The Big Boss (1971)

The entertaining action film that made Bruce Lee a face-pummeling, stomach-kicking, karate-chopping international star. Lee oozes charisma here like his unlucky opponents ooze blood. It’s easy to see why he became so beloved. He actually spends much of the film almost comically avoiding all fights because he promised his mother that he’d stay out of trouble. However, he ends up employed at an ice factory that’s actually a front for murderous drug smugglers. One thing leads to another and Lee ends up having to kick everybody’s ass, which he can do, even when he faces twenty guys at once. Fun flick.

The DVD era has mostly straightened this stuff out, but some older texts call this film Fists of Fury, which is mighty confusing since Lee’s next film is, among other titles (such as The Chinese Connection), sometimes called Fist of Fury (note the singular Fist). Here in the 21st century, most everyone in the English-speaking world seems to agree to call this one The Big Boss.