The Big Boss

唐山大兄 (1971)

Timing: 1:39 (99 min)

7.063/10
821

7.347/10
25092

6.9/10
32000

All about film

Video 5

Photo 91

Actors and characters

Release date

1971-10-23

Country

Hong Kong

Production

Orange Sky Golden Harvest

Genre

Action

Budget

$100 000

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Lo Wei

Actors

Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien Chuen, Marilyn Bautista, Han Ying-Chieh, Tony Liu, Kun Li, Nora Miao, Kam Shan, Chih Chen
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Raymond Chow Man-Wai

Operator

Chris Chen Ching-Chu

Composer

Wang Fu-Ling

Artist

Audition

Editing

Sung Ming
All team (10)

• Bruce Lee was initially assigned a supporting role, and James Tien was supposed to play the protagonist. However, after the first few scenes, the director changed his mind and gave Bruce the leading role.
• During filming, Bruce Lee sprained his ankle after an unsuccessful landing and began to limp, so he was filmed in close-up for some scenes. Bruce also experienced a recurrence of back pain due to an old injury, and he needed painkiller injections after each fight scene.
• The mansion of the main villain in the film was and still is a Thai mausoleum.
• The Thai brothel in the film was actually a real establishment. The actresses involved in the relevant scenes were genuine prostitutes who were paid by Golden Harvest film company more for their participation in the filming than they earned in a day serving clients.
• The film is based on the true story of a man named Zheng Chao'an, who lived at the beginning of the 20th century. A commemorative statue in his honor was erected in Bangkok 80 years ago.
• If you look closely, during the second fight, at the factory where Bruce Lee fights the boss's son, you can spot Mithun Chakraborty.
• The original title of the film translates to "Fists of Fury of Zheng Zheng" in Russian, but the title was changed when the film was released in the American market.
• The original title of the film translates to "Fists of Fury of Zheng Zheng." For the American release, the film was initially intended to be released under the title "Fists of Fury," but this could have caused confusion with Bruce Lee's subsequent film, "Fist of Fury." Therefore, the title was first changed to "Iron Hand," and then to "Chinese Connection," which echoed the title of that year's hugely popular film, "The French Connection."
• The complete director's cut of "The Big Boss" has a runtime of 115 minutes. After the film's successful release in 1972, due to new censorship rules prohibiting excessive violence in martial arts films, a number of particularly violent scenes were cut, many of which have not survived to this day. Changes in the cut version: The murder scene at the factory was significantly shortened: scenes in which the organs of the first two brothers are removed with a handsaw were deleted. The scene where all parts of the skull are torn out of one of the brothers was also completely cut. The scene of the boy's murder was slightly shortened. The scene in which Zheng dispatches one of the bandits with a handsaw was shortened. In the cut version, the film is spliced at this point and only shows him falling with a saw in his head. In the director's cut, the viewer has a full opportunity to clearly see how the saw plunges into the skull of the unfortunate man, cutting him in half and getting stuck halfway. When Brother Hsu fought with Xiao Remfan, the son of Sha Mifen, the latter tore out Hsu’s frontal artery, which sprayed him with a jet. The scene cut after the night fight in the club, where one bandit throws coal at Hsu and Zheng, after which they jump through the wall from the fire. After this, Hsu tells everything to A-Kun, but the latter is not surprised. The scene where Zheng buys shrimp from Nora Miao, and where Sister Qiaomei sees her uncle off and gives him tea, was deleted. After this, only Zheng says goodbye to his uncle. The resulting version, which has survived to this day, has a runtime of 102 minutes.
• When the film was released in the American distribution, it was significantly cut in terms of cruelty and violence: in particular, the scene of the Big Boss's murder was shortened, where he dies only after Zheng stabs him in the chest. The full version of the murder scene with a knife, present in the Hong Kong version, allowing a view of the Boss from all angles and how Cheng pierces him with his fingers, and especially the moment blood flows from under his shirt, was immediately removed so that the film would receive an "R" rating, instead of the "X" rating initially given by the MPAA commission. Thus, this is the only Bruce Lee film that was censored in the country of production due to scenes of violence.
• Filming took place in Thailand from July 23 to August 18, 1971.
• The original title of the film translates to 'Fists of Fury by Cheng Zhen.' The film was initially intended for American release under the title 'Fists of Fury,' but this could have caused confusion with Bruce Lee’s subsequent film 'Fist of Fury.' Therefore, the title was first changed to 'Iron Hand,' and then to 'Chinese Connection,' echoing the highly popular film 'The French Connection' released in the same year.
• The complete director's cut of 'The Big Boss' has a runtime of 115 minutes. Following the film’s successful release in 1972, a number of particularly violent scenes were cut due to new censorship rules prohibiting excessive brutality in martial arts films, and many of these scenes have not survived to this day. Changes in the shortened version: The factory murder scene was significantly reduced: scenes in which the organs of the first two brothers are removed with a handsaw were deleted. The scene where all the parts of one brother's skull are torn out was also completely removed. The scene of the boy's murder was slightly shortened. The scene in which Zheng dispatches one of the bandits with a handsaw was shortened. In the shortened version, the film is spliced at this point and only shows him falling with the saw in his head. In the director’s cut, the viewer has a full opportunity to clearly see the saw plunging into the unfortunate man’s skull, cutting him in half and getting stuck halfway. When Brother Hsu fought with Xiao Remfan, the son of Sha Mifen, the latter ripped Hsu’s frontal artery, which sprayed him with a jet of blood. A scene was cut after the night fight in the club, where one bandit throws coals at Hsu and Zheng, after which they jump over the wall to escape the fire. Hsu then tells everything to A-Kun, but the latter is not surprised. A scene was deleted where Zheng buys shrimp from Nora Miao, and where Sister Xiaomei sees off the uncle and gives him tea. After this, only Zheng says goodbye to the uncle. The resulting version, which has survived to this day, has a runtime of 102 minutes.
• Upon the film's release in the United States, it was heavily cut in terms of brutality and violence: in particular, the scene of the Big Boss’s murder was shortened, where he dies only after Zheng stabs him in the chest. The full version of the murder scene with the knife, present in the Hong Kong version, allowing a clear view of the Boss from all angles and how Cheng pierces him with his fingers, and especially the moment blood flows from under his shirt, was immediately removed in order for the film to receive an 'R' rating, instead of the 'X' rating initially given by the MPAA. Thus, this is the only Bruce Lee film that was censored in the country of production due to scenes of violence.