldn't tell him I was re-writing the script for fear of affecting his morale. In my hotel room, he would ofttimes hash out the script with me which would leave me natural language-tied, so I would tell him I needed to rest, and as soon every bit he left I would be burning the midnight oil in order to get the script ready for the side by side twenty-four hour period'due south filming."^[7]

Filming [edit]

Bruce Lee flew from Los Angeles to Bangkok via Hong Kong on 12 July 1971. Raymond Chow, concerned about renewed interest from Shaw Brothers, had wanted him to fly directly to Bangkok, but Bruce refused, stopping in Hong Kong briefly to greet a friend and make a few phone calls.^[4] Bruce stayed in Bangkok for five nights, and it was hither that he met most of the cast and crew and also Raymond Chow for the first time.^[vii] Filming commenced on 22 July in Pak Chong, a modest boondocks situated some 90 miles (150 km) northeast of Bangkok, on the northern edge of the Khao Yai National Park, Thailand'southward oldest reserve; information technology also serves as the gateway to the northeast (Isan) of Thailand from the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Pak Chong would be Bruce's home for most four weeks, and he made no cloak-and-dagger of his dislike for it in messages to married woman Linda, describing it as a lawless, impoverished and undeveloped village. Due to the lack of fresh food, Bruce was losing weight due to a lack of proper diet, having to eat canned meat and supplement his nutrition with vitamins, which he had thankfully brought along. He occasionally lost his vocalisation through trying to shout above the noise on set; mosquitoes and cockroaches were everywhere, and the tap water in the hotel was yellow.^{[iv] [five] [viii]} Bruce asked the hotel staff to put his mattress on the floor, as sleeping on the bed was uncomfortable due to his ongoing back problem.^[seven] He also needed lots of rest later on a fight scene.^[v]

When Bruce arrived in Pak Chong, rival moving-picture show companies tried desperately to poach him abroad from Gilt Harvest, including Shaw Brothers, with a new and improved offer. A film producer from Taiwan told Bruce to rip up his contract and promised to accept care of any lawsuit. Bruce, a human being of his word, had no intention of considering the offers, although it did add some extra tension on the film fix.^{[4] [5]}

Shooting did not become smoothly at offset. After simply a few days, the "uncertain" original director, Wu Chia Hsiang, was replaced by Lo Wei (the husband of associate producer Liu Liang-Hua).^[five] Bruce was initially sceptical of Lo, describing him in letters to Linda as a "fame lover" and "another so-so one with an nearly unbearable air of superiority".^{[4] [5]} Bruce badly cut his correct hand while washing a sparse glass, the wound requiring x stitches^{[5] [8]} and a large plaster, which is very noticeable throughout the picture show, especially the scenes filmed at the Thamrongthai ice factory, the showtime filming location used in Pak Chong. Fatty Ma had a contact who knew the possessor of the factory, and bundled for Golden Harvest to moving picture there for a few days.^[vii]

One night, filming of the big fight in the ice house had to be stopped for an hour as Bruce had lost a contact lens, and dozens of people were on their hands and knees looking for it amongst thousands of ice chips. Eventually Bruce constitute it himself, leading Lo Wei to wonder if he had information technology in his pocket all along, and was deliberately existence disruptive.^[9]

Aside from the factory, other locations in Pak Chong used for filming include the Lam Ta Khong river (a tributary of the Mun River), and a local brothel (the Mitsumphun Hotel), which has since burnt down. The bodily bedchamber scenes however were filmed in a riverside bungalow endemic by the nearby New Wan Chai Hotel (at present the Rimtarninn), where the film crew stayed during filming, due to the bedrooms in the brothel being smelly and unhygienic. The prostitutes charged but fifteen Baht in Thai money per client, but the film coiffure paid them one to ii hundred Baht each to appear equally extras in the film.^[vii]

Perhaps the most iconic location seen in the film is the titular large dominate'south mansion^[10] and gardens, which was a Buddhist temple situated on the main road called Wat Siri Samphan, built in 1963.^[seven] Like the ice factory, it is still in Pak Chong today and remains largely unchanged, much to the delight of the dedicated fans who have made the pilgrimage to Thailand to view the filming locations.^[11]

There has been some speculation that Bruce was involved in a existent fight on the gear up of The Large Dominate, as depicted in the 1993 biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Although no such fight actually took place, Bruce did interact extensively with a few of the Thai stuntmen (one of whom was a onetime Muay Thai bantamweight champion), and exchanged info and skills with them between takes. Bruce reportedly though seemed unimpressed and called their kicks "telegraphed", while the Hong Kong stunt squad (Lam Ching-Ying, Billy Chan and his brother Peter Chan Lung) were initially unimpressed with Bruce, and doubted his abilities. Their opinion of him shortly changed when Lam challenged Bruce in the hotel, and Bruce sidekicked him across the room.^[7]

