BRUCE LEE The Big Boss + The Big Boss The Mandarin Cut REVIEW  

BY FAR THIS WHOLE BOXSET IS THE BEST. A DREAM COME TRUE FOR US BRUCE LEE FANS.

Hoping for the saw in the head footage to be added to the mandarin cut one day😊

Thanks for the upload! You’re love for Bruce is infectious! I can’t wait to see the Mandarin cut. Cheers mate🕺

Thank you for posting this, the Big boss is my favorite Bruce Lee movie.

Great 👍 👌 👍 👌

Fanatical Dragon is a good guy! I watched that interview twice it was so entertaining!

Great video stripey, love your review. The big boss is fantastic 👍 keep up the great job. Enjoy your weekend my friend. I be here waiting For your next video!

@Stripey thanx for the review/reaction video, another enjoyable video. Thank U soo much. Keep em coming. 👏🏽😌😎😁👏🏽

Superb review.❤

Hearing your enthusiasm for this makes me look forward to it even more!

Nice1 Stripey ! Good to hear you're enjoying this set so much !

6:55 Yes. Marlowe trailer was included before The Big Boss was released 2 years later where Bruce Lee played an anti-hero or villain named Winslow Wong. Since Warner Bros. Pictures (the same company who also produced Enter the Dragon as well) currently owns this movie through Turner Entertainment division (current holder of pre-May 23 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library).

If there is an english dub on my copy of The Mandarin Cut then I sure couldn't find it. I am absolutely blown away by this set so far. Gotta be the release of the year. Great work by you on this video, too! The comparison shots were great. Thanks for the review.

Hi stripey ,when i saw the mandarin cut of the big boss it has very little sound track and, i missed the original big boss music score ,dont get me wrong iwas very happy to see the new footage,,and thanks for clearing up the cart scene, as iwas thinking like you and was waiting for the burning cart wheel 😊

Great review

I absolutely loved the Mandarin cut …. I’ve just finished the final game of death. Watched every single feature so far on the set which is super fan stuff haha

Great review, Keep up the good contents and the joyful mood 👍🏼 Long live Bruce Lee Li Xiao long, the Little 🐉.

Excellent episode Stripey.

You really truly are a legend, love your videos stripey, keep up the good work you buddy. 😎 👍

Great review stripey, looking forward to getting my hands on this ( due Monday) can't wait

I was watching the big boss Mandarin cut unrestored last night it Was brilliant awesome and phenomenal🙏🙏🙏🙏

can't wait for your video on the final game of death

Great work mate.

Finally decided to import these films (I live in the US), going back through rewatching your videos in anticipation. Love your general vibe and talking points, great videos. Cheers!

Stripey the extras are amazing arrow done a brilliant job in this the best bruce lee boxset by far they could've made this the ultimate boxset if they removed game of death 2 and added enter the dragon 4k if Warner brothers allowed it which they won't

Nice video update mate, glad you're enjoying your movie box set. The only time I've ever seen the infamous 'saw in the head' scene was when I owned the special widescreen collection on VHS back in the 80's which were the English dubbed versions, those tapes deteriorated over time and unfortunately the damage to them was way beyond recovery and the restoration technology wasn't around back then so I sold them to a collector with a 'use at own risk as the tapes are a little fragile' warning. The standard 4.3 aspect VHS versions that I also owned were the theatrical cuts with shorter runtimes and scenes like the 'saw in the head' and the 'bare breasted' brothel scene removed from the movie. I grew up with the English dubbed versions, I've recently watched the Cantonese versions but I too prefer the English dub as the I have no patience reading subtitles, especially when watching a Bruce Lee movie. Cheers.

Came across your channel a week or so ago, a pleasure. to watch, I really enjoyed your review on the arrow box set of bruce lee. The way you put together the VDO , it just flows and very informative, thank you And last and not least, your nunchaku demo very funny and may I say, wow your really good 😊, take care and and enjoy the wedding.

I'm a big Bruce lee fan, as is my dad, but I mainly collect horror related films and memorabilia. I have quite a few arrow boxsets among other things, and this Bruce lee set is one of their best releases yet, in my opinion.

Thanks Stripey for working through the computer issues and happy we were able to get your thoughts on the Mandarin Cut before you have to take on the responsibilities of the wedding, etc. Love the content...keep it coming.

