A thoroughly entertaining martial arts adventure from start to finish. At least that's my opinion, which certainly seems to be in the minority here on the web; I think the problem with most people is that they watched this film too seriously and thus were dismayed by the bad acting and shoddy production values instead of viewing them as part of the fun. THE BIG BOSS is an undeniably light film, and even when blood is splattering across the screen, things never become too serious for a second.

The story is so very simple that it frequently borders on the laughable; also, there are gaping plot holes throughout (if Lee and his pals are causing so much trouble, why doesn't the boss just sack them?), but this doesn't detract from the fun. At least it's easy to understand what's going on. The acting is of variable quality, from average to poor, and in a lot of the minor roles the actors and actresses are hopeless. Thankfully, when you've got Bruce Lee as your leading man, the rest of the cast don't really matter. Lee shows himself to be a surprisingly likable and charismatic actor here, and I actually liked the fact that he starts the movie off with a vow of non-violence - a plot device which Steven Seagal saw fit to "borrow" for a number of his movies.

There is much to enjoy in this movie, not least the wealth of martial arts battles which take up its running time. The two best action scenes are the night-time ice factory battle and the finale, bloody showdowns which offer up loads of violence and fake fighting to great effect. The other, non-violent fight scenes can get kind of tiresome but I found that if you stick with this film, it gets better as it goes along. Another thing is that a high reliance on weapons is shown in this film, with frequent scenes of Bruce turning the weapons on those brandishing them; thus setting the scene for maximum bloody carnage. The finale is jaw-droppingly gruesome and has to be seen to be believed, and is definitely one of the best deaths for a chief baddie I've seen in a film.

Until then we have loads of things taking up the running time; some gratuitous nudity doesn't go amiss, there's a young cute boy to lend some sentimentality to the proceedings, while the dubbing actors have a field day with the monkey noises that Lee supposedly makes whilst fighting - absolutely hilarious moments. With a fast pace and a high death toll, THE BIG BOSS is a shoddy yet enjoyable movie, not a classic but one that more than satisfies where it counts and proves to be a fine display of Lee's fighting abilities.