Later an eventful and at times chaotic first few days' filming in Pak Chong, past early on August 1971 the filming had picked upwardly speed, and was progressing well. Bruce and Lo Wei were collaborating, merely they still clashed over a few of the scenes, in particular the use of trampolines and mattresses to propel people through the air, and also the scene where Bruce punches a man through a wooden wall, leaving a cartoonish outline in the woods.^[12] Bruce was also hesitant to continue with Lo Wei's ideas of filming risqué scenes of his character getting in bed with Thai ladies portraying prostitutes, although he eventually agreed to do them equally Lo insisted it would add to his character'south newfound paradigm as a revenge-driven warrior.

The final scene filmed in Pak Chong was the climactic fight between Bruce and the dominate (played by Han Ying Chieh, who likewise served as the fight choreographer), which proved to be problematic: Bruce endured "two days of hell" when he sprained his ankle from a high spring on a slipped mattress, and had to be driven to Bangkok to see a doctor, where he caught a virus in the hot and stuffy conditions. Close-ups were used to finish the fight, every bit Bruce struggled and had to drag his leg, which was covered upwards with, and contributed to, his character's worn out, wearied appearance.^{[4] [5] [eight]}

The cast and coiffure spent the terminal twelve days in August filming further scenes in Bangkok, where Bruce enjoyed breakfast in bed at the Thai Hotel, a luxury he never had in Pak Chong.^{[4] [5]} The dinner party scene was filmed in the back room of the Poonsin Chinese Restaurant, close to the Thai Hotel.^[7] A few scenes were filmed at the Chao Phraya River in Phra Pradaeng District, including the opening scene in the pic where Bruce and his uncle step off the ferry boat and walk through the busy pier. An old teak house in the east side of Phra Pradaeng district was used as the family unit domicile, while Nora Miao's scenes (and office of the opening fight sequence) were filmed on the quieter west side, which resembled rural Pak Chong.^[vii] At times filming was delayed by heavy rain.^[8]

The Big Dominate picture crew returned to Hong Kong on iii September, where there would be a further 24-hour interval of filming for insert shots including close-ups of Bruce avoiding the dogs and the "leg-grappling" scene during the fight with the dominate (these were filmed at the Regal Hong Kong Golf game Club).^[vii] The last scene filmed was the at present deleted "pushcart attack" in the alleyway, at Wader Studio in Hong Kong, as Golden Harvest had not as yet moved into their famous studios on Hammer Hill Route.^[vii]

Mail-production [edit]

Bruce viewed over three hours of unedited footage on 5 September, and was pleased with the results.^[12] The next day, he flew to the US to see his family and film further episodes of Longstreet. While Bruce was in the U.s., the footage was sent for processing and editing. The editing was initially done past Golden Harvest editor Sung Ming, only because they were behind schedule, the renowned laurels-winning editor Chiang Hsing-Lung was also brought in to aid. A veteran of over 170 movies, Chiang worked very quickly, and helped deliver the film on fourth dimension. Since he was currently employed by Shaw Bros, his involvement was kept secret, and he was uncredited.^[vii]

Bruce returned to Hong Kong on 16 October with his family plus friend Robert Baker. They were greeted at Kai Tak Airdrome by several friends, news reporters and a large group of scouts from the Scout Association of Hong Kong. The next day, a private screening was held at Gold Harvest for movie house owners. Sung Ming and then made further edits to appease the Hong Kong censors, for the film's general release at the end of October. On 22 October, Bruce and Robert Baker appeared on Enjoy Yourself This evening to promote the moving picture.^[vii]

Bruce Lee and JKD short film [edit]

While in Thailand, Bruce wrote to Linda regularly, telling her he missed her and the children, and was looking forward to seeing them in Hong Kong in one case filming had been completed. In return for their air fare (from their home in Los Angeles to Hong Kong), Golden Harvest wanted Bruce to make a short moving picture for them called Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Exercise, which would run for approximately 15 minutes and be narrated past extra Nora Miao. According to Hong Kong press reports, Gold Harvest had originally planned for the short film to accompany the release of some other upcoming film of theirs chosen The Hurricane (a.thousand.a. Gilt Whirlwind Whirlwind), starring Nora and written and directed by Lo Wei. This would promote Nora and innovate Lee's skills to the Hong Kong public prior to the release of The Large Boss. Nora, who was already in Thailand on vacation, joined the film crew in Bangkok in late August 1971 to make the short moving picture with Lee but sadly it never happened, presumably because at that place was not plenty time; she did withal film a few cursory scenes for The Large Boss in a cameo office as a roadside refreshment vendor.^{[seven] [8]}

