Do any of you know where I can purchase a version with the 'saw' scene and the two scenes where he goes to the brothel a third time and buys a packet of crisps both just before he visits the boss for revenge. (In dubbed English or in any language with English subtitles out of preference)
shareYou can't... I'm probably one of the biggest fans in the world of this film (I know WAY too much behind-the-scenes info on this movie), and as of now, this footage is nowhere to be found. If anywhere, it's probably hiding in the Golden Harvest vaults where apparently few people have access to. Damn shame too. But if Lee's "Game of Death" footage, which was shot only a year after this footage, had been found, then this footage must still exist somewhere.
shareUm, has anyone out there actually seen the "handsaw-in-the-head" footage? There is a "still" shown briefly in the doco "Curse of the Dragon," but with no commentary about its significance as a famous lost scene.
shareVery few people have seen it, but they said it didn't look that great as it supposedly looked animated or something... like moving still pictures around similar to the opening credits. Actually, there are two different version of the saw-in-the-head pic. The side angle used in the "Curse of the Dragon" documentary, and a 45 degree angle shot with Lee to the left and farther back, and the henchman to the right and closer to the camera.
shareHi 🤗 I saw the 'Saw in the Head' footage in 1979 at the KFM film festival in London, the whole theatre went mad, I was there with my late Dad I was 14 years old 🙂 I've heard that was the only time it was shown in the U.K. I don't know why it hasn't been returned to the film 😡
shareFrom what you remember, how did it look like?
shareFred Weintraub owns an original uncut copy. Bruce Lee sent him one over from HK in 1972 prior to working out the deal for Enter the Dragon. Fred says this in the Curse of the Dragon documentary.
shareI doubt you will ever see it in motion, but a friend of mine has this Chinese book all about Bruce lee. It has some great stills of Lee on all his films, and even a still of lee burrying the saw in the guys head. I have a photocopy with awful quality if you'd like to see it. My email is [email protected]
shareThe most fully uncut version available is the Hong Kong Legends Cantonese version. Can't get more uncut than that. Full length commentary by Bey Logan demonstrates that the saw scene was immediately deleted after it's first showing in 1971.
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Very doubtful DukeNukem1992... Remember, this film was made before the days of VCRs, and at the time, although Golden Harvest had high hopes for Bruce (he did sign a monster contract), this was a cheaply made film, and so the ony plans were to show it in the theatres until it was no longer profitable, nobody had thought to store films back in those days, not in Hong Kong anyway. If the deleted scenes DO exist anywhere, they are probably accidentally hidden away in Golden Harvest's vaults somewhere.
The Hong Kong Legends version is still the most uncut version around, as not only does it include the most uncut version of the film avaliable, it also contains a rare mandarin lanaguage trailer (shown to U.K. audiences) that has some (incomplete of couse, being a trailer) footage of a few deleted scenes which have never been found.
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009RRYV/qid=1125584380/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/026-5028577-2885261
This box set contains the best versions of all of bruce lee's chinese films, UNCUT in original languages, also has a dubbed track but I dont watch it like that it makes me laugh :)
They're uncut as far as the BBFC is concerned but The Big Boss is still missing the cuts made by Golden Harvest back in the 70s
shareDoes anyone know where you can order an uncut (or a close to uncut as possible) DVD set of all of Bruce Lee's movies with his real voice instead of that horrible dubbing. There is some nostalgic appeal to it (probably from watching Kung Fu theater on TV when I was a boy) but I'd rather hear Bruce's original voice and read Subtitles.
shareI own a Chinese copy of "The Big Boss", and it contains many scenes not seen in the original cuts of the film. It includes a watered down moment with the saw, in which he does indeed saw into a guy's head. But as aforementioned, it's watered down, barely noticable, and the guy drops to the floor before you get a grasp of what Lee did.
The brothel scene is only momentary also, and you only see him exit it with the crisps.