Great review of the big boss & mandarin cut totally agree with you it was mind blowing Arrow have done us Bruce fans proud keep up the great work I really enjoyed it 🐉 🐲 ✌

Discovered your channel after looking for reasons to decide whether to buy the new set and quadruple dip. Not have you convinced me to part with the cash but I've discovered a great channel in the process. Excellent work.

Hey stripey great review on the arrow boxset release of the big boss and the manderin cut, I've had to order the blu Ray version the red box, 😢because the 4k are sold out, I've also ordered my favourite bruce lee movie enter the dragon ultimate edition Steel boxset with all the goodie that's in 4k also has my favourite the theatrical version, just like the single 50th anniversary of enter the dragon, great video mate im chomping at the bit literally for em to arrive, support always from Ireland 💯🇮🇪🙏🇮🇪🐉🙏🐲

I got into Bruce aged 16 in 1974, and I've followed him since then. I used to lust after the unaffordable technology of cine film with sound, but now I've just bought the red box 4K ultra HD 10 disc set. The first shock was thst I then had the buy a 4K ultra HD disc player, which arrived today. I'm now looking forward to making my way through what looks to be an absolute treat (I've bought the 4K ultra HD Warner Brothers 'Enter the Dragon' on pre-order, and I've booked my ETD cinema ticket).

Like you Stripey, I was blown away by the extra scenes in the Big Boss. It's always great seeing new footage of Bruce. The boxset really is amazing from Arrow. The yellow boxset that's sold out, sold for almost £200 on an ebay auction yesterday. Blimey😅

Very concise review without much spoilers. Thanks Stripey. Super hyped!!!! I can't wait to crack open my arrow boxset. Heard good things about the final GoD.

Thanks to your channel I've got hooked on Bruce, now I have all the films I need to get the books, posters, documentaries the lot. 😂 Cheers mate.

Fantastic review Stripey. Loved the comparison with the Criterion set. Just makes u appreciate even more what a great job Arrow have done. This set is unbelievable. I'm trying hard not to rush through it as I don't want it to end. Keep up the great work. Love your channel 👍

Great review Stripey. The Big Boss discs and Game of Death Final Cut means this is a 10/10 release for me. I think you’re right about there being no scene selection screen for any of the movies (except ETD). Having said that, I think the movies are divided into chapters: you just don’t know where the breaks are until you’ve jumped from one to the next.

Nice review mate, i cant wait to get my boxset

Hello Sir ! Ever since I watched this masterpiece of a boxset ....I am dreaming of the same kind of product for FIST OF FURY and WAY OF THE DRAGON !

Thank you Stripey.

Hi Stripey brilliant review of The Big Boss mandarin cut. Glad you mentioned the extras because they are really good. I have always loved the dubbing for Bruce's films and I thought the feature about Axis was very interesting. Except they are convinced Barry Haigh did Bruce's voice for Tang Lung in WOTD. It was actually canadian writer Jack Moore and having done some further research I think Nora Miao was probably dubbed by Axis actor Linda Masson. Anyway, I digress. Like yourself Sripey I'm blown away by the great picture qaulity of the Big Boss and so far I have seen Fist Of Fury and its extras and its a knockout. Way Of The Dragon and its extras are also impressive. Shame there is no original negative to restore of WOTD as I think this woud have really improved it even more so. Looking forward to the Final Game Of Death. Have a great time at the wedding and enjoy life beyond the rambles. Thanks Stripey.

Great stuff! Can’t believe we finally got to see the Mandarin version. I also grew up with the English Dub/Peter Thomas Soundtrack which is still probably my favourite version of the film. And I also really enjoyed Brandon Bentley’s commentary on “The Big Boss”. Will be watching “Fist of Fury” with Brandon Bentley’s commentary later tonight!

9:44 I agree Stripey. Dubbing is better for action scenes as I'm not reading the subtitles which often get in the way. We '70s born VHS kids grew up on them! Having said that, I like having both options since DVD became a thing.

Since you've increased the Bruce Lee content on your channel, Stripey, I think your subscriber count has increased almost 3K! Well done, mate. 👏

Totally agree with you Arrow have blown the competition away with this boxset Next weekend I will be looking at the Japanese 80th anniversary boxset Bruce Lee which says 4k Enjoy your best man duties Stripey and we will look forward to more videos in the future

Brilliant breakdown of the BB content...I cannot believe the packed special features. I've only watched the BB, Mandarin cut of BB, and The GOD Final Cut...which is absolutely mind-blowing as you say. Next my favourite Fist of Fury, then my second favourite Way of the Dragon. Just think how good The GOD would have been had Bruce been here to finish it, I think it would have eclipsed the others...now waiting for my WB Enter the Dragon special anniversary disc, 🤞 its half as good as what Arrow have done. Thanks Stripey for the amazing insight 👏👏👏 brilliant mate

Ok, Sold.. I was putting it off, but you have sold it to me on the big boss alone, I'll have to get the Blu-Ray.. bit old school ..great video Stripey.. enjoy the wedding|!

