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

[DragonClaws]

I'll be re-watching the Sze Ma-Lung movie that brought up earlier in this thread. Picked it up last week from my parents house. Might give it the full review treatment, if I get enough time to do a write up. Reading the back cover, its slightly different to how I recall it, but it does invovle the hero working at a fish canary, thats run by gangsters.

Edited November 7, 2017 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

Apart from some connections in regards to the Big Boss's story, The Secrets Of Chinese Kung shares no other connections. It was a litl different to how I recalled it, though it has been at least a decade since I purchased and last viewed the movie.

For anyone interested in reading my full review of this movie, just click on the link below.

 

[DragonClaws]

Ok this might seem very obvouse, but have you seen the brief Big Boss related segments in Bruce Lee The Man The Myth & Dragon The Bruce Lee Story?. With the Man The Myth scenes, featuring actual actors from The Big Boss.

The Brutal Boxer starring Chan Sing and Raymond Lui, is worth a look if knowone has suggested it all ready?. I gave it the full review treatment in 2016, but it may have been deleted?. There's a young Jackie Chan playing a thug, in a few of the fight scenes too. While not as sleazy as The Big Boss, it does have that down and dirty low budget exploitation feel to it. The action is also very similar, and the finale is more bloody than TBB. With one guy getting a machete lodged in his skull. Just dont expect any of the finesse or class, that Bruce Lee brought to TBB. From what I remember of the story, the hero goes to Thailand, to see whats happened to his uncle. Somehow he gets connected to gangster Chan Sing, who is on top bad-ass form here. I'll see if I can dig out the old write-up I did for one of the mutual monthly review themes, there's a few I've yet to re-post on the forums.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

8 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Ok this might seem very obvouse, but have you seen the brief Big Boss related segments in Bruce Lee The Man The Myth & Dragon The Bruce Lee Story?. With the Man The Myth scenes, featuring actual actors from The Big Boss.

The Brutal Boxer starring Chan Sing and Raymond Lui, is worth a look if knowone has suggested it all ready?. I gave it the full review treatment in 2016, but it may have been deleted?. There's a young Jackie Chan playing a thug, in a few of the fight scenes too. While not as sleazy as The Big Boss, it does have that down and dirty low budget exploitation feel to it. The action is also very similar, and the finale is more bloody than TBB. With one guy getting a machete lodged in his skull. Just dont expect any of the finesse or class, that Bruce Lee brought to TBB. From what I remember of the story, the hero goes to Thailand, to see whats happened to his uncle. Somehow he gets connected to gangster Chan Sing, who is on top bad-ass form here. I'll see if I can dig out the old write-up I did for one of the mutual monthly review themes, there's a few I've yet to re-post on the forums.

I recall precisely nothing about The Man The Myth segment; if you could give a quick recap I'd more than appreciate it. I'm very much familiar with the BB it from Dragon The Bruce Lee Story (my favorite part of the movie, as unsurprising as that sounds). 

I've watched the Brutal Boxer about a year ago or so. Indeed, it does have the down and dirty low budget exploitation feel, and the main villain even gloats about how he uses Thai women to rejuvenate his masculinity. I also concur that it's overall slightly more bloody than BB. Speaking of Jackie Chan, I reckon that he was erroneously (or misleadingly, if you will) listed as a lead for Brutal Boxer in certain releases. It certainly would've been a more interesting picture if he were the defacto protagonist, but I digress.

[DragonClaws]

5 minutes ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

I've watched the Brutal Boxer about a year ago or so. Indeed, it does have the down and dirty low budget exploitation feel, and the main villain even gloats about how he uses Thai women to rejuvenate his masculinity. I also concur that it's overall slightly more bloody than BB. Speaking of Jackie Chan, I reckon that he was erroneously (or misleadingly, if you will) listed as a lead for Brutal Boxer in certain releases. It certainly would've been a more interesting picture if he were the defacto protagonist, but I digress.

The Jackie Chan exploitation thread, has a few posts/images about the misleading JC covers for Brutal Boxer. I really should have thought of this movie when you first created the thread.