So I'm assuming that's the most uncut version mentioned in here so far.
It does seem possible that there's a shot of the guy falling down, but I've read that the actual shot of the saw going into the henchman's head doesn't exist at all, just stills. Here's hoping HKL can get a Platinum Edition of this going and obtain the extra footage that's hiding about!
shareJust so people don't get the wrong idea, Seikan is talking crap.
shareto my knowledge most all of bruce's films were shot without sound and then later went back and edited with voices. you can get the dvd's that have cantonese language and will probably hear bruce's actual voice however it will still just be dubbed in but will be cantonese.
shareI knew the scene of the saw was missing on the video; I watched The big boss
once in the late 70's in Mexico,
it's been cut like if that scene was done like a snuff movie, it apeared to me that Bruce really let him have it with that saw, that was the first Bruce Lee movie I saw and I do miss that scene.
Mexico is one of the countries under "speculation" of having the saw-in-the head-scene mainly because one of the Mexican lobby cards ("El Gran Jefe") showed one of the two photos of the scene, so it's entirely possible that Mexico did indeed obtain the uncut print for the theatrical release, but forced to release the cut version for all home and subsequent theatrical releases.
sharecan everyone post this 2 photos?
shareThey can be found here:
http://littledragon.builtfree.org/boss.html
I'm a serious collector of rarities ranging from film to literature to art. I can tell you, after researching the information given on this imdb site alone, that there are atleast 1 copy(s) remaining in existence. For example,
'The print of The Big Boss screened that day was indeed complete, with the notable exception of the 'saw in the head' scene. But oddly, there is no specific mention in any issue of KFM from this period of previously unseen (by Western eyes) footage in the print screened at the Film Festival, although the following excerpt did appear in issue 53 which may explain why a complete print has not surfaced since 1979:
"It's vital that I tell you the following disastrous news. Once the reels that we were showing wear out (and already they're looking somewhat 'tired') I'm told there can NEVER be any replacements! That's not the case with the usual, English dialogue, censored version - just the uncut originals. Therefore, what we were showing is a slice of history that will quite soon disappear for ever!"'
taken from - "http://littledragon.builtfree.org/boss.html";
shows clearly alot of this is based on other people's words. It would be rather easy for someone, anyone, in this entire progression of lost footage, to accidentally "lose" a reel. If people back then already knew what they had then someone, somewhere(Asia?) has outwitted the rest of us and "stored" a copy(s) out of the public's eye. Why? To perpetuate exactly what you people, and now myself, are doing. Heighten intrigue, speculation, desire to own such "missing" footage. Take my word for it, it's not as hopeless as "...a slice of history that will quite soon disappear for ever!"
The only factor that would equal sure irreparable damage is if no such footage was ever shot and only stills were made. If that's the case then debating 50 years about it won't bring it into actual motion feed. Go to HK and find the thing if it means that much. You won't get it sitting at home.
Cy-
Stranger things have happened. Take, for example, Fritz Lang's Metropolis. For decades a quarter of the film was thought lost. Then all of a sudden almost all of the misisng footage turns up in a museum in Argentina! The missing footage for The Big Boss, if it exists at all, could be anywhere in the world.
Be horny.
Exactly. Don't lose hope. I have faith that it will eventually resurface.
How long was the original version? Some sources say it was either 110, 115, or 120 minutes. Are there any Hong Kong Press Kits to prove it?
Most likely it could be in the Middle East....for example a cinema that has it might not be aware it's rare and just has it stored with other films in a closet or something.
shareI don't think you can get any DVD copies featuring the "saw" scene or the sex scene.
transongeist.com
The saw scene as the first two guys getting sawed up? Where you just see the body laying on the saw? I just saw the movie on Netflix and this version has this scene, also the sex scene.
shareNo, they're talking about this: http://littledragon.builtfree.org/boss/dtboss4.jpg
From what I know, it was included back when the film premiered, but has long since been lost.