Firstly, a HUGE thanks to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential. We are always trying to expand Patron benefits... you get access to the Silent Auctions and over 5000 unpublished screen captures (in lossless PNG format, if that has appeal for you) listed HERE. Please consider helping with $3 or more each month so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you so much. We aren't going to exist without another 100 or so patrons.


 

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Big Boss' or 'Tang shan da xiong" or "China Mountain Big Brother" or "Fists of Glory" or "Tong saan daai fong" )

directed by Wei Lo
Hong Kong 1971

NOTE: Criterion's Blu-ray Boxset of Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits [ 7 Blu-ray Set ] is compared HERE

 

Bruce Lee's big screen break came in director Lo Wei's The Big Boss, a wildly successful kung-fu film that made the legendary screen icon into a powerful box-office force! Chang Chow An (Bruce Lee) is a reluctant warrior who promises his mother to leave his violent days behind him. Chang goes to live with his uncle and gets a job at the local ice factory. But something is amiss at the factory. Chang's co-workers begin to mysteriously disappear, and Chang himself is distracted by the evil "Big Boss", who uses power, money and women to direct Chang's attentions elsewhere. But when Chang learns once and for all that the Big Boss is a bad man, it's time to let the dragon out of the bottle! It all comes down to knock-down kung-fu showdowns featuring Bruce Lee's trademark power and charismatic flair! Known to American audiences as Fists of Fury, The Big Boss is required viewing by anyone who considers themself a Bruce Lee fan.

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 3,1971 (Hong Kong)

Reviews                                    More Reviews                              DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC vs. On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Kam & Ronson Region 'A' Blu-ray vs. Shout! Factory (The Bruce Lee Legacy Collection)  - Region 'A' Blu-ray

Big thanks to Ole Kofoed and and Henrik Sylow for the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - RIGHT

 

Box Covers

Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...

Distribution

Hong Kong Legends

Region 2 - PAL

Fortune Star
Region 3 - NTSC
On Air Video
Region 2 - PAL

Kam & Ronson

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Shout! Factory

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Bruce Lee on Blu-ray

The Big Boss Fist of Fury

Way of the

Dragon

Enter the

Dragon

Runtime 1:36:01 (4% PAL speedup) 1:39:28 1:36:01 (4% PAL speedup) 1:39:40.975 1:40:14.508
Video

2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.68 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

2.30:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.48 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

2.31:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.56 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 28,799,314,141 bytes

Feature: 28,185,747,456 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 41,641,315,914 bytes

Feature: 28,586,182,656 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.83 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition)

 

Bitrate:

 

Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection)

 

Bitrate:

 

On Air Video (Collector's Edition)

 

Bitrate: Kam & Ronson

 

Blu-ray

 

Bitrate: Shout! Factory

 

Blu-ray

 

Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital Cantonese Mono, 2.0 Dolby Digital English Mono (Dub)

2.0 Dolby Digital Cantonese Mono, 5.1 Dolby Digital Cantonese / Mandarin, DTS Cantonese / Mandarin

2.0 Dolby Digital English Mono (Dub)

DTS-HD Master Audio Chinese 2578 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2578 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby TrueHD Audio Chinese 1848 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 1848 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital EX Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio Thai 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
DTS-HD Master Audio Chinese 2222 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2222 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2086 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2086 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1566 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1566 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles English, Dutch, None Traditional, Simplified, English, None Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, None English, Chinese, Thai, None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Hong Kong Legends

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 2.35:1

Edition Details:
• Audio commentary by Bey Logan.
• Biography of Bruce Lee - audio / text (21:13).
• Photo gallery.
• Original theatrical trailer.
• UK / HK promotional trailers.
• Info and HKL trailers about 9 other HKL releases.

DVD Release Date: November 6, 2000
Keep case

Chapters 30
 

Release Information:
Studio: Fortune Star

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.30:1

Edition Details:
• Limited Edition (10,000)
• Each box marked by little
• Menues available in both English and Chinese

 

DVD Release Date: April 29, 2004
Digipack

Chapters 21

Release Information:
Studio: On Air Video

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 2.31:1

Edition Details:
• Immortal Dragon - Bruce Lee documentary (50:02).
• A Fistful of Yen (31:36).
• 6 trailers (3x Big Boss, Way of the Dragon, Fist of Fury and Game of Death).
• Biographies of Bruce Lee and Lo Wei.
• Photo gallery from Bruce Lee movies.
• Extras is in English and not subtitled.

