Tang shan da xiong aka The Big Boss aka Fist of Fury (1971)

I've always known this movie as Fist of Fury. The other name it goes by is The Big Boss, but I didn't know that, and was always like "man, I need to check out The Big Boss sometime, everyone says it's great." It makes sense, now that I think of it, that all the Wu Tang members would have so many nicknames, since they grew up on Hong Kong cinema, and their favorite films went by so many names. What makes this situation especially confusing, though, is Fist of Fury is also another name The Chinese Connection goes by. So, to recap, The Big Boss is called Fist of Fury here in the States, and Fist of Fury is called The Chinese Connection. I'm going to go by the US English names, as opposed to the Hong Kong English names, but I'll keep the Hong Kong names in the post's title in order to clear up any confusion.

Fist of Fury has Bruce Lee as a Chinese farmer going to stay with extended family in Thailand in order to keep himself out of trouble. Problem is, his family is knee deep in it, after a couple of them stumble upon the ice making factory they work for's dark secret: it's a front for moving large quantities of drugs. The two family members are killed in order to ensure their silence, and two more a killed trying to investigate said murders. That leaves Lee, who vowed he wouldn't fight anymore, but finds he has to at the factory to protect himself when a skirmish breaks out between workers and management. This endears him to his bosses, who make him foreman; and while this alienates him from the rest of his family who now work below him, it gives him the access he needs to get to the bottom of all the killing.



Another great film. What I loved about this one was the plot device of Lee's promise to his family in China not to fight. Because Lee is such an amazing presence, the mere idea of him eventually fighting is enough to keep us enthralled. With each fight that happens we see Lee's character getting ready to join in, and as anxious as he is to show his stuff, we too are anxious to see it. This is a ploy that can only be used with such a charismatic actor, because with anyone else we'd be annoyed; but with Lee we know we're watching greatness, and we know he's worth the wait, and we're almost willing to be made to wait, because that makes every moment he does fight that much bigger and worthwhile. It's like the character of Chad Newsome in The Ambassadors, where so much of the book is about him, yet he's only actually in it for a fraction, so that the actual parts with him in them seem almost larger than life. The same is with Lee, where Fist of Fury has a lot of fight scenes, and Lee's in them, but not actually fighting, so when he does actually fight, he too is larger than life. (That's right, I just compared a Bruce Lee movie to a Henry James novel.)

This film again is indicative of just how huge a figure Bruce Lee is. Can you think of any other action star, or even fictitious character, where we would put up with being teased about his or her potential action scenes? Maybe the first Superman movie, but that's it, and Superman isn't real. The other example I gave above of Chad Newsome was written by one of the greatest English language writers of all time. We're talking here about an actor that has such a screen presence that he turns a pretty paint-by-numbers Hong Kong actioner into Richard Donner's Superman, or even bigger, Henry James' The Ambassadors-- okay, maybe that second one is a stretch, but the overall energy he exudes isn't.



There was a bit of a discussion in the Pray for Death post about whether or not killing the wife was the right move, and I'm forced to defend myself here for liking this film, where Lee's family, including his young cousin, are massacred near the end of it. First and foremost, the preceding two paragraphs should give you a little insight into how I feel about that, because as good as Shô Kosugi is, he's no Bruce Lee. In fact, I'd forgotten all about the massacre until I went back to capture images, and I saw the scene where they juxtaposed Lee's fancy dinner with his boss, and the one his family was having in their little shack. I guess the other thing I would say is, as bad as the family massacre was, it was just that one thing. With Kosugi in Pray for Death, it was a piling on: first the kidnapping, then the hit by a car, then the wife killing. Here, Lee's cousins are killed for seeing the wrong thing, then two more are killed investigating that, then you get the massacre. Had they kidnapped the family, tortured them, then killed them, you'd have an argument. Also, I must reiterate, this wasn't the greatest script ever, it was Lee that elevated it. Maybe if he did Pray for Death I would've been singing a different tune as well.

Back to the Madacy transfer. For the first hour and fifteen minutes or so, this was perfectly fine. Sure, maybe it was grainy and scratchy, but compared to what I was used to with this kind of thing, I was okay with that. It was the last fifteen or so that killed me. It looked like they ripped it from a warped VHS copy. I mean, are you kidding me? Like, have you ever had a tape eaten in the VCR, wound it back in, then played the cassette? You know how the picture will go in spots? That's what this was like. Again, just utter laziness, and then they're selling this crap? I expect better from the bootleg DVD/tropical fish store in Chinatown (this place actually exists). I understand that back in the 80s and 90s there were a lot of cheap versions of these floating around, and I'd feel lucky to get one of them; but this is a DVD company selling them to Netflix, and they're really no better than a bootlegger in the subway. That's appalling to me.