Release [edit]

Box function [edit]

On 23 Oct 1971, the picture premiered at the Queen'south Theatre in Hong Kong'due south Central district for a now legendary midnight screening.^[7] Linda recalled in her 1975 book Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew: "Every dream that Bruce had ever possessed came truthful that dark. The audience rose to its anxiety, yelling, clapping, auspicious. It was almost impossible to leave the theatre; we were admittedly mobbed."^[five] The Lees besides attended the official gala premiere on iii November, which was a clemency screening for the Scout Association of Hong Kong. The film was an instant success, taking just 3 days to reach HK$1 million, and a calendar week to reach HK$2 one thousand thousand. Past the finish of its relatively brief run (ending on 18 November), The Large Boss had made HK$3.2 one thousand thousand, shattering the previous tape held by The Sound of Music by more than than HK$800,000.^[seven] An estimated 1.two million people in Hong Kong, out of a population of four million, had paid to watch the film.^[13] It remained the highest-grossing film of all time in Hong Kong until Lee'south second motion-picture show, Fist of Fury, was released in March 1972.

Shortly after the Hong Kong run, The Big Dominate was released in Singapore, and enjoyed like success at that place, where it played for a total of 45 days at five theatres. At that place was chaos at a midnight preview screening (27 November 1971) at Cathay'southward Jurong Bulldoze-in cinema; law were called as hundreds of cars caused huge jams, and the flick had to be delayed for 45 minutes.^[14] It went on general release on viii Dec, and by the finish of its run on 21 January 1972, it had cleaved box role records with just over S$700,000, about S$240,000 more than previous record-holder The Ten Commandments.^[15] The flick also played to packed cinemas in Malaysia, the third territory to bear witness the motion picture. By September 1972, information technology had grossed US$370,000 in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur.^[16]

Despite the enormous success of The Big Boss in the Far E, overseas distributors were initially reluctant every bit they didn't retrieve it had potential outside Asia. It was just when the motion-picture show of a sudden became a surprise hitting in Beirut in 1972 that they began to accept notice. Suddenly buyers from all over the world were arriving in Hong Kong to buy the film, which was before long opening in new markets for Chinese films such as Southward America, Africa and southern Europe.^[17] In the U.k., even so, the release of the English-dubbed version was delayed as distributors Crest Films withdrew their application for a BBFC certificate, while they waited for the current storm surrounding motion-picture show censorship in Britain to pass (the Mandarin version was shown in Chinese movie theatre clubs in Britain in June 1972).^[18]

There was also a delay in the U.s.a., every bit distributors National Full general Pictures disliked the dubbing, and spent a lot of money on a new soundtrack featuring new music and rewritten, redubbed English language dialogue.^[17] This new version was somewhen released in the United states in Apr 1973 with the championship Fists of Fury, about 18 months later the Hong Kong premiere and subsequently Fist of Fury (retitled The Chinese Connection in the US), Lee's 2d major role, had a limited run in New York.^[19] Information technology was an instant striking, surprising given that the film was only originally intended for the Mandarin circuit. The motion-picture show earned US$2.8 million in rentals at the American and Canadian box office in 1973.^[20] It had topped the N American box office in May 1973, to a higher place ii other Hong Kong films in the second and third spots, Lady Cyclone (Deep Thrust) and King Boxer (Five Fingers of Expiry).^[21] The Big Boss went on to gross a total of US$sixteen.2 million in the United states of america, where it sold approximately ix.418 meg tickets^[22] and was i of the acme 20 films released in 1973.^[23]

In France, the movie became one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1973, with 2,519,063 ticket sales.^[24] In Espana, the film sold 2,211,383 tickets.^[25] Upon its October 1973 release in South korea, the movie sold 209,551 tickets in the capital city of Seoul.^[26] In Lebanese republic, the picture had a packed vi-week first run in Beirut and and then a second run that outperformed The Godfather (1972).^[27] The UK and Nippon were among the final countries to release the flick, in Apr 1974. In Japan, it was the year's seventh highest-grossing picture show, with ¥600 million in distribution rental earnings.^{[28] [29]}

Against a tight upkeep of Us$100,000,^[1] the flick grossed nearly US$fifty one thousand thousand worldwide^[two] (equivalent to approximately $300 meg adjusted for aggrandizement), earning nearly 500 times its budget.

