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

[Kevin Chan]

2 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

How to explain the blood splash on the screen on the German bluray, then ? Could it be that they added it ?

What do you mean? The German Blu-ray features the first real HD transfer of the standard HK cut with nothing fancy, not even any cool bonus materials besides some trailers.

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, Kevin Chan said:

What do you mean? The German Blu-ray features the first real HD transfer of the standard HK cut with nothing fancy, not even any cool bonus materials besides some trailers.

When I watched it months (years ?) ago, it was like this : Bruce walks on the saw; then, he takes it ; then, we see him doing the movement towards the other guy's head, and then, there is a full red splash on the screen before it turns to the usual pictures of the rest of the fight. I remember that it was the first time I saw this, I even compared with my French dvd and it doesn't have this red splash. I also remember to have already mentioned it here, maybe in my reviews or elsewhere.

Maybe I didn't used the right word and it should have been "red stain" instead of "red splash", sorry.

[CastleOfDeath]

What you are mentioning is some YouTube fan doctored video about the saw scene.

[PandaPawPaw]

The more I see fan versions, the more I think if it did actually exist then it probably looked really shit.

[ShawAngela]

52 minutes ago, CastleOfDeath said:

What you are mentioning is some YouTube fan doctored video about the saw scene.

 

31 minutes ago, PandaPawPaw said:

The more I see fan versions, the more I think if it did actually exist then it probably looked really shit.

No, that's not this tiny blood stain that I have on my Blu ray, it's the whole image that becomes red. I'll check it again to verify, but I'm almost sure of what I say. Unfortunately, I can't post a screenshot because my VLC Player had never worked with Blurays...

[PandaPawPaw]

There was an interview with someone who said they've seen the FOF deleted scenes/BTS footage but I can't find it. Anyone remember the interview?

[DragonClaws]

On 8/5/2023 at 12:44 AM, PandaPawPaw said:

The more I see fan versions, the more I think if it did actually exist then it probably looked really shit.

 

The SFX in this movie are basic at best, it might have raised more laughs than gasps/shocks from the audience.

One continuity jump from the ice factory fight, sees one of the thugs slide ice factory tool across one of the large blocks of ice, aiming it at Bruce Lee's character. The thug is wearing a red shirt, he then goes for another unknown tool/weapon on the 2nd block of ice, and can be seen holding it near Peter Chan. As Peter Chan approaches Bruce from behind, near the saw scene. Then the same thug follows Cheng out of the factory, but he's no longer holding any weapons. Most likely another one of the many continuity issues within the film?.

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by DragonClaws

[Kevin Chan]

On 8/5/2023 at 12:45 AM, ShawAngela said:

When I watched it months (years ?) ago, it was like this : Bruce walks on the saw; then, he takes it ; then, we see him doing the movement towards the other guy's head, and then, there is a full red splash on the screen before it turns to the usual pictures of the rest of the fight. I remember that it was the first time I saw this, I even compared with my French dvd and it doesn't have this red splash. I also remember to have already mentioned it here, maybe in my reviews or elsewhere.

Maybe I didn't used the right word and it should have been "red stain" instead of "red splash", sorry.

Hmm, I just checked my copy of the German Blu-ray and I'm afraid you're mixing something up. Attached is a video of that scene as shown in the discs main feature, plus a screenshot of the bonus materials content .There is none apart from the trailer. And I'm pretty certain that, although that movie has had several different packaging formats in Germany, it was still always that same disc without any real bonus content.

[starschwar]

2 hours ago, Kevin Chan said:

Hmm, I just checked my copy of the German Blu-ray and I'm afraid you're mixing something up. Attached is a video of that scene as shown in the discs main feature, plus a screenshot of the bonus materials content .There is none apart from the trailer. And I'm pretty certain that, although that movie has had several different packaging formats in Germany, it was still always that same disc without any real bonus content.

Your video actually provides evidence that you are both potentially correct. Or rather, that you are both seeing the same non-existent frame.  Pause the video around the 12 second mark, as Bruce brings the saw down.

 

You can see a brief moment where that shot and the next are merged in a ghostly frame.  This is due to motion interpolation - a setting wherein a modern display can artificially generate frames to bring source content up to the display's native refresh rate.  It makes things seem smoother, but also unnaturally fast.  I strongly recommend turning this feature off and just letting the content play with frame repeats.  If you have a 120 or 240 HZ display and turn off this feature on 24hz output, the repeats are at the same intervals, and there's no judder/stutter - essentially replicating theatrical frame rate.  I've had such a setup for years and love it. 

 

In other words, the "red splash" ShawAngela saw is very likely the two shots bleeding into each other, which was not how the scene was actually filmed.

