Any movies similar to Bruce Lee's The Big Boss?

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

Considering how infectiously influential all of the Bruce's other films were on the martial arts movie genre as a whole, one would figure the same would be true of Big Boss, but for some reason it's simply not the case. Or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough! Either way, I'm wondering if you guys could list out any movies that you think are similar, in any way you can think of, to the Big Boss. Doesn't have to be similar to everything in BB, as long as it shares one or more aspects in common. Kill Bill need not apply. Less said about it the better. 

Well meaning but politically incorrect protagonist? List it. Butchering and concealment of family members' body parts? List it. Very corny English dub even by VHS era standards? List it. Heavy usage of garden utensils for murdering thugs? List it. Thailand setting, particularly if it's an unflattering one? List it. Gratuitous female flesh for no particular reason besides enticing Teen viewers? List it. Protagonist getting in bed with prostitutes? Absolutely list it!

Edited May 2, 2017 by lonesome space

[KUNG FU BOB]

SOUL OF CHIBA (1977) has some commonalities... It features a "stranger in a strange land", Thailand setting, drug smuggling, and thugs getting their asses kicked.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

5 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

SOUL OF CHIBA (1977) has some commonalities... It features a "stranger in a strange land", Thailand setting, drug smuggling, and thugs getting their asses kicked.

I actually did a semi-review on that movie, and how it could've turned out infinitely better than it has. If you're interested in checking it out:

 

[shukocarl]

Wang Yu's THE TATTOOED DRAGON....Thai setting, gambling lots of thug types running the town, good climax against James Tien.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

2 hours ago, shukocarl said:

Wang Yu's THE TATTOOED DRAGON....Thai setting, gambling lots of thug types running the town, good climax against James Tien.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm watching this on Youtube as we speak. I did notice that Lo Wei directed that movie. Besides James Tien, Lee Kwan (Our dear uncle Ah Kun from Big Boss) is also in it and is as goofy as ever. Also gotta love how they have a German Shepherd play a leading role in it too. Unfortunately, Jimmy Wang Yu as the titular Tattooed Dragon just isn't all that interesting or engaging in this movie. 

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

Bumping this thread. Always looking for more suggestions!

[DrNgor]

Some other martial arts films from the 70s with Thai settings:

The Killer Elephants (an actual Thai production, apparently)
Female Fugitive (1975)
King Boxer (1972 with Meng Fei; sort of a cross of DUEL OF FISTS and VENGEANCE!)
The Greatest Thai Boxing (with Bolo Yeung)
The Brothers (1972)
The Golden Key (1978)
The Final Duel (1980)
The Golden Triangle (1975)
The Roaring Lion (1972 - with Cliff Lok and Shek Kin - the finale is phenomenal)

[DragonClaws]

On 02/05/2017 at 9:32 AM, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

Or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough! Either way, I'm wondering if you guys could list out any movies that you think are similar, in any way you can think of, to the Big Boss. Doesn't have to be similar to everything in BB, as long as it shares one or more aspects in common. Kill Bill need not apply. Less said about it the better. 

There's a Sze-Ma Lung movie, where he goes to work in an old factory, and its run by Gangsters. He goes work there, just to support his poor family or relatives. It's so long since I watched it, that I've forgotten the title. I think it was a Hong Kong production?. Sure I still have the movie on DVD back at my parents house. Next time I visit them, I'll see if I can dig it out. Tried to remember the name of it, since this thread was started.

Edited November 7, 2017 by DragonClaws

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

On 10/9/2017 at 11:53 AM, DrNgor said:

Some other martial arts films from the 70s with Thai settings:

The Killer Elephants (an actual Thai production, apparently)
Female Fugitive (1975)
King Boxer (1972 with Meng Fei; sort of a cross of DUEL OF FISTS and VENGEANCE!)
The Greatest Thai Boxing (with Bolo Yeung)
The Brothers (1972)
The Golden Key (1978)
The Final Duel (1980)
The Golden Triangle (1975)
The Roaring Lion (1972 - with Cliff Lok and Shek Kin - the finale is phenomenal)

I didn't notice your post up until now. Thanks abunch for the list. I'll be sure to comb through the list soon. Besides the Thai setting, are there any more peculiar similarities those flicks share with BB, if you remember?