Re-releases [edit]

When the film was released in the United states, the death of Hsiao Mi, "The Boss", was cut down to him simply being stabbed in the chest with a knife in order to receive an "R" rating. The original version of his death, which not just shows an explicit close-up of the knife in his chest but Cheng Chao-an's fingers piercing his rib cage and claret flowing from under his shirt, would have given the film an "Ten" rating. The offset time this scene was shown in the Us was when information technology played on cablevision channel AMC in July 2004.

Columbia Pictures released the film equally a re-issue in 1978 and again re-issued it with Fist of Fury as a studio sanctioned double feature in February 1981. Miramax distributed The Big Dominate on television & streaming (Hulu & Netflix) along with Bruce Lee, the Legend (1984), Game of Death, Manner of the Dragon and Fist of Fury.

On July 14, 2020, The Criterion Drove released a blu-ray box set featuring The Big Dominate, Fist of Fury, The Fashion of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, Game of Death, and Game of Death II titled Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits.

Critical reception [edit]

The Large Dominate received mixed reviews from critics upon release. From the South China Morn Post during the film's original Hong Kong run: "This is probably the biggest matter to hit the Mandarin picture business organisation since the invention of faux blood ... Every movie theater showing this picture is packed to the fire exits."^[30] In a positive review for Singapore newspaper The Straits Times, Arthur Richards wrote, "Information technology is a delightful study of Chinese martial arts mixed with karate and lightning kicks, Western-fashion ... An acceptable thriller of the James Bail calibre."^[31] Conversely, a negative review by Edgar Koh had appeared in some other Singapore newspaper, New Nation, a few days earlier: "Bruce Lee is certainly skilled in his chore, non as an actor but as an exponent of his particular brand of fighting with fists and legs ... There are the stereotype good and bad, and the by now redundant theme of revenge. On elevation of this, it doesn't period smoothly; the emotional mood, shallow though it is, is sometimes left out on a limb."^[32]

Reviews were besides mixed when the film was released (as Fists of Fury) in the United states of america in spring 1973. J. Oliver Prescott of the Tampa Bay Times wrote, "Bruce Lee is the fastest foot in the Due east ... Now back in Hong Kong, he has become the hottest international movie star since Clint Eastwood. Different Eastwood's anti-hero, Bruce Lee is giving the American audiences what they apparently want now: a hero. Lee is Male monarch Allen, Lash Larue, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry all rolled into one ... The characters are certainly unproblematic: these are merely plain Chinese country folk whose lilliputian disagreements develop overnight into Oriental rumbles equivalent to the Sharks and Jets in W Side Story."^[33] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "Kung fu movies began as a local phenomenon in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. The two I've just seen, Fists of Fury (a.k.a. The Big Boss) and Deep Thrust (a.k.a. Lady Whirlwind), make the worst Italian Westerns look similar the most solemn and noble achievements of the early Soviet picture palace."^[34] Variety stated, "Despite the silly plot, dreadful supporting cast and prim morality (or perhaps because of them), Fists of Fury is sometimes entertaining, with most of the credit due to Lee."^[35]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 69% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of v.59/10.^[36]

Culling versions [edit]

Censorship and missing scenes [edit]

The Big Boss has quite a long and complicated history of censorship and editing, with many scenes beingness trimmed or removed completely for various reasons, for unlike markets. The notorious "handsaw in the carve up head" shot was cut by the censors in Hong Kong shortly before the film was released there in Oct 1971. Information technology was only shown in a private screening at Golden Harvest for the printing, cinema owners and prospective buyers on 17 October,^[7] but has non been seen since; all that survives are a few stills.

Further scenes were cutting for the commencement overseas prints released in some territories in late 1971 and early 1972. The nudity and bloodshed was toned down, forth with a few seemingly innocuous scenes, including the terminal i filmed (in a studio in Hong Kong), where Cheng Chao-An (Bruce Lee) and Hsu Chien (James Tien) are walking home after the fight near the gambling den; they enter a narrow alleyway and have to grab hands and bound onto a wall to avoid a cart which is hurled towards them. The merely logical explanation for the cutting of this scene was that it was done to increase the pacing of the early on part of the picture, which placed more emphasis on James Tien than on Bruce Lee.^{[37] [38]}

There was a reduction to the gruesome sequence in which the trunk of cousin Ah Wong is cut apart by the electric saw, and body parts are placed into the ice container.^[37]

A pocket-size edit was made to the dinner political party scene, where a drunken Cheng approaches the prostitute Wu Man (played by Malarin Boonak), and imagines her topless.^[37]

