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The Big Boss's original director: Wu Chia-Hsiang


mpm74

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Has anyone seen Wu Chia-Hsiang's other films? If so, are they good? I'm wondering how The Big Boss would have turned out if they kept him as director.

All I know is what we all know. The Big Boss was supposedly intended to have James Tien as the lead, which Wu Chia-Hsiang favored. So, when Bruce Lee was made the lead by the studio, Wu Chia-Hsiang was replaced by Lo Wei.

Anyone have any more juicy tidbits?

"What do you think they're gonna do, hold hands?"

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What book or magazine are those images from? I've never seen any of those before...

It's from the book attached to the Shout! Factory's Bruce Lee Blu-ray set.

George Tan did the text for the book, which contains photos from his personal collection.

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Thanks for the info guys. I was hoping someone actually SAW one of his films. :)

"We'll get him one of these days. He's gonna be sorry!"

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masterofoneinchpunch
... Has anyone seen Wu Chia-Hsiang's other films? If so, are they good? I'm wondering how The Big Boss would have turned out if they kept him as director....

I have seen (twice now I was going to do a review but had some issues with it; plus I was debating on seeing something else from the director) The Price of Love. This is mostly known as Teddy Robin's first film and you do get to hear a decent amount of his music in it. It has been described as a City Lights influenced film (for those who have not seen City Lights it is Charlie Chaplin's most critically popular movie and a must watch for fans of cinema) which it really is not except for one scene toward the end. It is heavy handed, has some bizarre direction, seems somewhat condescending of blind people and Teddy Robin and not a particular fun watch (oh wait this has one of the more depressing endings for a Hong Kong film.)

I think it is telling that Teddy Robin would not be in another film until nine years later.

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lol!

Now I feel dumb. I actually own The Price of Love. lol I only realized it when you said "Teddy Robin's first film and you do get to hear a decent amount of his music in it."...

Thanks. I'll have to check it out.

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NoKUNGFUforYU

I'll have to check out Gun Brothers as well. Not much in his pedigree says that he would be a better choice than Lo Wei. Wei might have been past his prime, but he had a lot of experience shooting martial arts flicks. I realize Lee did not think much of Lo Wei, but I imagine, after working in the USA with many retakes, rehearsals and so on, the whole HK/Shaws style of cranking out movies must have looked pretty cheesy.

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Morgoth Bauglir
Thanks for the info guys. I was hoping someone actually SAW one of his films. :)

"We'll get him one of these days. He's gonna be sorry!"

I looked through his filmography and I don't think I've seen any. Did he do any kung fu movies?

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"Look... We know you're crazy about the guy. And, we think you'll make a fine pair. You know what? I bet he's thinking the same thing... RIGHT THIS MINUTE! "

lee-7jv.jpg

:bigsmile:

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LOL! I don't know who was responsible for that edit (from that dialogue to that scene): Bruce or Lo Wei. That's what makes BB so great.

One of the greatest transitions ever (and one of the best dubs ever!)

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Has anyone seen Wu Chia-Hsiang's other films? If so, are they good?
I've seen three of them, that when compared to other Shaw Brothers films, I would rate as average. There are still some great performances within and if you are a fan of any of the actors you may want to see them.

Sweet is Revenge(1967) (Action)

Is about a Robin Hood kind of character (Yueh Hua) that steals from corrupt government officials who are keeping money that should be going to flood victims for themselves. He also dons a few disguises throughout the film to continue to mess with their heads. There's also a sub plot where Chen Hung Lieh is in love with a girl who is in love with someone else and things go bad when she marries the other guy.

Gun Brothers (1968) (Action)

Ling Yun is a rebel who fights the good fight against the invading Japanese. Like Yueh Hua in Revenge is Sweet, he dons a few disguises to help with his war of chaos. Also similar to Revenge is the sub plot concerning a love triangle involving Ling Yun, a girl and a rival who is the local Inspector played by Tien Feng. This one has the most action of the 3 but like the others never really gets off the ground.

