History Film / TheBigBoss

Not to be confused with the [[Franchise/MetalGear Metal Gear]] character who goes by "Big Boss".

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This being the first of five movies starring Bruce Lee as protagonist, there are bound to be a few of these. Notably the absence of Lee's iconic [[FightingWithChucks nunchucks]], the violence being more over-the-top and cartoonish (at one point, Cheng punches an EliteMook through a wall leaving behind a man-shaped hole), and Cheng actually killing several mooks in excessively graphic ways, using a torchlight, tongs, a saw, and various weapons.

* EfficientDisplacement: Cheng punches one of his opponents through a wall, leaving a man-shaped hole in it.

* AffablyEvil: Hsiao Mi first offers his workers membership in his cartel after they discover they're smuggling drugs. It's only after they politely refuse that he kills them and has their body parts concealed in ice. See WhatAnIdiot.

** The girl working at the food stand at the beginning of the movie seems like she's being set up as Cheng's main love interest. However, it turns out she's only a minor character as Chiao Mei is actually the leading lady. Even the prostitute that Cheng sleeps with plays a more important role to the plot than the food stand girl does.

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* DuelToTheDeath: The final showdown between Cheng and the Boss, which is a combination of martial arts and knife-fighting. It’s well done, it’s brutal, and it looks like Cheng may not make it out alive. Unlike most of his later movies, Bruce Lee didn’t seem invincible, and that ramped up the tension. By the end, Cheng is so tired that he passes out.

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Directed by Lo Wei(who would also discover Creator/JackieChan), ''The Big Boss'' was a breath of fresh air to Hong Kong martial arts films of the time as it showed a flawed hero in a modern setting. The story (by Lo Wei and Bruce Lee), differently from the Wuxia flicks that were the norm at the time, was set in contemporary times and filled with suspense and action, and in a unusual move for an action film, the main character remains almost inactive for the first half as Cheng must avoid violence due to his oath. The film not only launched Lee's career to the stratosphere, it influenced his own film-making style and the way future martial arts movies were done.

As many have already said (and will continue saying without a doubt), Lee was a very charming actor whose presence filled the screen and owned it completely. That statement is proved here as we see him not as a killing machine, but as a common man who just wants to live peacefully, giving us many scenes of Cheng enjoying his new found family and struggling with his own vices and inner demons. Lee's performance is very natural, although one could say that he was basically playing a portion of his personality.

* BMovie: With the meager budget, the silly over-the-top moments of humor either intentional or unintentional, and the general grindhouse feel (especially for the ellusive 1971 uncut version), it inevitably becomes this.

Directed by Wei Lo (who would also discover Creator/JackieChan), ''The Big Boss'' was a breath of fresh air to Hong Kong martial arts films of the time as it showed a flawed hero in a modern setting. The story (by Wei Lo and Bruce Lee), differently from the Wuxia flicks that were the norm at the time, was set in contemporary times and filled with suspense and action, and in a unusual move for an action film, the main character remains almost inactive for the first half as Cheng must avoid violence due to his oath. The film not only launched Lee's career to the stratosphere, it influenced his own film-making style and the way future martial arts movies were done.

Wei Lo's usually restrained style was also influenced by his young actor's abilities. ''The Big Boss'' can be seen as his transition to a more explosive way of martial arts film-making that would be completed in ''Fist of Fury'' and subsequent Jackie Chan films. The raw and grindhouse look of the film plus the high dose of graphic violence (it is probably the goriest film in Lee's career, and consequently the most cut and censored) gives the movie a harsh, gritty realism that adds to its charm.

After trying to make a name in Hollywood with the TV series ''Series/TheGreenHornet'' with mixed results, young actor and martial artist Creator/BruceLee traveled back to Hong Kong where his popularity as Kato was very high. There, he met Raymond Chow of Golden Harvest and received the chance to star a film about martial arts. ''Tang Shan Da Xiong'', or ''The Big Boss'' (known in the U.S. as ''Fists of Fury'', in which case it is not to be confused with his later film ''Film/FistOfFury''), was the final result and the movie that started Lee's career and his way to becoming a legend of celluloid.

After trying to make a name in Hollywood with the TV series ''Series/TheGreenHornet'' with mixed results, young actor and martial artist Creator/BruceLee traveled back to Hong Kong where his popularity as Kato was very high. There he met Raymond Chow and received the chance to star a film about martial arts. ''Tang Shan Da Xiong'', or ''The Big Boss'' (known in the U.S. as ''Fists of Fury'', in which case it is not to be confused with his later film ''Film/FistOfFury''), was the final result and the movie that started Lee's career and his way to becoming a legend of celluloid.