DVD Release Date: 2001
Keep Case

Chapters 30

Release Information:
Studio: Kam & Ronson

 

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 28,799,314,141 bytes

Feature: 28,185,747,456 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• Interview with Tung Wai (2:36)

Blu-ray Release Date: August 6th, 2009
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 20

Release Information:
Studio:
Shout! Factory

 

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 41,641,315,914 bytes

Feature: 28,586,182,656 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.83 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• 
Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Mike Leeder

• Trailers (17:25)

• US TV Spots (1:15)

• Alternate Title Sequence (4:45)

• Alternate Finale (:43)

• Return to Pak Chong: The Big Boss Revisited (9:26)

• Bruce Lee: The Early Years - Interview with Gene Lebell, Martial Arts Legend, Stuntman Supreme (13:51)

• Interview with Tung Wai (2:37)

• Rare Scene Extensions (2:22)

• Bruce Lee vs. Peter Thomas (2:27)

• Stills Gallery

Blu-ray Release Date: October 22nd, 2013
Custom Blu-ray Case (see photos below)

Chapters 12

 

Package Shout! Factory - Region 'A' Blu-ray

 

 

Comments

The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

NOTE: Criterion's Blu-ray Boxset of Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits [ 7 Blu-ray Set ] is compared HERE

NOTE: The entire Legacy Blu-ray collection is reviewed HERE.

ADDITION Shout! Factory Blu-ray - September 2013: This is the first Blu-ray of the 4-Blu-ray 7 DVD Bruce Lee Legacy Collection being released by Shout! Factory. It is a large book-style package (see photos above) with TThe Big Boss, Fist Of Fury, The Way Of The Dragon and Game of Death in 1080P. We hope to cover the entire set by later this week.

As for The Big Boss - it is very similar technically, both dual-layered, with almost the exact same feature file-size and bitrate but the Shout! Factory appears to improve greatly in color balance - notably skin tones which are significantly cooler than the Asian Blu-ray. It looks quite strong in motion and this 1080P certainly seems the best transfer to date with impressive detail in close-ups and consistent contrast.

Shout! Factory offer multiple audio options:

I sampled each but stayed with the lossless 'Mandarin' surround that had some crisp martial arts cracks and snaps. To be honest I didn't remember significant differences with the Kam & Ronson 7.1 but will revisit that before covering the entire Bruce Lee Legacy Collection. The 'rare' dub was amusing but I only listened for a few minutes. There are optional subtitles (sample below) and the Blu-ray disc is region 'A'.

I enjoyed the new commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Mike Leeder although I probably preferred the Bey Logan one from the Hong Kong Legends DVD edition. Whoever mixed Leeder's commentary hasn't made it easy to hear the man speak - it's echo-y and the sound is shallow but he does give solid information - very worthy of Bruce Lee fans. There are plenty of other supplements including 17.5 minutes of trailers, US TV Spots, an alternate Title sequence and alternate finale (running only :43 seconds). We get Return to Pak Chong: The Big Boss Revisited lasting 10-minutes and Bruce Lee: The Early Years - Interview with Gene Lebell, Martial Arts Legend, Stuntman Supreme for shy of 15-minutes. We get the same interview with Tung Wai on the Asian Blu-ray (with English subtitles), a scant 2-minutes of 'Rare Scene Extensions' and a piece entitled Bruce Lee vs. Peter Thomas. lastly there is a stills gallery. I should note there appears to be plenty more extras in the package and I hope to indulge in them in the next couple of days.

This is a huge package and am pleased the first film, The Big Boss, seems the definitive transfer for this specific film and from what I have seen of the other 3 Blu-rays of the Legacy Collection - they seem adept too - but we will compare as we are able. The first Blu-ray disc is very positive for the package. 

