The Cutting Room Floor: Lost, Censored & Deleted Bruce Lee Movie Scenes (Article)

[Kevin Chan]

12 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

It would appear that way. GH were more desperate to cash in on the success of SITES and DM than GOD. It seems like GH used BL as an excuse to coax key personnel from Seasonal. TOD seemed to be more of a Seasonal one than a GH one. On the Bruce Lee Lives forum, I posted more about my thoughts on the matter: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bruceleelivestributeforum/ng-see-yuen-interview-t3689-s10.html#p33653

Check out the second page of a Combat interview that I posted over at the BLL forum. Ng is quoted as saying: "There is more there (at Golden Harvest) that I decided not to use."

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bruceleelivestributeforum/viewtopic.php?p=33644#p33644

Whoa that thread is a gold mine. Thanks so much for sharing;

[DragonClaws]

On 11/4/2021 at 12:41 PM, WarriorBloodCrest said:

The posessions that Cheng tosses into the river had a box-shaped look to them. On the pic you posted, it seems he's just clutching very tightly into his blue jacket, but could very well be some other object that was concealed by it. Mysteries mysteries...

 

On 11/4/2021 at 10:25 AM, Cognoscente said:

It's possible that he goes to the brothel to find out where the boss lives, and the prostitute only agrees to tell him if he pays for sex.

 

Getting back onto the topic of brothel scene and where it actually fit into the storyline?. Here's George Tan's take on where the sene occurs in the movie. I've included sources for these quotes in the main essay/article.

"The original mandarin version isn't any different from what you've seen.The music is different,that's all. There was a sequence where Lee visits another prostitute before the nite time ice factory fight,but it was edited out before it's release."

Below are Jason Hart's contrasting thoughts on how the same scene plays out.

"Bruce, having thrown his possessions into the river, runs off down the road. In the current version, we then see him arriving at the boss's house holding a bag of prawn crackers. However, in the original version, Bruce runs into the town and stops outside the brothel. He pauses for a moment and decides to go in."

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by DragonClaws

[makone]

On 4/25/2022 at 9:26 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

Does anyone have a digital copy of the Enter the Dragon nunchaku photo. Thats spread across pages 58 & 59 of Bruce Lee: The Untold Story book published in 1986.

 

here you go 

[Cognoscente]

2 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Getting back onto the topic of brothel scene and where it actually fit into the storyline?. Here's George Tan's take on where the sene occurs in the movie. I've included sources for these quotes in the main essay/article.

"The original mandarin version isn't any different from what you've seen.The music is different,that's all. There was a sequence where Lee visits another prostitute before the nite time ice factory fight,but it was edited out before it's release."

George's take would explain how the Thai thugs had enough time to take the woman's corpse to the factory and chop her up before Cheng showed up.

[DragonClaws]

Just now, makone said:

here you go

 

Thanks, thats virtually identical apart from the version on the books less cropped on the left hand side and taken from a slightly different angle?. Though it has been spread cross two pages. It's not been cleaned up like that image you shared, appreciate you posting this @makone.

 

Just now, Cognoscente said:

George's take would explain how the Thai thugs had enough time to take the woman's corpse to the factory and chop her up before Cheng showed up.

 

Does the scene occur in different places in some prints?, I don't see there being a definite/complete version. Apart from the print shown before the film was exhibited to cinema audiences in Hong Kong.

[WarriorBloodCrest]

6 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

George's take would explain how the Thai thugs had enough time to take the woman's corpse to the factory and chop her up before Cheng showed up.

It would also makes sense for the 'second prostitute' sequence to play out right after Cheng got scolded out of the family house. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by WarriorBloodCrest
read the comment over

[Cognoscente]

9 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Does the scene occur in different places in some prints?

It sounds like a different scene altogether because the missing hooker scene that we all know about looks like it was filmed during daytime.

[DragonClaws]

On 5/12/2022 at 11:48 PM, Cognoscente said:

It sounds like a different scene altogether because the missing hooker scene that we all know about looks like it was filmed during daytime.

