History Film / TheBigBoss

* BigBad: Hsiao Mi

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This being the first of five movies starring Bruce Lee as protagonist, there are bound to be a few of these. Notably the absence of Lee's iconic [[FightingWithChucks nunchucks]], the violence being more over-the-top and cartoonish (at one point, Cheng punches an EliteMook through a wall leaving behind a [[ImpactSilhouette man-shaped hole]]), and Cheng actually killing several mooks in excessively graphic ways, using a torchlight, tongs, a saw, and various weapons.
* ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask: Bruce Lee [[TheSnackIsMoreInteresting eats snacks]] and kicks some asses at the same time.

* PreClimaxClimax: In an entirely cut scene from the original release, which took place between the family murder and the final fight at the Boss's compound, [[spoiler: Cheng returned to the Thai brothel he had visited earlier in the film so that he could, ahem, "unwind" with another prostitute before he marched on with his suicide mission to the Boss’ mansion. Presumably, the theme was that Cheng wanted to enjoy his final pleasures before either dying or getting jailed for a long time.]] Of course, the audience (and censors) did not take kindly to the movie's hero doing this, and the scene got axed from all future releases, only to be partially available on the old Mandarin trailers.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: During the climax, Cheng faces the Boss and his mooks with a bag of chips in hand.

* SupportingProtagonist: Hsiu Chien [[spoiler:until he gets killed by the Boss's henchmen]]

* RealityEnsues: The last twenty minutes has Lee kicking ass, taking names, and killing people with his fists of fury! [[spoiler: He's arrested in the end by police once the BigBad is dead.]]

* InfantImmortality: Averted [[spoiler:with Cheng's little cousin]]

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film was based on the true story of Cheng Chiu-on who fought the tyrants in Thailand. Cheng lived at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 20th century. A memorial statue of him was erected in a garden in the Bangkok more than 80 years ago.

* DuelToTheDeath: The final showdown between Cheng and the Boss, which is a combination of martial arts and knife-fighting. It’s well done, it’s brutal, and it looks like Cheng may not make it out alive. Unlike most of his later movies, Bruce Lee didn’t seem invincible and that ramped up the tension. By the end, Cheng is so tired that he passes out.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Cheng is arrested at the end for the dozen or so murders he commits in avenging his family's death.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: While not mentioned in the film, a few books released in the '70s at the time of the film's release mentioned that Cheng Chao An was forced to make his promise to his mother after his father was killed in a fight. In order to continue the family lineage, Cheng's mother wanted to make sure he would not fall to the same fate and that he'd live to raise his own family. Film historian Bey Logan even mentions this in an audio commentary.
* BMovie: With the meager budget and the general grindhouse feel (especially for the ellusive 1971 uncut version), it innevitably becomes this.

* AlliterativeTitle: Applies both the old U.S. title (Fists of Fury) and the current one.

As many have already said (and will continue saying without a doubt), Lee was a very charming actor whose presence filled the screen and owned it completely. That statement is proved here as we see him not as a killing machine, but as a common man who just wants to live peacefully, giving us many scenes of Cheng enjoying his new found family and struggling with his own vices and inner demons. Lee's performance is very natural although one could say that he was basically playing a portion of his personality.

To summarize, this is a watershed martial arts film both in terms of its star and the genre as a whole, and is essential viewing for anyone interested in either.

Wei Lo's usually restrained style was also influenced by his young actor's abilities. ''The Big Boss'' can be seen as his transition to a more explosive way of martial arts film-making that would be completed in ''Fist of Fury'' and subsequent Jackie Chan films. The raw and grindhouse look of the film added to the high dose of graphic violence (it is probably the goriest film in Lee's career, and consequently the most cut and censored) give the movie a harsh, gritty realism that adds to its charm.

Directed by Wei Lo (who would also discover Creator/JackieChan), ''The Big Boss'' was a breath of fresh air to Hong Kong martial arts films of the time as it showed a flawed hero in a modern setting. The story (by Wei Lo and Bruce Lee), differently from the Wuxia flicks that were the norm at the time, was set in contemporary times and filled with suspense and action, and in a unusual move for an action film, the main character remains almost inactive for the first half as Cheng must avoid violence due to his oath. The film not only launched Lee's career to the stratosphere; it influenced his own film-making style and the way future martial arts movies were done.

Wei Lo's usually restrained style was also influenced by his young actor's abilities; ''The Big Boss'' can be seen as his transition to a more explosive way of martial arts film-making that would be completed in ''Fist of Fury'' and subsequent Jackie Chan films. The raw and grindhouse look of the film added to the high dose of graphic violence (it is probably the goriest film in Lee's career, and consequently the most cut and censored) give the movie a harsh, gritty realism that adds to its charm.