The scene where Cheng is sitting by the riverside post-obit his discovery of the bodies at the family unit abode, was shortened. When he stands and throws his bundle of holding into the river, there were and so shots of his murdered friends, followed by him angrily shaking his fist and shouting, "Revenge!"^[7]

The next cut is some other entirely deleted scene, and another popular one alongside of the "saw-in-the-head" scene. After Cheng runs downward the road from the creek, rather than cut to him arriving at the Large Boss'south mansion like the mainstream cuts, he returns to the Thai brothel for a third time. Hither, he picks upwardly the prostitute in a red sweater-type dress (seen in the background the second time Cheng visits the brothel). Cheng and the prostitute get to her room; Cheng pushes her onto the bed, and the ii begin to strip. Cheng stands backside the bed, completely nude, but also completely emotionless. The woman lies on the bed and Cheng walks (waist-high shot) towards the camera, blurring out the scene. Adjacent, Cheng is shown putting on his shirt, while the adult female remains in bed. He lays his remaining coin on her stomach, even though he already paid to be with her. He then picks up a bag of crisps from the bedside tabular array; he tries one, then leaves. This scene is symbolic and quite important, as in the previous scene Cheng discards his belongings in the river, and here he gives away his money and enjoys his final pleasures and one last meal earlier either existence killed or arrested, a message which is now partially lost. A few seconds of this scene (including a shot of an obviously naked Bruce standing behind the bed) can be seen in the original trailer.^[37]

Other missing scenes briefly visible in the same trailer show Hsu Chien re-enacting a fight for his co-workers in the family dwelling; Cheng walking towards the Drinkstand Girl's (Nora Miao) roadside refreshment stall (the camera zooms in to show her smile at him); a different head visible in the block of ice when Cheng is investigating the ice house; blood pouring from Hsu Chien's head after being stabbed by the boss's son. It is non known if these four scenes were in whatever print of the film.

Further quick shots of violence – by and large involving weapons such as iron chains, sticks, knives and an ice pick – were cut from the prints in the Britain and a few other European countries. These cuts were inexplicably maintained for the "pan and scan" videos released in the 1980s and 1990s but waived for the Uk DVD release by Hong Kong Legends in belatedly 2000. Also restored, surprisingly, was the bloodier death scene of the big boss. Withal, the fabric cut in 1971 in Hong Kong has never been restored, and remains missing. It was terminal seen in Dec 1979 at a Bruce Lee flick festival in Kilburn, London, organised by Kung-Fu Monthly affiche magazine. The Standard mandarin print screened for over one,700 fans came from Golden Harvest'southward London office, and was complete with the exception of the censored "saw in the caput" shot.^[37]

An early on Mandarin print containing some actress footage is rumoured to still exist, and is thought to be in the hands of a private collector. A DVD was to be released in 2004 called "The Big Boss": "The Version You've Never Seen" only release was cancelled due to copyright bug.

Culling championship confusion [edit]

When The Big Dominate was existence prepared for American distribution, the U.S. release was to be re-titled The Chinese Connection, a play on the popular The French Connexion, since both dealt with drug trafficking. The U.S. title of Lee's second flick, Fist of Fury, was to exist kept nearly the same, except using the plural Fists. However, the titles were accidentally reversed. The Big Boss was released as Fists of Fury and Fist of Fury became The Chinese Connection.^[39] Contempo American TV showings and the official US DVD release from 20th Century Fox have restored the original titles of all Bruce Lee films, though the descriptions practise not match in some cases.

Alternative music scores [edit]

Unlike other Lee films, The Big Dominate is unique in having not only two, just three completely unlike music scores. Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death all simply feature one score with minor alterations.

The start music score for it was composed by Wang Fu-ling, who worked on films such equally The Chinese Boxer and One-Armed Swordsman. This was made for the original Mandarin language version, and was as well used in the English export version, in add-on to the theatrical French and Turkish versions. Wang was the only 1 to receive credit, just it is also believed composer Chen Yung-yu assisted with the score. At least one cue from Japanese composer Akira Ifukube's scores for the Daimajin trilogy of films was also utilised as stock music.

The second and most widespread of the music scores was by High german composer Peter Thomas. This did non go widely known until 2005, when nearly of the music he equanimous for the moving-picture show was published on iTunes. Thomas'due south interest stems from a consummate reworking of the English language version of the film. The early version featured the expatriate vocalisation actors living in Hong Kong who worked on the Shaw Brothers' films, and used Wang Fu-ling'south score. It was decided to brand a new English version that would stand out from the ones of other martial arts films. New actors were brought in to re-dub the picture, and Thomas re-scored the moving-picture show, abandoning Wang Fu-ling's music. The High german dubbed version (German: Dice Todesfaust des Cheng Li, English language: The Deadly Fist of Cheng Li), premiering before the reworked English version, features his score.