In Bruce Lee The Man The Myth, they filmed one scene at the exact same ice factory. The same actors who played the foreman and manager from TBB, also appear in that scene. Lee gets challenged by some Thai boxer, and he later fights them at an old Temple, maybe the same one seen in Van Dammes Kickboxer?.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

1 minute ago, DragonClaws said:

The Jackie Chan exploitation thread, has a few posts/images about the misleading JC covers for Brutal Boxer. I really should have thought of this movie when you first created the thread.

In Bruce Lee The Man The Myth, they filmed one scene at the exact same ice factory. The same actors who played the foreman and manager from TBB, also appear in that scene. Lee gets challenged by some Thai boxer, and he later fights them at an old Temple, maybe the same one seen in Van Dammes Kickboxer?.

I'll dig thru the the thread you mentioned then. In a way, it's kind of fascinating how his career could've gone in a completely different direction had he not severed ties with Lo Wei, but that's another story for another day.

I found The Man The Myth on Youtube just now. Nothing too terribly exciting besides some of the same actors, makes me wish they would've done a straight up Bruceploitation flick on Thailand rather than the non-biography biography that was made. Speaking of the Thai boxer myth, it was enacted quite competently on The Legend of Bruce Lee (Episodes 43 and 44). It's on Netflix if you want to check it out. 

[DragonClaws]

16 minutes ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

makes me wish they would've done a straight up Bruceploitation flick on Thailand rather than the non-biography biography that was made.

Apart from The Big Boss Part II, I cant think of any Bruceploittion titles filmed entirely in Thailand.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

2 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Apart from The Big Boss Part II, I cant think of any Bruceploittion titles filmed entirely in Thailand.

From the top of my head, there is Clones of Bruce Lee (1980), most of which is set in Thailand. It even has some nudity but it's strictly gratuitous and does nothing to advance the story (not that there's much of it because it's so terribad!).

[DragonClaws]

Link to the Brutal Boxer review, I mentioned earlier in the thread.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

4 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Link to the Brutal Boxer review, I mentioned earlier in the thread.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to plug @DrNgor's reviews on these two flicks, as the both of them share certain similarities to BB.

 

 

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

Bumping this old thread, see if we can get any new discussion going on.

[ShawAngela]

On 25/10/2017 at 8:39 PM, 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?.

 

I watched this movie 10 years ago and I don't remember the plot at all !! All what I remember is that I wasn't too interested in it, I was disappointed, though I was becoming a Donnie Yen's fan at that time...

[DrNgor]

2 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I watched this movie 10 years ago and I don't remember the plot at all

It practically doesn't have a plot. Some assassin is sent to kill Donnie, now an old man. He tells the assassin his story, of his returning to his old village (from the war?) with amnesia, and tries to protect them from bandits. He later learns he was one of the bandits at some point...or something. People die, get booted in the face, etc.

[Cognoscente]

On 10/23/2017 at 1:10 PM, 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!

The Big Boss is sort of like making a New York movie about the Bronx instead of Manhattan.

[DrNgor]

On 10/23/2017 at 12:01 AM, Omni 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.

The Brazilian title for this film is A Volta do Dragão Chinês (transl. Return of the Chinese Dragon), which posits it as a sequel to The Big Boss (Brazil. O Dragão Chinês)

[Cognoscente]

On 10/7/2017 at 9:06 AM, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

Bumping this thread. Always looking for more suggestions!

The Shadow Boxer captures the essence of the movie more than Shaw's other movies.

[shukocarl1441996347]

The Chinese Tiger starring Li Chin Kun (Larry Lee) has a countryside factory setting run by ne'er do wells. It must be 20 yrs since I saw it.  Larry fights Alex Lung (I think) at the climax. Both Goju exponents.

[DrNgor]

@Fist of the Heavenly Sky -- In Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance by Verina Glaessner, the author points out Seaman No. 7 as a spiritual follow-up to The Big Boss.

[WarriorBloodCrest]

On 8/11/2021 at 12:14 PM, DrNgor said:

@Fist of the Heavenly Sky -- In Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance by Verina Glaessner, the author points out Seaman No. 7 as a spiritual follow-up to The Big Boss.

I just watched the trailer for that movie. Aside from the director, cast and foreigner-in-a-foreign land trope, I can't say I noted much in the way of similarities with BB, but Seaman 7 seems to hold up as a product of it's own nonetheless.