The trivia section on imdb about this movie is worth checking out. It gives some insight into why it was named what it was here the States, why Lee's character doesn't fight until the last half of the film (something I was giving them credit for as being ingenious that may not have been so), and even facts about the shooting locations. One of the interesting ones is that they used a real Thai brothel and real prostitutes for the brothel scenes.

I got this through Netflix as part of a two-sided disc from Madacy that also had The Chinese Connection. You already know what I think of those versions, but as films, they're great. I can't think of a better way to kick off our look at Hong Kong cinema, than with two Bruce Lee gems.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067824/

Jing wu men aka Fist of Fury aka The Chinese Connection (1972)

This is one I remember growing up. I had it on VHS and my friends and I would watch it fairly frequently. Bruce Lee is just the man, there's no two ways about it. I figured it would make a great first post on our Wild Card look at Hong Kong films.

The Chinese Connection has Lee as a great martial artist returning home to ask the woman he loves to marry him, only to find out his master died shortly before. He's suspicious, and he's right to be so, as a Japanese school in Shanghai shows up to threaten Lee's school so they can take it over. After Lee pays the Japanese school a visit, then kicks everyone's ass, all hell breaks loose. The Japanese want his head, and the local police chief has to oblige them due to all the clout the Japanese have in Shanghai. That drives Lee into hiding, as he investigates his master's death. As the proof he needs mounts, the Japanese plot their revenge as well. It's a collision course to wackiness.



This is an excellent film. Sure, it's slow in parts, but who cares? It's got Bruce Lee, the greatest action star ever. Among the great scenes, there's the one where Lee kills a guy pulling him forward by the neck, so the guy's katana that had been flown in the air, impaled the guy in the back. Amazing. Then there's his fight with The Stash. Simply fantastic. Even better than all this, was the cultural and ethnic elements-- Japanese control over China, and Chinese resentment of said control, with a hero like Bruce Lee who stands up to them. Sound familiar? How about almost every Blaxploitation movie ever. The Chinese Connection is the best singular argument for why it was better we examined Hong Kong cinema here before Blaxploitation, for we wouldn't have one without the other.

Bruce Lee is a very unique star, in that he can make a movie just by being in it. He's even awesome just putting on a jacket. Very few film stars ever have had that kind of impact. We're talking about Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn level. I can't think of any actor today with that kind of power. Maybe Al Pacino, but not quite to that degree. You can go through and list any action star you want, but none of them make every scene there in, just by being in them, the way Bruce Lee does. Without Lee as the extreme charismatic figure that he was, Hong Kong cinema wouldn't have exploded the way it did.



I seldom comment on the transfers of the movies we review, but I wouldn't be doing my job here if I didn't at least say something. Madacy really dropped the ball. I got this on Netflix as part of a two pack, with Fist of Fury on the other half, and both films were in such horrible condition. I'm all for scratches and wear and tear on the film, but a poor, cheap transfer is unacceptable. Don't get ripped off, the movie is great, but not Madacy's version.

Also of note, the Madacy version does not allow for the original soundtrack with English subtitles. I know with 70s Kung Fu films, bad dubbing is supposed to enhance the experience, but I'd at least like the option. I'm not sure when it happened in my life, but somewhere along the line I switched from dubbing to subtitles, and now I can't stand dubbed movies. Maybe it's a foreign film thing, or a Criterion Collection thing, but that's just how I am.



People reading this may call me to the carpet for all the times I called movies to the carpet for having too much downtime in their films, after The Chinese Connection was guilty of just such an offense. Simply put, if a movie has Bruce Lee, it can get away with it. Gary Daniels is no Bruce Lee. Olivier Gruner is no Bruce Lee. Steve Seagal is no Bruce Lee. Dolph Lundgren is no Bruce Lee. Arnold Schwarzenegger is no Bruce Lee. Do you see the point I'm making here?

