The Big Boss (1971) was Bruce Lee's big return to Hong Kong after starting out his career as a child actor, acting in twenty films before studying aboard overseas in the United States. Wanting to become a big star,Lee honed his skills as an actor by appearing in bit roles in Hollywood but being of Asian descent was a handicap due to the industry's glass ceiling. Already a celebrity due to his appearance on the television series Batman and his legendary fighting prowess, Bruce Lee was on the cusp of being a megastar. All he needed was one film to launch him into the stratosphere.Bruce Lee stars as country boy Cheng Chao-an who is sent to Thailand to live with his cousins due to some trouble in Hong Kong. During his stay, his relatives help him find work at a local ice factory. Unfortunately, the place is just a front for drugs and those who don't join in the festivities become permanent residents in the ice house. When his cousins start to disappear one by one, Chao-an decides to investigate and realizes there's more to it than meets the eye.What could have and should of been a regular action film has become one of the most innovating Kung-Fu flicks of the early seventies. Bruce Lee's physical acting and charisma are on full display here. But he's slightly handicapped by director's Lo Wei's hamfisted/cartoonish direction and action choreographer's Han Ying-Cheh's stiff style. Despite this, Lee's performance shines very brightly setting himself up for a fast track career to immortality.

This is the first film starring Bruce Lee, which turns out to be his breakout film. His brilliant physical performances, and tough and gritty fighting style, earn him worldwide fame. An unprecedented and highly influential action star is born upon the release of this film. The fight scene with a lot of gangsters with knives is simply thrilling and entertaining.

The film deserves it's high rating because it is the film that introduced Bruce Lee to the world.It is badly Directed by Lo Wei, badly acted by James Tien, Maria Yi and just about everyone else, but Bruce carries this film into Martial Arts history. The Big Boss is slow to start but that seems to emphasise just how good Bruce is. Compare James Tien's weak attempt at fighting off villains to the time when Bruce finally starts to fight and you can see why he made such a massive impact on the world of film.Bruce wanted realism and where he can he shows his skill and power. It is only Lo Wei's attempts to revert to silly comic book action that spoils it somewhat.It may seem to some an exaggeration but this film marked the beginning of something that changed the way all action films were made afterwards. Today all action films contain some Martial Arts whereas previously that wasn't the case.OK James Bond films had a go at showing some pretty unrealistic Karate, Judo and Ju Jitsui but Bruce changed the way Martial arts would be shown from then on. Without Bruce there would have been no Jackie Chan, or Jet Li or Jason Statham etc.The film itself does have some good points. The story is a good one and only spoilt by some really bad editing. I am sure there were some amazing scenes cut from this film and this makes the story jerky and unclear at times.So, if you haven't already done so, watch this classic, bear with it, and see the explosion that was Bruce Lee.

"Cheng Chao-an" (Bruce Lee) is a young man from the country who decides to seek employment with some relatives and friends at a factory far from home. What he doesn't realize is that the factory is a secret conduit for heroin. Natually, where there are illegal drugs there are also hoodlums present. When they inevitably cause trouble for Cheng's group he has to decide on whether to obey a promise he made not to fight or help to defend those closest to him. Now, while this film isn't nearly as good as a couple of other Bruce Lee movies, it did have a big influence on starting the martial arts genre that we enjoy today. I believe that it is because of this reason that many people rate it so highly. However, upon closer inspection I think that most people would see that there are obvious faults to this film. The film quality isn't good, the dubbing is bad and there are parts that seem to drag on way too long. But there is plenty of action and a few pretty ladies to lend some nice scenery. I especially liked "Miss Wu-man" (Marilyn Bautista). Even so, this is a very basic martial arts film and I rate it as average.