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

[DragonClaws]

 

An old colorized picture of the missing kick, taken from the Suzuki/Chen Zhen fight scene, in FOF(1972).

 

(Link Expired)

Edited May 10, 2022 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

 

Two well known images of the saw in the head sequence, taken from different angles/moments in the scene.

I'm not sure if these are shots from a photographer?, or if they are actual captures lifted from the original moive film?.

 

 

[Omni Dragon]

8 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Two well known images of the saw in the head sequence, taken from different angles/moments in the scene.

I'm not sure if these are shots from a photographer?, or if they are actual captures lifted from the original moive film?.

 

I've seen this one on lobby cards. I'm under the assumption that most lobby cards use production stills rather than still frames? 

[DragonClaws]

16 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

I've seen this one on lobby cards. I'm under the assumption that most lobby cards use production stills rather than still frames? 

 

Thanks for the feedback @Silver and Gold Dragon, I'd say your most likley right about this.

 

 

The following artilce, covers all the well known missing Big Boss footage, however, unlike many other artilcles on the subject. This peice claims, the shot was never actually completed, during the making of the film, due to unsatifactory results with the special effects being used?. The first paragraph, deals with this subject, if anyone is struggling to read txt in the article, I can do a transcription for them.

What are yours thoughts @Silver and Gold Dragon and @Fist of the Heavenly Sky

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

Is the small Nora Miao, Big Boss image featured in the collage below, from her deleted scene with BL?, or just is it just another promotional picture?

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by DragonClaws

[DragonClaws]

Quote

Well, she's looking directly at the camera, that should answer your question. - PhantomDreamer

 

You've got it @Phantom Dreamer.

[DragonClaws]

 

Here's a better version of the picture.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by DragonClaws

[Omni Dragon]

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 2:01 PM, DragonClaws said:

What are yours thoughts @Silver and Gold Dragon and @Fist of the Heavenly Sky

Thanks for sharing that article @DragonClaws. It help me imagine how the early version(s) of TBB may have been. 

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 2:01 PM, DragonClaws said:

This peice claims, the shot was never actually completed, during the making of the film, due to unsatifactory results with the special effects being used?

I think it's interesting that the "saw in the head", was considered unsatisfactory and that the missing/removed brothel scene 'did not fare well with audiences in test screenings', as most other things I've heard/read about the missing scenes of TBB claimed the scenes were removed due to censorship.
 

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

1 hour ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

I think it's interesting that the "saw in the head", was considered unsatisfactory and that the missing/removed brothel scene 'did not fare well with audiences in test screenings', as most other things I've heard/read about the missing scenes of TBB claimed the scenes were removed due to censorship.
 

I've heard different stories for how the "saw in the head" played out, and I would believe it was "unfinished" because they could never fully edit the scene in time for the movie release proper. And the "unfinished" comment in particular is a common word in the few statements made about the scene, with Lo Wei to Maria Yi to Bruce Lee himself. It would seem there were more than a few renditions made for the scene and they weren't satisfied with it, hence why it didn't even make it to the '79 London festival screening.

As for the missing/removed whorehouse scene, there were plenty of Hong Kong/Asian movies at the time that featured the same, if not slightly more, nudity content compared to TBB. I'd wager it's less to do with censorship and more to do with Golden Harvest wanting to lower the rating as much as they could so it could be available on as many theaters as possible. We likely could've witnessed the scene at its full with just an R rating in America, but I digress.

One might speculate that the scene was later removed to bring Bruce Lee’s character in line with the rather asexual and more heroic figure he plays in his later movies, as his character in TBB is less than chivalrous in the scene in question; Cheng Chao-An pushing the Thai pavilion girl* roughly onto the bed and jumping on top on her as if he were a hungry tiger locking onto his prey.

 

*Rather problematically (but not uncharacteristic of Hong Kong’s representation of other Asian countries as ‘Third World Other’ in the 70s and 80s), the film’s Chinese women are the objects of chivalry and protection, while its Thai women are shown as disposable sex objects.
 

[DragonClaws]

14 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

Thanks for sharing that article @DragonClaws. It help me imagine how the early version(s) of TBB may have been. 

 

No problemo, glad you enjoyed reading it etc.

 

14 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

I think it's interesting that the "saw in the head", was considered unsatisfactory and that the missing/removed brothel scene 'did not fare well with audiences in test screenings', as most other things I've heard/read about the missing scenes of TBB claimed the scenes were removed due to censorship.