 

24p footage:

 

120 HZ interpolation of the above:

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by starschwar

[Kevin Chan]

6 hours ago, starschwar said:

Your video actually provides evidence that you are both potentially correct [...]

I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the effort you took in explaining that and creating these GIFs. Thank you so much!

I just want to clarify:
As a film nerd I absolutely have such settings turned off. No motion blurring, no frame generation, no image enhancement, no noise reduction, nothing. I really hate this kind of stuff. So when I watch movies, and also this Blu-ray, there are no Ghosting effects like you're describing.
However, I was filming the 60 Hz panel of my TV displaying 24 fps with my smartphone camera, which was recording with 30 fps. So the Ghosting is only visible on that screen recording because the frame rates do not match.

If what you're describing is really the reason for seeing that "red" frame, then maybe @ShawAngela you have such settings as described by @starschwar in the post above turned on on your TV, giving you that effect?

Edited August 7, 2023 by Kevin Chan

[ChineseSausage]

On 8/4/2023 at 11:02 AM, ShawAngela said:

How to explain the blood splash on the screen on the German bluray, then ? Could it be that they added it ?

Sounds to me like The Big Boss Deleted Scenes Examined that was an extra feature on the HKL DVD.

 

[ShawAngela]

15 hours ago, ChineseSausage said:

Sounds to me like The Big Boss Deleted Scenes Examined that was an extra feature on the HKL DVD.

 

That's exactly what I meant, but I don't remember that there was the photo of the saw in the head right after the blood stain. And maybe I saw it on the UK bluray instead of the German bluray, I don't remember, but I'm sure to have seen this scene.

Thanks to have found what I was talking about.

[Treacherous Mastermind]

0:38 Another edit of the Saw in the Head Scene. I think before a few years back someone was claiming this was the real footage lol

[Bruce]

On 8/5/2023 at 9:49 AM, DragonClaws said:

 

The SFX in this movie are basic at best, it might have raised more laughs than gasps/shocks from the audience.

One continuity jump from the ice factory fight, sees one of the thugs slide ice factory tool across one of the large blocks of ice, aiming it at Bruce Lee's character. The thug is wearing a red shirt, he then goes for another unknown tool/weapon on the 2nd block of ice, and can be seen holding it near Peter Chan. As Peter Chan approaches Bruce from behind, near the saw scene. Then the same thug follows Cheng out of the factory, but he's no longer holding any weapons. Most likely another one of the many continuity issues within the film?.

 

Yes, but as cheesy/laughable as the effects were, were they also influential? I'm referring  to the saw in the head gag specifically; 10 years later famed horror movie effects maestro Tom Savini would use  the same effect repeatedly in movies like Friday The 13th & The Prowler. I'm curious as to whether that kind of effect (prop weapon with a cut out shape to fit "victim" into) had been seen before The Big Boss, or at least the Big Boss stills? It might seem unlikely that a guy like Savini  might have gotten an idea from a Bruce Lee movie, but in an audio commentary track for Chuck Norris' Invasion U.S.A. Tom kind of indicated that he was a Bruce Lee fan (he said it was cool hanging around with Chuck during the making of Invasion U.S.A., that Chuck would sometimes "tell Bruce Lee stories", & that Chuck kind of gave off a vibe that made Tom & other members of cast & crew feel that "if anything happened, Chuck could take care of it"). Does anyone here remember seeing that kind of effect in a movie before The Big Boss? 

[DragonClaws]

On 8/8/2023 at 5:09 PM, Bruce said:

I'm curious as to whether that kind of effect (prop weapon with a cut out shape to fit "victim" into) had been seen before The Big Boss

 

I’ve seen similar tricks used in old theatre productions and magic shows, I don’t think it was anything new even during the early 70's. In Two Mules for Sister Sarah (1970), there’s a scene were someone head gets split by a machete in the final battle, using the exact same type of practical effects.

[Bruce]

On 8/13/2023 at 10:55 AM, DragonClaws said:

 

I’ve seen similar tricks used in old theatre productions and magic shows, I don’t think it was anything new even during the early 70's. In Two Mules for Sister Sarah (1970), there’s a scene were someone head gets split by a machete in the final battle, using the exact same type of practical effects.

 

Thanks, I guess I just hadn't watched enough violent, gruesome type movies before I saw Friday The 13th! That was probably the first movie I saw that gag in, as I recall.

[DragonClaws]

13 hours ago, Bruce said:

Thanks, I guess I just hadn't watched enough violent, gruesome type movies before I saw Friday The 13th! That was probably the first movie I saw that gag in, as I recall.