 

The scene was maybe set in the afternoon before the nightime ice factory fight?. This would also means  Bruce Lee's character picks up the rice crackers from a dffirent place if George Tan is right?.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Quote

It's been almost half a century since Bruce Lee's martial arts classic, Enter the Dragon , was released into theatres and it is rightly regarded as a benchmark of the genre. Even to those without an interest in film censorship, it is probably fair to say that it is somewhat common knowledge that Enter the Dragon was subject to cuts in Britain, just as casual film lovers are no doubt aware of the Video Nasties era and the fact that many horror films were once heavily cut or banned in the UK. What may not be so widely known is just how much was cut from Enter the Dragon and on how many separate occasions. There have been at least four different versions of the film released in the UK, each with varying degrees of censorship, and we'll be discussing the cuts made to each of them in this episode of the series.

Source- https://melonfarmers.co.uk/bbfc_cuts_enter_the_dragon.htm

 

The above article is a very detailed look at Enter the Dragons issues with the British film censors during the 70's, 80's and 90's. However, it states that the 1993 and 1996 VHS releases were censored the same way. The Widescreen version was longer, as it featured the entire scene of Bolo Yeung beating the guards and a few brief nunchaku cuts restored. Warner Brothers 1996 full screen budget release was the identical to the heavily cut full screen VHS release in 1988.

 

Quote

Following 21 seconds of cuts, Enter the Dragon was passed 18 for a widescreen video release on November 10th 1993. These same cuts were also demanded of the full-screen 1996 video release, which was passed on January 26th of that year.

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

This Trailer features an odd re-cut version of the ice factory fight, messing around with the sequencing of the footage.

 

 

According to Movie-Censorhip.com, the Rene Chateau version of The Big Boss features the most complete version of Mi's (Han Ying-Chieh) death scene?. That version, among other scenes appears in this video.

 

[makone]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:29 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

Thanks, thats virtually identical apart from the version on the books less cropped on the left hand side and taken from a slightly different angle?. Though it has been spread cross two pages. It's not been cleaned up like that image you shared, appreciate you posting this @makone.

 

 

This is the most complete one I’ve seen.

 

[DragonClaws]

 

It appears there might have been a 106-minute version of The Big Boss, which might be longer than the often dissected Mandarin print?, which turned up in Australia back in the 1970's. Recently added a more official source. That a longer print was indeed rejected by the Australian movie ratings board/censors back in the early 70's. This was first published online back in 2019 on the IMDB.Com. The same Asutralian ratings board also lists the original theatrical release of Way of The Dragon. With a longer a running time of 103-mins?. Click on the link below for this added information and make your own mind up. Also added some aditonal quotes and images for the the up-dated edition of.

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

The Grand Stra Theatre - 636 Jackson St: "The Mandarin Theater’s rival, the Great Star, was where Lee technically launched his movie career in 1941, when he was just an infant. He played a newborn girl in the Cantonese-language film “Golden Gate Girl,” led by pioneering director Esther Eng, who spent much of the ’40s as America’s only female movie director. Eng was a close friend of Lee’s family, even acting as the legal witness on many of their immigration documents.

Now approaching its 100th year, the Great Star was recently renovated and remains a key piece of Chinatown cultural history. (If you’re looking to watch a Bruce Lee movie, it has screened them many times over the years.)"

source- https://jnews.uk/a-bruce-lee-walking-tour-of-san-franciscos-chinatown/

"This month, the married couple, who live in an apartment in Twin Peaks and work as software engineers for Salesforce, will reopen the Great Star Theater on Jackson Street after signing a 10-year lease. They’ve formed a nonprofit called, fittingly, the Great Star Theater, and have sunk $150,000 of their own money and donations into the massive project of restoring the theater to its former glory." - Heather Knight

Source- Historic S.F. theater, where Bruce Lee used to watch opera, reopens this weekend in Chinatown - https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/heatherknight/article/Reopening-Chinatown-s-Great-Star-Theater-is-a-16234349.php