The third score is the 1982 Cantonese release score, which primarily features music from Gilt Harvest composer Joseph Koo. However, a good portion of Koo'due south music in the Cantonese version was originally created in 1974 for the Japanese theatrical release of The Big Boss, which was half Koo'south music and half Peter Thomas'due south. Golden Harvest simply took Koo's music from the Japanese version and added it to the Cantonese version. Aside from this, this version is well-nigh infamous for its utilize of the Pink Floyd music cues from "The K Vizier's Garden Party, Role 2", "Time" and "Obscured by Clouds", also as King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 2". Other music cues were taken from old horror films and B-movies, including I Was A Teenage Werewolf and How To Make A Monster.^[twoscore]

Legacy [edit]

Kotaku has traced the video game usage of the term "dominate" back to The Big Boss.^[41]

Brucesploitation sequel [edit]

In 1976, an unofficial sequel to The Big Boss was made called The Big Boss Role Two, starring Bruce Le (Huang Kin Lung) equally Cheng Chao-an and Lo Lieh as Cheng's blood brother, who wants revenge for their father's murder. The moving-picture show was directed past Chan Chue, who was an banana director on the original flick and too reprises his function every bit the villainous water ice factory manager. The Big Boss Function 2 (not to exist dislocated with Big Boss ii starring Dragon Lee and Bolo Yeung) was partly filmed at some of the Pak Chong locations used in the original pic, including the ice manufactory and the Buddhist temple which is used as the villain's lair. The elusive film still exists, but has never been officially released on dwelling house media.^{[42] [43]}

Other actors as Bruce Lee playing Cheng Chao-an [edit]

Various Bruce Lee biopics have been filmed over the years, with the two virtually famous being Bruce Lee: The Homo, The Myth and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Both of these films feature their respective actors, Bruce Li and Jason Scott Lee, at one point acting as Lee on the gear up of The Big Boss. Both films feature a variation of the rumour that Lee was challenged on the set past a Thai boxer. In Myth, Lee was challenged on set and was caught in the heart of an ambush afterwards on off the set up. In Dragon, Lee is challenged during an actual take during filming of The Big Boss, wearing the trademark rolled up long sleeve white T-shirt, white sash, and black pants. Both of these are highly exaggerated accounts (non to mention that Dragon makes the mistake of saying that filming for The Big Boss began in July 1970 rather than in July 1971), as the story told is that Lee merely discusses martial arts with a Thai fighter on the set. Besides these 2 examples, a third Bruce Lee biopic, The Legend of Bruce Lee, this time with Danny Chan Kwok-kwan equally Lee and filmed in mini-series form, was shown in Hong Kong in 2008 every bit part of China's hosting of the summertime Olympics. Once more, this biopic shows Lee encountering a Thai boxer on the set of The Big Dominate, this time with the challenger being played by martial arts moving-picture show veteran Mark Dacascos. Photos and backside-the-scenes video of this scene accept appeared on various websites, including Dacascos's official site.

Home media [edit]

VHS releases [edit]

4 Front (Uk)

• Released: 17 March 1997
• Nomenclature: 18

4 Front (U.k.)

• Released: 1 October 2001
• Part of a boxset
• Classification: 18

20th Century Fox (America)

• Released: 21 May 2002
• Named Fists of Fury
• Nomenclature: R, 10 (known in some video releases)
• Colour: NTSC
• Run time: 99 minutes

DVD releases [edit]

Universe (Hong Kong)

• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (two:35:one) letterboxed
• Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Standard mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese
• Supplements: Trailer, trailers for Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, Game of Expiry, Legacy of Rage, star files
• All regions, NTSC

Mega Star (Hong Kong)

• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (ii:29:one)
• Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono), Mandarin (Dolby Digital ii.0 Dual Mono)
• Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean
• Supplements: Trailer, synopsis, cast and Crew biographies
• All regions, NTSC

Fortune Star – Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection (Hong Kong)

• Released: 29 April 2004
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
• Audio: Cantonese (DTS 5.1), Cantonese (Dolby Digital v.i), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Standard mandarin (DTS 5.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital v.i)
• Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English language
• Supplements: Original trailer, new trailer, still photos, slideshow of photos, celebrity interviews, unseen footage, Game of Death outtakes, Enter the Dragon alternate opening, 32-page booklet
• Region 3, NTSC