 

When I was a kid, most joke shops in England had the saw in the head gag during Halloween time. A simple plastic saw, with a section removed and a skull cap so it could fit on your head. Or as a variation, it might be an axe, knife or sword.

[DragonClaws]

 

In a recent interview with Brandon Bentley shared in this thread, where he mentions the elusive alternative version of Enter the Dragon. Which has been mentioned in early noughties online interviews with David Tadman & Bey Logan etc. When Bruce Lee was filming his own material with a sperate Hong Kong camera crew, in order to later add into another  alternative version of the film. I wonder if this was the same footage, that Golden Harvest wanted to add to Tower of Death in the late 70's?. I always felt that movie was filmed much earlier than its eventual theatrical release, and had some problems behind the scenes in terms of copyright?.

[PandaPawPaw]

12 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

In a recent interview with Brandon Bentley shared in this thread, where he mentions the elusive alternative version of Enter the Dragon. Which has been mentioned in early noughties online interviews with David Tadman & Bey Logan etc. When Bruce Lee was filming his own material with a sperate Hong Kong camera crew, in order to later add into another  alternative version of the film. I wonder if this was the same footage, that Golden Harvest wanted to add to Tower of Death in the late 70's?. I always felt that movie was filmed much earlier than its eventual theatrical release, and had some problems behind the scenes in terms of copyright?.

 

Are there any images of it? Who is likely to have it?

[DragonClaws]

3 hours ago, PandaPawPaw said:

Are there any images of it? Who is likely to have it?

 

Some say the exterior shots of Bruce Lee in a suit fighting or choreographing a fight in the New Territories, with Yuen Wah, Bee Chan etc. May have been from this footage?,. Just odd that the suit BL is wearing, matches up with the one he wore for the G.O.D promotional images, so go figure?.

[PandaPawPaw]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:19 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

Some say the exterior shots of Bruce Lee in a suit fighting or choreographing a fight in the New Territories, with Yuen Wah, Bee Chan etc. May have been from this footage?,. Just odd that the suit BL is wearing, matches up with the one he wore for the G.O.D promotional images, so go figure?.

 

Yeah the suit thing never made sense to me either.

Also this picture onset of the Winston GOD ad and the one below from the same thing?

Or are they just promotional/photoshoots?

[Josh Baker]

On 8/31/2023 at 8:39 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

In a recent interview with Brandon Bentley shared in this thread, where he mentions the elusive alternative version of Enter the Dragon. Which has been mentioned in early noughties online interviews with David Tadman & Bey Logan etc. When Bruce Lee was filming his own material with a sperate Hong Kong camera crew, in order to later add into another  alternative version of the film. I wonder if this was the same footage, that Golden Harvest wanted to add to Tower of Death in the late 70's?. I always felt that movie was filmed much earlier than its eventual theatrical release, and had some problems behind the scenes in terms of copyright?.

 

I dont know of anyone who has clarified what scenes were filmed for this version- either Brandon or Bey mentioned that they started the shoot with Bruce doing one take in English and the other in Cantonese but this was abandoned soon after- is this for the alternate version they were referring to? I very much doubt they filmed scenes exclusive to a Chinese version or they would've surfaced by now, or been used in ToD.

[DragonClaws]

3 hours ago, PandaPawPaw said:

Also this picture onset of the Winston GOD ad and the one below from the same thing?

 

Taken on the same day maybe?, the bottom picture is from a sperate photoshoot for G.O.D.

 

Just now, Josh Baker said:

I very much doubt they filmed scenes exclusive to a Chinese version or they would've surfaced by now, or been used in ToD.

 

Legal issue might have stopped them form being able to use these scenes, the films director said he was shown more footage of Bruce Lee before filming started. Than what was actually included in the final cut of the film.

In a way it plays more like an ETD sequel, with Bruce Lee character being killed off and his brother brought in to avenge him. All you have to do is change the characters name from Billy Lo to Mr Lee. Theres more reference to that movie than G.O.D, right down to the footage of Bruce Lee that they choose to use. Some of which had already turned up in the Asain prints of the film.

 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

Thanks to @WarriorBloodCrest, for sharing the following information posted online by Bruce Lee Historian & Martial Artist  Steve Kerridge.

- "Steve Kerridge claims he has uncovered even more from that scene and other stuff pertaining to The Big Boss." - warriorbloodcrest

https://www.facebook.com/steve.kerridge.63/posts/pfbid0YT99U7pmXTemHPh7R72z1CM7Zj1LS99dvuLwwCqegaHmu9tzTN8NoTbLxyVtzoEhl

[DragonClaws]