1 hour ago, DragonClaws said:

There's a Barry Chan movie, where he goes to work in an old factory, and its run by Gangsters. He goes work there, just to support his poor family or relatives. It's so long since I watched it, that I've forgotten the title. I think it was a Hong Kong production?. Sure I still have the movie on DVD back at my parents house. Next time I visit them, I'll see if I can dig it out. Tried to remember the name of it, since this thread was started.

I'll do some digging on HKMDB in regards to the movie. Does it happen to share the same violence and lurid quantities as BB by any chance? Either way, thanks!

[Omni Dragon]

It's been awhile since I've seen it but still, the basher; Freedom Strikes a Blow better known as Chinese Hercules comes to mind. Chan Wai Man (who I think was marketed as Bruce Chen at some point) plays a labourer who doesn't want to get into any fights like The Big Boss but, in this case it's because he accidentally kills a man in a fight, as appose to a promise made to his mother. I can't remember too much else about it but interestingly the US trailer used some scenes from The Big Boss.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2017 by Silver and Gold Dragon
To add the youtube video.

[DragonClaws]

13 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

I'll do some digging on HKMDB in regards to the movie. Does it happen to share the same violence and lurid quantities as BB by any chance? Either way, thanks!

No nudity or gore heavy violence, from what I recall of it. Just a stoic hero and some drug dealing gangsters.

[Killer Meteor]

It's funny how the Thai setting in Big Boss is really not taken advantage of. By contrast, the likes of Duel of Fists, The Tournament and Man With The Golden Gun stop for Travelogues and Thai Boxing demos. The Meng Fei King Boxer really takes the mic, as the first reel is nothing but an elephant festival!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

The Skyhawk has certain similarities.

[One Armed Boxer]

More Thailand set goodness in the unfortunately titled 'Bloody Ring' from 1974 - 

 

[DragonClaws]

1 hour ago, One Armed Boxer said:

More Thailand set goodness in the unfortunately titled 'Bloody Ring' from 1974 - 

According to the HKMDB, Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah are among the supporting cast, in this early Larry Lee outing.

Are there any DVD releases for this title?.

 

[One Armed Boxer]

1 hour ago, DragonClaws said:

According to the HKMDB, Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah are among the supporting cast, in this early Larry Lee outing.

Are there any DVD releases for this title?.

 

Yep, that's Sammo in the funky denim ensemble in the clip.

Not sure if this had an official release, but I know Jamal had it available as one of his custom releases -

http://jamalkungfuprojects.blogspot.dk/2011/12/bloody-ring.html?m=1

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

18 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

It's been awhile since I've seen it but still, the basher; Freedom Strikes a Blow better known as Chinese Hercules comes to mind. Chan Wai Man (who I think was marketed as Bruce Chen at some point) plays a labourer who doesn't want to get into any fights like The Big Boss but, in this case it's because he accidentally kills a man in a fight, as appose to a promise made to his mother. I can't remember too much else about it but interestingly the US trailer used some scenes from The Big Boss

Well holy mackarel........Bolo is a relentless bone crushing machine in this. He definitely lives up to the Chinese Hercules name. Not even Michael Chan is safe from his karate-chopping spinal breaks! It appears an upload on Wu Tang Collection is available so I'm absolutely giving that a watch right now! Thanks for the contribution!

 

8 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

It's funny how the Thai setting in Big Boss is really not taken advantage of. By contrast, the likes of Duel of Fists, The Tournament and Man With The Golden Gun stop for Travelogues and Thai Boxing demos. The Meng Fei King Boxer really takes the mic, as the first reel is nothing but an elephant festival!