To summarize, this is a watershed martial arts film both in terms of its star and the genre as a whole; and is essential viewing for anyone interested in either.

Cheng (Lee) is a Chinese man from Guangdong who has moved to Thailand with the help of his uncle. Prior to the start of the film, Cheng took an oath of non-violence at the behest of his mother. He becomes acquainted with an expatriate family, and soon comes to be very close to them, especially the sweet but vulnerable Chiao Mei (Maria Yi), with whom he develops a romance. Alas; getting a job at the ice factory where his cousins work; one day a block of ice is broken to reveal a bag of heroin inside. It turns out the ice factory is a front for a drug operation. The boss of the factory, Hsiao Mi, offers the workers (two of Cheng's cousins) who discovered the heroin a bribe to keep quiet. When they refuse it, he has them killed and concealed in ice blocks. Cheng and the remaining cousins start conducting an investigation. Hsiao tries to dissuade Cheng by promoting him to a foreman, but when this fails, he has the remainder of the family (sans Chiao) murdered. Cheng discovers them dead, and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This being the first of five movies starring Bruce Lee as protagonist, there are bound to be a few of these. Notably the absence of Lee's iconic [[FightingWithChucks nunchucks]], the violence being more over-the-top and cartoonish (at one point, Cheng punches an EliteMook through a wall leaving behind [[ImpactSilhouette
a man-shaped hole]] ), and Cheng actually killing several mooks in excessively graphic ways, using a torchlight, tongs, a saw, and various weapons.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This being the first of five movies starring Bruce Lee as protagonist, there are bound to be a few of these. Notably the absence of Lee's iconic [[FightingWithChucks nunchucks]], the violence being more over-the-top and cartoonish (at one point, Cheng punches an EliteMook through a wall leaving behind [[Impact Silhouette

a man-shaped hole]]), and Cheng actually killing several mooks in excessively graphic ways, using a torchlight, tongs, a saw, and various weapons.

* ActualPacifist: Cheng has sworn off violence when the film starts. But when he gets pushed too far, he snaps. HARD. He goes from "hello sir, it's nice to finally meet you" in the beginning of the movie to "your daughter calls me daddy too" by the time the final battle rolls on.

After trying to make a name in Hollywood with the TV series ''Franchise/TheGreenHornet'' with mixed results, young actor and martial artist Creator/BruceLee traveled back to Hong Kong where his popularity as Kato was very high. There he met Raymond Chow and received the chance to star a film about martial arts. ''Tang Shan Da Xiong'', or ''The Big Boss'' (known in the U.S. as ''Fists of Fury'', in which case it is not to be confused with his later film ''Film/FistOfFury''), was the final result and the movie that started Lee's career and his way to becoming a legend of celluloid.

** The girl working at the food stand at the beginning of the movie seems like she's being set up as being Cheng's main love interest. However, it turns out she's only a minor character as Chiao Mei is actually the leading lady. Even the prostitute that Cheng sleeps with plays a more important role to the plot than the food stand girl does.

* PosthumousCharacter: Old Wang, who apparently feel victim to the same "chopped into pieces and frozen in ice" tactic as Cheng's cousins.
* PreClimaxClimax: In an entirely cut scene from the original release for The Big Boss, which took place between the family murder and the final fight at the Boss's compound, [[spoiler: Cheng returned to the Thai brothel he had visited earlier in the film so that he could, ahem, "unwind" with another prostitute before he marched on with his suicide mission to the Boss’ mansion. Presumably, the theme was that Cheng wanted to enjoy his final pleasures before either dying or getting jailed for a long time.]] Of course, the audience (and censors) did not take kindly to the movie's hero doing this, and the scene got axed from all future releases, only to be partially available on the old Mandarin trailers.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: For fights with a non-lethal outcome, Cheng wears blue trousers, but he dons black ones for all fights where he kills his opponents.

* DuelToTheDeath: The final showdown between Cheng and the Boss, which is a combination of martial arts and knife-fighting.

** He also does it in an earlier scene before demonstrating his martial arts skills.

* KissingCousins: They never kiss on-screen but Cheng and Chiao have feelings for each other

* MookFaceTurn: A few of Hsiao Mi's girls end up helping Cheng instead because of the way Hsiao Mi treats them.
* MsFanservice: After Cheng gets drunk post the party, a comfort girl is sent to, er, provide him some entertainment. The camera gives her a medium close-up enough to allow her disrobe...
* NiceGuy: In contrast to the stoic badasses that Bruce Lee usually liked to play, Cheng is a pretty mellow and gentle sort. Until his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, of course.