Like the comic book series, I think recommendations are superfluous, because it should be obvious. What I will say is, the Madacy transfer is an abomination. 20th Century Fox released one in 2002 that was much better, but hopefully with the technology we have today, a fully restored high quality version will emerge-- maybe even with the original sound track.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068767/

Enter the Dragon (1973)

When I first started the DTVC, I had no idea I would be still writing it two years later, or that I'd be writing my 300th post. When I look at the archives, I see films like Bad Taste, that were DTV, that would've probably been a better choice for number 300, but because I was trying to get as many films up as possible in the early going, have already been covered. I tried to think of what would really fit a milestone post, and I came up with this. Even if it isn't DTV, it's had a such a huge impact on so many DTV films, that it deserves a place here on the blog.

Enter the Dragon has Bruce Lee working for the British in Hong Kong. He's sent to infiltrate this guy Han's stronghold by way of entering in a fighting tournament Han hosts. Also in the tournament are John Saxon and Jim Kelly. Lee has to do his thing in the tournament by day, and then sneak around the compound by night looking for incriminating evidence so the Brits can call in their forces. The whole thing ends in a huge melee.



I think you know what I'm going to say, otherwise this wouldn't be post 300. This is obviously a classic. I might go out on a limb here for a second, though, and say this isn't necessarily a great film on its own: the plot is pretty uninspired, there's plenty of ridiculousness, like Jim Kelly beating up two cops and driving off in their cop car-- what I'm saying is there isn't much to separate this film from others in the genre.

There isn't much, but the one huge factor this does have that the others don't is Bruce Lee. He's what turns the whole film into a classic. He's so powerful a presence that he can steal a scene just through one look. You almost feel robbed with every second he's not on the screen. It's like watching a bad Film Noir from the 40s with Humphrey Bogart in it. Some actors just have the ability to transform ordinary crap into brilliance. The shame is that this would be the last film of his released while he was alive, because he died the same year, in 1973.



I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone reading this about how huge Enter the Dragon's impact has been in the movie industry. Mortal Kombat was almost a straight remake. What about Bloodfist 2? Just think of all the martial arts films that involve some kind of tournament run by an evil crime lord. All because one man elevated a mediocre movie into something truly amazing, and a generation of film makers saw him and said "I want to make a movie with him", and a generation of actors said "I want to be him".

After Bruce Lee, the next big name in the film is John Saxon, who plays a smooth talking fighter with a compulsive gambling problem. Most of us are familiar with Saxon either through his work in the MST3K hit Mitchell, or his role in Nightmare on Elm Street. I think it's a no brainer that this character in Enter the Dragon is his best. He's cool, funny, flawed, yet at heart a good guy. We wonder at the end if he chooses not to fight Lee because he knows he can't win, or because he really has altruistic motives, but it's immaterial, because he still makes the right decision.



I mentioned above Jim Kelly is in this. He's pretty sweet, as always. When I was in high school, one of my friends wanted to have an MST3K style party where we each rented a bad movie to make fun of. I thought I was a shoo in for the movie of the night with Black Belt Jones 2 aka The Tattoo Connection. It was great, and it had Bolo Yeung. I would be undone, though, by my friend's selection of Bad Taste. "Look Poirier", he said "so great your VCR will cry out for windshield wipers. We have to get it!". That film would go on to be the biggest movie among my group of friends, with us watching it literally hundreds of times; and with it's director, Peter Jackson going on to win an Oscar; while I haven't seen The Tattoo Connection since.

We all love Bolo Yeung here at the DTVC. Wanna guess how old he is? 70. I am not fucking with you. 70 years young. I haven't seen him in anything recently, so I don't know if he looks good for his age or not, but he was 50 when Bloodsport came out, and I thought he looked pretty good for 50 then, considering I had no idea he was even close to FIFTY! According to imdb he swam from China to Hong Kong in the '60s to escape Communism. How is he not the greatest man that's ever lived?



I know in my last post I ripped Wanted for being a sack of asscrack, and I think I'm going to do it some more, though not just Wanted, but most new movies in general. There's a scene in this film where fruit is thrown in the air, and people throw daggers into them. All we see is the fruit going up, someone throwing a dagger off screen, and then the fruit falling with a dagger in it. I bring this up, because if this had been made today, the whole thing would've been done with CGIs, and the film makers would've been extremely proud of themselves, like in Wanted when they had bullets flying into each other. Why do they think we need that? It worked fine in Enter the Dragon without that crap, in fact it worked better, because it looked much more realistic.

If you haven't seen this, what are you waiting for? This is a must watch if there ever was one. If you haven't seen it in a while you probably should catch it again too. This is really what's about. So much has come from this one film, and I'm sure so much will come from it in the future. A true masterpiece with a true master of the craft in Bruce Lee.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/