Fists of fury or the Chinese connection?
So who prefers the Chinese connection and who prefers fists of fury? I love em both, but I would probably have to go with The Chinese connection just because it was his first picture I saw.
I'm surprised I didn't see this before. While Fists of Fury (The Big Boss) is my favorite of his films, The Chinese Connection (Fist of Fury) is overall a better film. More dramatic, more character depth, and basically martial arts's answer to Shakespeare. I know TBB is most likely the worst of his films, but the sheer brutality and Chang Cheh-like tone of the film grabs me all the time!
shareFist of Fury is clearly a better movie. The Big Boss has its faults but when you're as big a Bruce fan as I am, it doesn't matter.
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"fists of fury" (just got done watching it again after not having seen it for about 10 years) was the first bruce lee film i ever saw, and one of the first martial arts films from the early hong kong assembly line. this was back in the 70's, when it was new and unheard of before...so, you can imagine how my mind was blown, being the teenager that i was at the time. now that i'm an adult, and have seen both films again, i'd definitely say that "the chinese connection" is far superior as a complete cinematic experience (characters, action, story, much better dubbing, cinematography, direction, you name it); but "fists" is it for sheer visceral impact. much grittier, with fight scenes that seem less choreographed (mostly) or refined. amazing what a difference there is between 2 bruce lee movies made only a year or two apart.
"fists of fury" is your basic blue-collar revenge/grudge yarn. "chinese connection" has a bit of political intrigue/social commentary goin' on with it.
too bad int'l film marketing had not yet reached the point it's at now where you could see the movies in their original languages...but, the awful dubbing became something of a signature of kung-fu films of that entire era (and is now played for laughs).
if you haven't seen it, give jet li's "fist of legend" a look-see. it's a tremendous film. and a more than worthy remake/homage of/to "chinese connection."
gregory 031607
Fist of Fury (Chinese Connection)is my favourite MA film and although I like Big Boss a lot, it really pales into insignificance against FoF. Big Boss although having it's merits displayed a lot rushed footage and was pretty fragmented at times (likely due to the change of director mid-filming), as well as having an inferior storyline and choreography. FoF was a much grander 'occasion' due to the budget Golden Harvest threw at it, which meant the set design was impeccable. FoF also had much superior fighting scenes and the direction of such scenes were brilliantly executed (Bruce was great at this). And of course this film birthed the Nunchuckas to a mainstream audience as far as I know. Not to mention the "social commentary" of 1930s(?) Shanghai, the "sick men of asia" line Bruce delivered was really pertinent to this and the theme of the film.
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I personally prefer The Big Boss, it may be lacking a nunchuck sequence and Lee's battle cries but the overall atmosphere of the film makes this my favourite Lee film
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