* PosthumousCharacter: Old Wang.

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: In an entirely cut scene from the original release for The Big Boss, which took place between the family murder and the final fight at the Boss's compound, [[spoiler: Cheng returned to the Thai brothel he had visited earlier in the film so that he could, ahem, "unwind" with another prostitute before he marched on with his suicide mission to the Boss’ mansion. Presumably, the theme was that Cheng wanted to enjoy his final pleasures before either dying or getting jailed for a long time.]] Of course, the audience (and censors) did not take kindly to the movie's hero doing this, and the scene got axed from all future releases, only to be partially available on the old Mandarin trailers.
* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: During the climax, Cheng faces the Boss and his mooks with a bag of chips in hand.

Cheng (Lee) is a Chinese man from Guangdong who has moved to Thailand with the help of his uncle. Prior to the start of the film, Cheng took an oath of non-violence at the behest of his mother. He becomes acquanited with his extensive family of cousins and soon comes to be very close to them, especially the sweet but vulnerable Chiao Mei (Maria Yi), with whom he develops a romance. Alas; getting a job at the ice factory where his cousins work; one day a block of ice is broken to reveal a bag of heroin inside. It turns out the ice factory is a front for a drug operation. The boss of the factory, Hsiao Mi, offers the workers (two of Cheng's cousins) who discovered the heroin a bribe to keep quiet. When they refuse it, he has them killed. Cheng and the remaining cousins start conducting an investigation. Hsiao tries to dissuade Cheng by promoting him to a foreman, but when this fails, he has the remainder of the family (sans Chiao) murdered. Cheng discovers them dead, and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

Directed by Wei Lo (who would also discover Creator/JackieChan), ''The Big Boss'' was a breath of fresh air to martial arts films as it showed a flawed hero in a modern setting. The story (by Wei Lo and Bruce Lee) was very well developed and filled with suspense and action, and in a bold move for an action film, the main character remains almost inactive for the first half as Cheng must avoid violence due to his oath. The film not only launched Lee's career to the stratosphere; it influenced his own film-making style and the way future martial arts movies were done.

Wei Lo's usually restrained style was also influenced by his young actor's abilities; ''The Big Boss'' can be seen as his transition to a more explosive way of film-making that would be completed in ''Fist of Fury'' and the subsequent Jackie Chan films. The natural and raw look of the film added to the high dose of graphic violence (it is probably the goriest film in Lee's career, and consequently the most cut and censored) give the movie a harsh, gritty realism that adds to its charm.

As many have already said (and will continue saying without a doubt), Lee was a very charming actor whose presence filled the screen and owned it completely. That statement is proved here as we see him not as a killing machine, but as a common man who just wants to live peacefully, giving us many scenes of Cheng enjoying his new found family and struggling with his own vices. Lee's performance is very natural although one could say that he was basically playing himself.

* ActualPacifist: Cheng has sworn off violence when the film starts. But when he gets pushed too far, he snaps. HARD. He goes from "wouldn't hurt a fly" to "your remains won't fit on a toothpick."
* AffablyEvil: Hsiao Mi first offers his workers membership in his cartel after they discover they're smuggling drugs. It's only after they politely refuse that he kills them. See WhatAnIdiot.
* AlliterativeTitle
* AllThereInTheManual: While not mentioned in the film, a few books released in the '70s at the time of the film's release mentioned that Cheng Chao An was forced to make his promise to his mother after his father was killed in a fight. In order to continue the family name, Cheng's mother wanted to make sure he would not fall to the same fate and that he'd live to raise his own family. Film historian Bey Logan even mentions this in an audio commentary.
* BMovie

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Bruce Lee's character is arrested at the end for the dozen or so murders he commits in avenging his family's death.]]

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: A rather unexpected and dour play on this troupe happens in an entirely cut scene from the original release for The Big Boss, which took place between the family murder and the final fight at the Boss's compound. [[spoiler: Cheng returns to the Thai brothel he had visited earlier in the film to, ahem, "unwind" with another prostitute before he marched on with his suicide mission to the Boss’ mansion. Presumably, the theme was that Cheng wanted to enjoy his final pleasures and re-establish his masculinity before either dying or getting jailed for a long time.]] Of course, the audience (and censors) did not take kindly to the movie's hero doing this, and the scene got axed from all future releases.

* ShirtlessScene: Cheng gets one during the entire final fight.

* TheGlassesComeOff: Hsiao Mi deliberately removes his in the buildup to the final fight.
** He also does it in an earlier scene before demonstrating his martial arts skills.