Arrow video had a special deal on their website and I went for it. But for some unknown reason, my order got screwed up. It could be because I had two pages open of the same website where I changed my order. Long story short, I made a mistake where I accidentally, ordered The Way of the Dragon two times instead of one copy of The Way of the Dragon and one copy of The Big Boss. When I realized my mistake, I contacted them, and they told me it was already moved on the delivery process and there was nothing they could do about it. I had to wait for the discs to arrive and then start up the return order process. That cost me quite some energy and effort on my part, plus it cost me around 13 euros delivery costs. After a week or so, I received a notice they had received my order, and they had refunded me the amount that the purchase had cost me. Before this, I had asked them to send the copy of The Big Boss. They blatantly ignored my request and just refunded me without any communication about it. What about the costs I made concerning the delivery? It's not like that special sale covers those, you still have to pay that on top of the costs of the discs. I am sure this is part of their policy. But it sucks big time. I already had ordered from them before, and I was quite content. So I am not stating this out of spite or hate. I just want to point out that in my opinion, they could have helped me out a bit with my request. I had communicated my mistake and intention. But basically, they didn't care. This had opted me to buy the title from my most trusted online shop, which was more expensive but reliable. In future, I will gladly pay more from an external seller that saves me a headache instead of having to deal with a label directly. Mistakes can be made. But to not reimburse my delivery costs really angered me. A company like Cex does it, why not Arrow video? Not to mention, they way a customer support specialist was talking to me. I had to provide my personal data over 7 times, and she kept saying that this data was invalid, never once explaining why this was. The data was literally ripped from my account on their site, and yet she couldn't help me. I contacted them again and got to speak to another specialist, and he understood immediately but sadly had to report to me that they couldn't intervene.
So why am I telling this long story? Well, I learned a good lesson and that despite the hassle (described above), the disc itself is top-notch. If you are a fan, and you want to own The Big Boss, very likely, this is the best version you are going to get. The image is clean and crisp 98 percent of the time. There were some vertical lines at the finale, but that probably is due to the source material. It's not bothersome. The audio was good and there are some special features to be enjoyed, I have yet to check out. One plus is that it did come with an extra disc called the mandarin cut. A longer version of The Big Boss with more footage. I certainly will check that one out in future.
What about the film itself? Well, The Big Boss, was one of the first titles my father had rented for me on my behalf. Back in the day, I would wake up very early in the morning, while my parents were still asleep, and I would watch everything available on the TV. Soon, watching videos took precedence. It was the only time I could watch things on my own without interference from anyone. To then get introduced to Bruce Lee and the violence displayed was almost a heavenly experience. The Big Boss certainly is pretty brutal and bloody, but in combination with Bruce Lee's charisma and skills, the viewing experience was mesmerizing.
Mind you, I never liked the narrative that much. Mostly because it took a long time for Bruce Lee to actually get into action. This whole promise of non-violence to his mother thing never gets explored. It's implied that his mother wanted to keep him out of trouble. Thing is that he confronted with trouble all the time. What was his mother thinking? Should he just stand there and let people get beaten up or worse, get raped and slaughtered? Such a stupid promise. Then, when Bruce does get into action, the villains of the story try to manipulate him a little. His cousins aren't really happy with this, and they berate him for it. And yes, it is a bit weird that his character had forgotten all about the missing cousins. This just doesn't make any sense. At one point, he does wake up and fights whoever he has to fight. Although a bit late since all of his cousins excluding Chow Mei have been murdered.
I wished this would have lead to lots of fighting. But I guess they thought telling the story was more important. One could argue about that. But the fighting that is present is decent. And masterful when Bruce Lee is fighting. Here I noticed how realistic the fighting was. In one scene, Bruce Lee picks up sand and throws it in the faces of the enemies, and then picks up whatever tools he can find to use as weapons. Like ice picks. Bruce Lee was pretty deadly without them. With them, he is downright lethal, as if he were death himself.
Such a sight to behold.
Overall, The Big Boss is a must-watch and own if you are a fan, but it is slower and lower on action than one would expect. First and foremost, it's an absolute blast to see Bruce Lee fight. 6-year-old me thought so, and 50-year-old me still thinks so. Yes, I am that old.
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