Anyone here on the forums visited this theater and caught any of the prints they screen?. This must be one of the oldest running theaters in the city?.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Anyone know much about the following Polish VHS release, I’ve seen at least two releases of this movie online by the same label. The one below, that uses the old British Rank VHS artwork and title. With  yellow spine and back cover. The 101-minute runtime listed on the VHS sleeve might be an error perhaps. Then there's another release, that uses a common image of Bruce Lee from Enter the Dragon in the hall of mirrors. Which has no runtime listed on the back of the video cover. Was Neptun a bootleg or legitimate 90's home video company?.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by DragonClaws

[ShawAngela]

On 5/15/2022 at 8:36 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

Source- https://melonfarmers.co.uk/bbfc_cuts_enter_the_dragon.htm

 

The above article is a very detailed look at Enter the Dragons issues with the British film censors during the 70's, 80's and 90's. However, it states that the 1993 and 1996 VHS releases were censored the same way. The Widescreen version was longer, as it featured the entire scene of Bolo Yeung beating the guards and a few brief nunchaku cuts restored. Warner Brothers 1996 full screen budget release was the identical to the heavily cut full screen VHS release in 1988.

 

 

Bolo beats the fautes ?! But isn't he one of Shih Kien's men ?

[DragonClaws]

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by DragonClaws

[WarriorBloodCrest]

6 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

I can't quite make out the handwritten label. That copy is yours? I assume it's a different version of the movie.

[DragonClaws]

13 hours ago, WarriorBloodCrest said:

I can't quite make out the handwritten label. That copy is yours? I assume it's a different version of the movie.

 

The last fours words are Film, Karate, Bruce Lee I think. That copy's not mine, its from a Russian auction site where the tapes were being sold online back in 2018.

[makone]

NVC Neptun Home Video was a legitimate Polish company as far as I know, and those vhs sleeves are great

[DragonClaws]

On 5/28/2022 at 11:33 AM, makone said:

NVC Neptun Home Video was a legitimate Polish company as far as I know, and those vhs sleeves are great

 

Thanks for clarifying their a Polish label and a not a Russian one, I'll amend that. Agreed, there the best VHS tape cover's I've seen. NVC's later re-issues didnt have the same cool sleeve art or look, they appeared more like bootlegs. I really liked their artwork for The Best of Martial Arts release.

Heres a Swedish VHS release with a minuter shorter running time than the NVC tape. Note: All the company's other VHS releases featured the words 'Original Version' tagged onto the front covers. The old butchered Rank tape I had, clocked in at around 95-minutes. Just like all the British video releases, apart from the pre-cert (U.K Cinema print) which was didnt have the additonal BBFC VHS cuts.

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Anyone have any more details about these showings of The Big Boss in America and Thailand back in 2017?. It might be an error, but each screening is listed as being subtitled with a 100 (U.S) and 110-min (Thai) runtimes.The Thai screening took place on Sunday 14th of May and listed as having a 110-minute runtime, source- http://www.fapot.org/en/event-detail.php?id=479&mid=23. See below. See below, for more on  the two restored 4K American showings. Did anyone here on the forum attend any of these screeningss?.

The Big Boss (aka Fists of Fury). 1971. Hong Kong. Directed by Lo Wei. With Bruce Lee, James Tien, Han Yingjie, Maria Yi. In Cantonese; English subtitles. 100 min.

Source- https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/2722

• Fri, Feb 3, 2017, 7:00 p.m.

  North American premiere of 4K restoration

  MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

  The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

• Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 4:30 p.m.

  North American premiere of 4K restoration

  MoMA, Floor T1, Theater 1

  The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

At Wader Studios Hong Kong, filming scenes for the buring cart seqeunce?. Im guessing that footage was captured on a soundstage, instead of an exterior set?.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

I wonder what the sources are for the 102 Argentina Big Boss, and the 115-minute UNCUT version runnitng times on The Grindhouse Database?. 'Running Time: 100 min | UK:101 min | USA:99 min | Argentina:102 min | 115 min (uncut version)'.

Link- https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_Big_Boss

 

[DragonClaws]

 

Quick question, in which country was The Big Boss first released on Betamax/VHS?.

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by DragonClaws