I've commented quite a bit about that aspect of Big Boss, to say the least.  For what it's worth, they did film some of the indoor scenes in Bangkok rather than Pak Chong, especially after Lo Wei took ahold of the project, so it's not just a constant gritty and depressing scenery to the viewer. It's also worth noting that Pak Chong itself borders a national geological park (Khao Yai), so there could've been an excuse for the BB crew to film some pseudo-travelogue material, if only for the sake of variety. And oh boy, you're absolutely right about Meng Fei King Boxer. I'm guessing the Travelogue and overdose of Thai Boxing material was to make up for the nonexistent story and tedious fighting. Not even Yasuaki Kurata could save that dud of a movie!

26 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Yep, that's Sammo in the funky denim ensemble in the clip.

Not sure if this had an official release, but I know Jamal had it available as one of his custom releases -

http://jamalkungfuprojects.blogspot.dk/2011/12/bloody-ring.html?m=1

Am I to assume that a download of this movie is available somewhere? I'm just curious, is all. 

[Omni Dragon]

52 minutes ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

Well holy mackarel........Bolo is a relentless bone crushing machine in this. He definitely lives up to the Chinese Hercules name. Not even Michael Chan is safe from his karate-chopping spinal breaks! It appears an upload on Wu Tang Collection is available so I'm absolutely giving that a watch right now! Thanks for the contribution!

You're welcome, I hope you enjoy it (it's a decent basher from what I can remember). Also hope it's the sort of thing you are looking for? (And not too dissimilar to The Big Boss).

[One Armed Boxer]

For some native Thai action from the same era, it's worth taking on 'The Killer Elephants' (1976) - 

 

[DragonClaws]

Never viewed this old 90's Donnie Yen movie, which is also known as Legend Of The Wolf. Does it feature any plot similarities to the Bruce Lee film?, or was the re-titlng just a ploy to sell more videos?.

 

[odioustrident]

Plots in which a local industry boss was exploiting workers was pretty common but I can't think of many offhand. Sharp Fists in Kung Fu and Roaring Lion are good examples.

 

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

On 10/23/2017 at 5:26 PM, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

You're welcome, I hope you enjoy it (it's a decent basher from what I can remember). Also hope it's the sort of thing you are looking for? (And not too dissimilar to The Big Boss).

It works just fine, yes. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to write them down!

On 10/24/2017 at 11:27 AM, One Armed Boxer said:

For some native Thai action from the same era, it's worth taking on 'The Killer Elephants' (1976) - 

 

If the trailer is anything to go by, it definitely lives up to the name. Also lots of gun fights and gore galore! I would assume this is a HK-Thailand co-production?

44 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Never viewed this old 90's Donnie Yen movie, which is also known as Legend Of The Wolf. Does it feature any plot similarities to the Bruce Lee film?, or was the re-titlng just a ploy to sell more videos?.

 

Yep, it's a re-titling ploy. The film itself is okay, but has nothing to do with BB or it's grittyness qualities.

2 minutes ago, odioustrident said:

Plots in which a local industry boss was exploiting workers was pretty common but I can't think of many offhand. Sharp Fists in Kung Fu and Roaring Lion are good examples.

 

True.....but how many movies are out the in which the workers are violently disposed of and concealed in ice blocks? 

[One Armed Boxer]

21 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

I would assume this is a HK-Thailand co-production?

Assumptions can be dangerous, how do you think Ric Meyers got to where he is today?

No, this is actually a 100% Thai production.  It does makes me ponder the question, has there ever been a Thai-HK co-production?  I know Hong Kong made plenty of co-productions with both Korea and the Philippines, but in terms of Thailand, every example I can think of is a Hong Kong production that was just filmed there, with no involvement from a local production company.  Would be happy to be corrected on this though!

[DragonClaws]

While the following movie is by no means a great film, it does share a very simiar plot to The Big Boss. Not to mention the title and Bruce Lee clone star Dragon Sek.

 

[DrNgor]

Apparently the Tan Tao-Liang film Tornado of Pearl River has a similar plot as well.