***

ADDITION Kam & Ronson Blu-ray - August 2009: Everything appears to improve with the new 1080P Fortune Star sourced transfer but skin tones warm up quite a bit. It's hard to be positive which colors are most accurate but the Blu-ray advances quite handily in other areas with stronger detail via the higher resolution - actually, everything is tighter. We can state the validity of the transfer at 1080P. The dual-layered image looks pretty decent in motion. It's quite smooth, clean with a shade of depth. Despite it looking somewhat thick at times, it's vastly ahead of the DVDs. It's nice to see a bit of consistent grain. As far as the visual aspect goes this appears to look better than Fist Of Fury - also released on Blu-ray by Kam & Ronson.

Not unlike many Asian DVDs - there are some healthy options for the Blu-ray - as far as lossless we get Cantonese DTS-HD Master 7.1 at 2578 kbps 7.1, or a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 at 1848 kbps. There is also a 5.1-EX in both Mandarin Chinese and Thai DUB. On the two HD audio options there is some range - perhaps more than one might expect. I eventually settled on the TrueHD but it was more a personal choice than feeling it was technically superior. The effect sounds of the fighting sequences sound reasonably crisp and explosive upon impact. Sometimes almost beyond the compatibility with the video. There are rather small white, often prιcised. optional English, traditional Chinese or Thai subtitles and my Momitsu can verify that this is indeed region 'A'-locked.

The 2.5 minute interview with Tung Wai (optionally subtitled) isn't much of an extra but it's all we are getting. He talks about his first meeting with Bruce Lee. It's good, if far too short and looks incredibly insignificant compared to HKL's Bey Logan commentary.

I suspect Bruce Lee fans will want to indulge - depending on your system the HD image can be a fairly big jump. Overall it looked solid and probably the best the title has ever appeared for home theater usage. The audio has some buoyancy and may surprise but it would have been great to have more supplements.

Gary Tooze

***

 


 

ON THE DVDS: While the On-Air looks a little more detailed/sharper the colors is faded and there is more print damage compared to the remastered HKL DVD - and the captures doesn't show that the On-Air has some digital artifacts and a bit to much "moving" grain. So the Hong Kong Legends has the best picture quality. The On Air is missing the preferred Chinese soundtracks.

The extras on the On-Air is the same as the other Bruce Lee releases from them - a pretty good Bruce Lee documentary (written by Phillip Dye and released by Passport International Productions according to the end credits) and the "Enter the Dragon" spoof "A Fistful of Yen" from the John Landis / Zucker /Abrahams movie "The Kentucky Fried Movie", here presented in open matte (see last captures). I haven't listened to the HKL Bey Logan commentary, but it should be at the usually high quality.

We can hope that 20th Fox will re-release the movie in region 1 with improved picture quality but until then I can only recommend to buy the HKL disc, and if you can find the On-Air disc cheap (I paid 25 DKR = $US 4) you can buy it to get the documentary.

-Ole Kofoed

The picture of the Fortune Star DVD simply is beautiful. No cropping, crisp detail and natural colour scheme, this is the best presentation of his films yet. .

The sound is another story. The original mono just sounds good. The 5.1 and DTS have been manipulated, so there now is rear speaker action. This may be all fine and such, but the new added sounds are of different quality, so it ends up sounding inserted and wrong. Go with the mono, unless you cant help yourself.

 -Henrik Sylow

 


Recommended Reading in Chinese/Hong Kong/Taiwanese Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

Check out more in "The Library"


DVD Menus

(Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
 

Kam and Ronson Blu-ray

 

Shout! Factory - Region 'A' Blu-ray

 


 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample - Shout! Factory - Region 'A' Blu-ray

 

 

Screen Captures

 

1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - TOP

2) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - SECOND

3) On Air Video (Collector's Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - FOURTH

5) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


More Blu-ray Captures

 

1) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - TOP

2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - TOP

2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - TOP

2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - TOP

2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Kam and Ronson - Region 'A" Blu-ray - TOP

2) Shout! Factory - Region 'A" Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 


Hit Counter


Report Card:

Image:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Sound:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Extras: Shout! Factory Blu-ray
Box Covers

Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...

Distribution

Hong Kong Legends

Region 2 - PAL

Fortune Star
Region 3 - NTSC
On Air Video
Region 2 - PAL

Kam & Ronson

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Shout! Factory

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Bruce Lee on Blu-ray

The Big Boss Fist of Fury

Way of the

Dragon

Enter the

Dragon




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Many Thanks...