Dark Semester (1969) (Drama)

The story of a young man (Guan Shan) who comes to a school where the teachers have given up on trying to reach the troubled kids, and are just going through the motions. He is actually an engineer, but for some reason I forget, is getting some temporary work as a teacher. He makes an effort to connect with the kids, but they give him a lot of trouble. Chuen Yuen leads a gang of hoolums and Margaret Hsing Hui is the teachers pet. There's one knife fight and a few scenes of mayhem, but it is mostly a melodrama.

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P'an ku, thanks for the detailed posts!!!! Judging from those movies you saw, do you think his direction would have been better than Lo Wei's?

I guess it's a question that doesn't make much sense, considering if he went on to direct it, it would have turned into a completely different movie, especially James Tien as the lead.

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P'an ku, thanks for the detailed posts!!!! Judging from those movies you saw, do you think his direction would have been better than Lo Wei's?

I guess it's a question that doesn't make much sense, considering if he went on to direct it, it would have turned into a completely different movie, especially James Tien as the lead.

Based on these 3 films, I think Big Boss would not have been as good of a film as it is, if Wu Chia-Hsiang directed it.

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Except Father and son, Passion, A price of love, The long years and City fantasy, I watched all the other movies mentioned in the hkmdb link and I enjoyed each of them.

Springtime in Pattaya is more a comedy than a drama.

Sweet is revenge, Gun brothers, Dark semester, A place to call home and Forever diamonds are very good.

By the way, does anyone have The long years ?

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Fist of the Heavenly Sky

I was just made aware of this post on the Bruce Lee Lives! forum. Apparently, Ng See Yuen/Wu Chia-Hsiang had a memoir, and he dedicated an entire chapter to discussing his relationship to Bruce Lee. 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/256969/message/1465717159/Ng+See+Yuen’s+Memoir-+“Remembering+the+legend+–+Bruce+Lee”

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reason108
On 4/29/2017 at 0:30 AM, lonesome space said:

I was just made aware of this post on the Bruce Lee Lives! forum. Apparently, Ng See Yuen/Wu Chia-Hsiang had a memoir, and he dedicated an entire chapter to discussing his relationship to Bruce Lee. 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/256969/message/1465717159/Ng+See+Yuen’s+Memoir-+“Remembering+the+legend+–+Bruce+Lee”

 

That was a cool article. It is nice to read some behind the scenes stories from people that were there. 

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Phantom Dreamer
On 4/28/2017 at 11:30 PM, lonesome space said:

I was just made aware of this post on the Bruce Lee Lives! forum. Apparently, Ng See Yuen/Wu Chia-Hsiang had a memoir, and he dedicated an entire chapter to discussing his relationship to Bruce Lee. 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/256969/message/1465717159/Ng+See+Yuen’s+Memoir-+“Remembering+the+legend+–+Bruce+Lee”

Maybe he or somebody, anybody else, should do a Big Boss remake starring the incomparable, immortal, living legend himself, Philip Ng, right? Anyone???

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Fist of the Heavenly Sky
1 hour ago, Phantom Dreamer said:

Maybe he or somebody, anybody else, should do a Big Boss remake starring the incomparable, immortal, living legend himself, Philip Ng, right? Anyone???

I don't follow?

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On 4/29/2017 at 5:30 PM, lonesome space said:

I was just made aware of this post on the Bruce Lee Lives! forum. Apparently, Ng See Yuen/Wu Chia-Hsiang had a memoir, and he dedicated an entire chapter to discussing his relationship to Bruce Lee. 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/256969/message/1465717159/Ng+See+Yuen’s+Memoir-+“Remembering+the+legend+–+Bruce+Lee”

Ng See Yuen and Ng Ga Seung (Wu Chia-Hsiang) aren't the same person, but that's still pretty cool.

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Fist of the Heavenly Sky
1 hour ago, Phantom Dreamer said:

Cheers buddy

Dunno what your sassy passive aggressive act is all about, but hey, likewise.

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