 

Maybe his wife Linda said, no more bedroom scenes?, he never really did one again, once he had more control over his films.

 

12 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

I've heard different stories for how the "saw in the head" played out, and I would believe it was "unfinished" because they could never fully edit the scene in time for the movie release proper. And the "unfinished" comment in particular is a common word in the few statements made about the scene, with Lo Wei to Maria Yi to Bruce Lee himself. It would seem there were more than a few renditions made for the scene and they weren't satisfied with it, hence why it didn't even make it to the '79 London festival screening.

 

I think the scene still works in the current version, apart from the jump in continuity. With the stuntmen all changing positions within the ice factory, which shows they probably removed some non violent footage, to try and make it look more seamless?. Must be hard or near impossible to cut around a scene, that you want to discard, if you don't have subsitution/replacement shots to use etc. In the current version, more is left to your imagintation, the actual effect, if fans ever saw it, would porbalby raise more laugths, than shocks now. Especially if they felt it was hokey back in the early 1970's Hong Kong.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

On 10/21/2018 at 1:30 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

No problemo, glad you enjoyed reading it etc.

 

 

Maybe his wife Linda said, no more bedroom scenes?, he never really did one again, once he had more control over his films.

 

 

I think the scene still works in the current version, apart from the jump in continuity. With the stuntmen all changing positions within the ice factory, which shows they probably removed some non violent footage, to try and make it look more seamless?. Must be hard or near impossible to cut around a scene, that you want to discard, if you don't have subsitution/replacement shots to use etc. In the current version, more is left to your imagintation, the actual effect, if fans ever saw it, would porbalby raise more laugths, than shocks now. Especially if they felt it was hokey back in the early 1970's Hong Kong.

If Linda's 1975 book (The Man Only I Knew) is still accurate, then it would seem the bordello scenes did not bother her much at all. My guess is that Bruce did not want his fans to think Cheng's libidinous ways were an accurate depiction of the Little Dragon himself.

It's interesting how such a very brief scene of 10 seconds alone causes so much discussion and debate within the BL fandom at large. Not that it bugs me, but I personally feel the other deleted scenes, such as the burning cart sequence, are far more worthy of being discussed, but that's just me.

[DragonClaws]

8 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

It's interesting how such a very brief scene of 10 seconds alone causes so much discussion and debate within the BL fandom at large. Not that it bugs me, but I personally feel the other deleted scenes, such as the burning cart sequence, are far more worthy of being discussed, but that's just me.

 

Agreed, though this is coming from me, who's just been discussing the scene lol.

Before reading Jason Harts article, there seemed to be little to know information about the other missing scenes. The first I heard of the film being altered for intenratoanl audiences, was in the BL The Man The Legend book.

Feel free to start discussion on any related topics in this thread @Fist of the Heavenly Sky.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

9 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Feel free to start discussion on any related topics in this thread @Fist of the Heavenly Sky.

Sure thing. In your opinion, the presence of the "deleted" scenes in TBB would've made for a better movie, or is the flick just fine in it's current incarnation?

[DragonClaws]

5 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

Sure thing. In your opinion, the presence of the "deleted" scenes in TBB would've made for a better movie, or is the flick just fine in it's current incarnation?

 

Having not seen the extended cut, to compare it, with the shorter version I cant really comment. Taking a guess, the extra narrative cant have gone amiss?, it would certainly effect the pace of the film, for the better or worse?, I cant say.

I'd like to know if the heavy use of gore/splatter in the film, was the idea of Lo Wei or the first director?. Never had Lo Wei down as a director, who was heavily into buckets of blood, like Chang Cheh.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

23 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Having not seen the extended cut, to compare it, with the shorter version I cant really comment. Taking a guess, the extra narrative cant have gone amiss?, it would certainly effect the pace of the film, for the better or worse?, I cant say.

I'd like to know if the heavy use of gore/splatter in the film, was the idea of Lo Wei or the first director?. Never had Lo Wei down as a director, who was heavily into buckets of blood, like Chang Cheh.

By all accounts, TBB was going to be a boring, straightforward drama with very little action under the first director. The idea for the gore, nudity etc came from Lo Wei.

[DragonClaws]

10 minutes ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

The idea for the gore, nudity etc came from Lo Wei. 