Play a joke on (America)

• Released: 21 May 2002
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2:27:i) letterboxed
• Sound: English (Dolby Digital two.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Supplements: None
• Region i, NTSC

Trick – Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection (America)

• Released: 18 October 2005
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
• Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital two.0 Mono), Manadarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Supplements: Original trailer, new trailer, yet photos, slideshow of photos, interview with Tung Wai, bonus trailers
• Region one, NTSC

Hong Kong Legends – Special Collector'southward Edition (United Kingdom)

• Released: 6 Nov 2000
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
• Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital two.0 Dual Mono), English (Dolby Digital ii.0 Dual Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Dutch
• Supplements: Commentary by Bey Logan, production photo gallery, blithe biography showcase of Bruce Lee with voice over, original Mandarin trailer, Hong Kong promotional trailer, UK promotional trailer, bonus trailers
• Region 2, PAL

Hong Kong Legends – Platinum Edition (United Kingdom)

• Released: 23 Oct 2006
• Attribute ratio: Widescreen (ii:35:ane) anamorphic
• Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital two.0 Stereo), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono), English (2.0 Dual Mono)
• Subtitles: English language, Dutch
• Supplements: Disc 1: Commentary by Andrew Staton and Will Johnston, bonus trailers; Disc 2: Britain platinum trailer, U.k. promotional trailer, original Mandarin trailer, Hong Kong promotional trailer, rare uncut 8mm UK trailer, original 35mm UK title sequence, textless 35mm title sequence, original antechamber cards, "Paul Weller: Breaking the Westward", "Fred Weintraub: A Rising Star", "Tom Kuhn: What Might Have Been", "The History of The Large Boss: A Photographic Retrospective", "Deleted Scenes Examined: The Story of the Elusive Original Uncut Print", animated biography showcase of Bruce Lee with voice over, DVD credits
• Region 2, PAL

Blu-ray Disc release [edit]

Kam & Ronson (Hong Kong)

• Released: 6 August 2009
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (two:35:1)
• Audio: Cantonese (DTS-Hd Primary Audio 7.1), Cantonese (Dolby Truthful Hard disk drive 7.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital EX 6.1), Thai (Dolby Digital EX six.1)
• Subtitles: Traditional Chinese, English language, Thai
• Supplements: Tung Wai interview
• Region A

Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits (Benchmark Collection #1036) Disc one

• Released: fourteen July 2020
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1)
• Sound: Original Mandarin Mono, Original English-Dubbed Mono, Cantonese Mono, Mandarin with score by Peter Thomas Mono
• Subtitles: English
• Supplements: Commentary by Brandon Bentley, Commentary by Mike Leeder, Alternative Footage, Archival Program "Bruce Lee: The Early Years", "Bruce Lee vs Peter Thomas" on Peter Thomas' score, "On The Large Boss" making-of, TV Spots and Trailers, Leaflet shared with accompanying discs of Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, Game of Expiry and its sequel, aslope the extended "Special Edition" of Enter the Dragon.
• Region A

Run into besides [edit]

• Bruce Lee filmography

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Polly, Matthew (2018). Bruce Lee: A Life. Simon & Schuster. p. 501. ISBN978-1-4711-7571-8. The movie cost US$100,000 to brand.
2. ^ ^{a b} Polly, Matthew (2019). Bruce Lee: A Life. Simon and Schuster. p. 478. ISBN978-ane-5011-8763-6.
3. ^ Michael Ewins (4 July 2012). "In Review: The Big Boss on DVD". New Empress Magazine. Archived from the original on viii December 2015.
4. ^ ^{a b c d eastward f thousand h} Lee, Linda; Bleecker, Tom (1989). The Bruce Lee Story. Ohara Publications, Inc.
5. ^ ^{a b c d east f g h i j grand l g} Lee, Linda (1975). Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew. Warner Paperback Library.
6. ^ "Bruce Lee the Legend" (1983 Documentary flick). Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f grand h i j k 50 one thousand n o p q r south t} Kerridge, Steve; Chua, Darren (2018). Bruce Lee: Standard mandarin Superstar. On The Fly Productions Ltd.
8. ^ ^{a b c d e} Little, John (1998). Bruce Lee: Letters of the Dragon. Tuttle Publishing.
9. ^ Clouse, Robert (1988). Bruce Lee: The Biography. Unique Publications.
10. ^ Geo coordinates
11. ^ In Pursuit of the Dragon (2012 documentary) by John Footling.
12. ^ ^{a b} Bruce Lee in The Large Dominate published by Bruce Lee JKD Gild (1980)
13. ^ Polly, Matthew (2019). Bruce Lee: A Life (reprint ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 330–1. ISBN978-ane-5011-8763-6. Shown in only sixteen Hong Kong theaters, The Large Boss took in $372,000 Hong Kong dollars in its first solar day and passed the magical HK$ane meg mark in but three days. Over its three-week run in local theaters, The Large Boss grossed HK$3.ii million. The Communist china Mail estimated that 1.2 one thousand thousand Hong Kongers out of a population of four million paid to meet the picture show.
14. ^ "Confusion at the Jurong Drive-in". New Nation (29 November 1971, page 1).
15. ^ Richards, Arthur (24 January 1972). "Mandarin film Big Boss shatters all-fourth dimension cinema box function record". The Straits Times.
16. ^ Richard, A.W. (September 1972). ""Big Boss" Big Hit in Malaysia". Black Belt. Vol. 10, no. 9. Agile Interest Media. p. eleven. ISSN 0277-3066.
17. ^ ^{a b} Decease by Misadventure (1995 documentary). Managing director Toby Russell.
18. ^ Fong, Leslie (28 April 1972). "Big Boss merely at Chinese film clubs in U.k.". The Straits Times.
19. ^ "Flick reviews: Fists of Fury". Multifariousness. 27 June 1973. p. 34.
20. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973". Variety: 19. 9 January 1974.
21. ^ Desser, David (2002). "The Kung Fu Craze: Hong Kong Movie theatre's First American Reception". In Fu, Poshek; Desser, David (eds.). The Movie theatre of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge University Printing. pp. xix–43. ISBN978-0-521-77602-eight.
22. ^ "The Big Dominate (1973) – Etats-Unis". JP's Box-Office . Retrieved fifteen June 2020.
23. ^ "Charts - LES RECETTES AUX ETATS-UNIS". JP'due south Box-Function (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
24. ^ "Charts – LES ENTREES EN France". JP's Box-Office (in French). 1973. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
25. ^ Soyer, Renaud (28 Jan 2013). "Bruce Lee Box Function". Box Part Story (in French). Retrieved thirty June 2020.
26. ^ "KOFIC 영화관 입장권 통합전산망". Korean Motion picture Council (in Korean). September 2018. Retrieved eight November 2018.
27. ^ Yip, Homo-Fung (2017). Martial Arts Movie house and Hong Kong Modernity: Aesthetics, Representation, Circulation. Hong Kong University Press. p. 145. ISBN978-988-8390-71-seven.
28. ^ "ドラゴン危機一発／唐山大兄（1971）｜ブルース･リー主演". KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 2 October 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
29. ^ 『キネマ旬報ベスト・テン85回全史 1924–2011』（キネマ旬報社、2012年）322頁
30. ^ South China Morning Post. 7 November 1971.
31. ^ Richards, Arthur (5 Dec 1971). "Fistful of thrills of the 007 calibre". The Straits Times.
32. ^ Koh, Edgar (2 December 1971). "Skilful pugilism but information technology's repugnant movie house". New Nation.
33. ^ Prescott, J. Oliver (12 June 1973). Tampa Bay Times.
34. ^ Canby, Vincent (13 May 1973). The New York Times.
35. ^ Diverseness.
36. ^ "The Big Boss (Tang shan da xiong) (1972)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
37. ^ ^{a b c d e} "The Missing Big Dominate by Jason Hart".
38. ^ "Original standard mandarin cut". 21 August 2016. Archived from the original on 21 Baronial 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
39. ^ "Alternate championship defoliation – The Big Boss (1972) – Chinese Kungfu Kaleidoscope". Cultural China. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
40. ^ Hart, Jason (2011). "Unravelling the Cantonese Soundtrack". BLR (Bruce Lee Review), issue 3.
41. ^ Grayson, Nathan (19 February 2021). "Why Do Nosotros Call The Hardest Video Game Enemies 'Bosses,' Anyway?". Kotaku . Retrieved xix February 2021.
42. ^ Who's The Boss? (Or How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Honey The Big Dominate Function II)
43. ^ Logan, Bey (2018). Bruce Lee And I. Reel E Press.

External links [edit]

• The Big Boss at IMDb
• The Big Boss at the Hong Kong Motion picture DataBase
• The Big Boss at AllMovie
• The Big Dominate at Rotten Tomatoes
• A gallery of notwithstanding shots from The Big Dominate
• An in-depth article on the missing scenes featuring rare publicity shots and screenshots

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Boss

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