 

I'm no expert on the Director, so I could be way off here, but he didnt apply the same style to other films of his I've seen, including FOF with BL. TBB ight just been his only exploitation style film?, bear in mind I've not watched all of LW's movies.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

3 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

 

I'm no expert on the Director, so I could be way off here, but he didnt apply the same style to other films of his I've seen, including FOF with BL. TBB ight just been his only exploitation style film?, bear in mind I've not watched all of LW's movies.

Lo Wei did several Wuxia movies before TBB, and they all contained gratuitous nudity and a fair share of splatter. The few movies Jackie Chan did with Lo were also more grittier in comparison to what the former woild film later on.

[DragonClaws]

4 minutes ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

The few movies Jackie Chan did with Lo were also more grittier in comparison to what the former woild film later on.

 

Fist Of Fury, does delve in expoitation, with the whole bitter Chinese/Japanese rivarly dragged up for early70's cinema goers. However, the nudity is reigned in, with only some brief Japanese style burelesque dancing, and the gore not on the same level, as that featured in the toned down BB. Looking at the two films, its as if two different directors did them, I wonder just how much time Lo did spend sleeping or gambling, while the rest of the crew worked?.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

1 minute ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Fist Of Fury, does delve in expoitation, with the whole bitter Chinese/Japanese rivarly dragged up for early70's cinema goers. However, the nudity is reigned in, with only some brief Japanese style burelesque dancing, and the gore not on the same level, as that featured in the toned down BB. Looking at the two films, its as if two different directors did them, I wonder just how much time Lo did spend sleeping or gambling, while the rest of the crew worked?.

Bruce had far more control over FOF than he did over TBB. Lo Wei's influence is still noticeable, however, in that much of FOF is set in the nighttime. Even Bey Logan said that being a horror/exploitation director was Lo Wei's calling.

[DragonClaws]

20 hours ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

Bruce had far more control over FOF than he did over TBB. Lo Wei's influence is still noticeable, however, in that much of FOF is set in the nighttime. Even Bey Logan said that being a horror/exploitation director was Lo Wei's calling.

 

Going off topic here.

They could have gone the horror route, there's been countless re-makes/seques/spin-offs, and none of the have thought of that. With the Chen Zhen character, going al out nuts, living feral, and staling his rivals.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

18 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Going off topic here.

They could have gone the horror route, there's been countless re-makes/seques/spin-offs, and none of the have thought of that. With the Chen Zhen character, going al out nuts, living feral, and staling his rivals.

It's definitely odd how FOF has received countless adaptations, sequrls and remakes, but TBB got none of that. I certainly could see different actors portraying Cheng Chao-An in a sequel series akin yo Once Upon a Time in China.

[DragonClaws]

1 minute ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

It's definitely odd how FOF has received countless adaptations, sequrls and remakes, but TBB got none of that. I certainly could see different actors portraying Cheng Chao-An in a sequel series akin yo Once Upon a Time in China.

 

The same can be sad for Way of The Dragon, there's been plenty of knock-off's involving his other movies though.

[Fist of the Heavenly Sky]

2 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

 

The same can be sad for Way of The Dragon, there's been plenty of knock-off's involving his other movies though.

There's been plently of Bruceploitation cues to ETD, yes. Still, I'd dig a semi-sequel of TBB with Ho Chung Tao (Bruce Li) playing an older Cheng.

[DragonClaws]

1 hour ago, Fist of the Heavenly Sky said:

There's been plently of Bruceploitation cues to ETD, yes. Still, I'd dig a semi-sequel of TBB with Ho Chung Tao (Bruce Li) playing an older Cheng.

 

If the Big Boss sequel featuring Lo Lieh had been more succesful, sure there would have been a Part 3 and 4.

 

Getting back to the topic of missing scenes, earlier in the thread, I talked about the possibility of the cart seqquence, being filmed at Golden Harvest. We know some pick-up shots for the finale were also filmed in H.K, there's a big difference in the film stock used for the Thai location, and the shots in H.K. Did they not have time to shoot these brif inserts in Thailand?, or were did view the footage in H.K, and decide some scene needed to be re-shot?.

[DragonClaws]

 

Two images of scenes not included in current prints of the TBB, one of the Thai tough guy's, looking like there about to attack Cheng Chiu-On. With Nora Miao's character covered by an image of actress Maria Yi, in a cropped version of an image posted earlier in this thread.

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by DragonClaws