I wonder if there's scope for organising a location trip tour to any one of the Bruce films 🤔 Thailand, Rome or Hong Kong 🤔 I bet there'd be some interest, but it would take some organising.

1-08-2023 - Just watched the Mandarin Cut....Amazing ! ..just dipped my toe in the extras....Christmas Time in August!!! Keep up the good work Stripey.

👍🏿

Bravo dude - btw have you ever done a screening room setup tour? i’m quite jealous!

My only criticism for Arrow is the packaging they sent the box sets out in It appears more of them arrived damaged than not😢

Hopefully that ice factory still doesn't have the added extras in its ice

With this box set which I've been enjoying it made me dig through my collection and I pulled out the film that rarely gets spoken about...circle of iron aka the silent flute which is a great movie!

good video stripey,enjoy your stag do,scene selection is the most basic thing you can get on a disc,wonder why they left it out.

Totally agree with the presentation of this 4K set , just stunning! I've mentioned before, but there's something special - about the 35mm unrestored Mandarin cut, like i was watching it in the'70s, loved it!! This is probably my 5th box set and didnt think the Criterion set would be trumped but this does it with ease!. Anyone think there is more material out there to beat this or is this truly the holy grail???, outside G.O.D, scenes cuts from Enter ??( NO monkey style though, please 😂😂😂😂 )

The old English dub was for the 99-minute cut only. There's no English dub for the extended Mandarin Cut. Great video, mate.

Nice review, as informative as always Stripey, nice one. The Big Boss was my least favourite of Bruce's movies, it was quite choppy & poorly executed early on, though the mandarin cut is an improvement. The extended fight scenes with James Tien, Tony Liu & Ying-Chieh Han are better & strengthen the first half of the movie, also the second prostitute scene & graphic depiction of Lee's family added depth to the finale, as we realise Lee's character didn't expect to survive. Definitely gone up a notch to where i held it previously & a good calling card for Bruce Lee.

Arrow’s restoration for The Big Boss as well as other Bruce Lee films in the box set has so far as I’ve seen anyways better compression and better colour timing compared to Criterion’s, and it has the original logos, credit sequences, and the expanded scenes from the original cut (looks pretty decent for a 4K scanning of a 35mm answer print but not exactly as gorgeous compared to the original camera negatives which are the only way to restore the common 1983 cut of) which is great to see as a die-hard Bruce lee fan who has never had a chance to sit through the original film for the first time ever. Unfortunately as I’m a Canadian commenting this on this video, mines has yet to arrive as it is still in transit since two weeks right now after I ordered the yellow Arrow exclusive set from Arrow website (the artwork in this is done by a fellow Canadian BTW) and hopefully it won’t be severely damaged (but expecting some dents around the edges and corners on my box set) after it got home.

I agree Stripey. It's a shame there's no English audio on the mandarin big boss version.

£120 for this set is an absolute steal. Aside from the saw scene in the Big Boss, Arrow really have gone above and beyond. Will it be bettered in the future?

I have a lot of nostalgia for these movies growing up watching them with my uncle, I also have a soft spot for the cheesy english dub. I'm amazed at what the quality that it appears they've gotten with these movies. Does the english dub have the altered sound effects added in like the DVD sets from the late 90s/early 2000s? It always drives me nuts when I watch my old DVDs but it's all I currently have. We didn't get this 4k box set in the US so I'm debating importing it. Thanks!

i watched the big boss cantonese version just to listen pink floyd. listened to version many times before.

Great review! The first (rejected) English dub is on the main Big Boss disc, not the Mandarin Cut disc. Select "Alternate Versions" to find it, along with the 1973 US version. The 1982 Cantonese audio and 1974 Japanese audio can be found by selecting "setup".

I must make a comment that bothers me to no end. On the Man the Legend documentary they say the casket was damaged and they had to switch Bruce's body into another casket in Seattle. For years I thought his face looked so much different in hong kong then the Seattle funeral. The whole thing has never sat right with me. I guess I am paranoid because Linda was visibky so horribky shattered in the first funeral. Btw The Legend I think is one of the finest documentaries and while it looks so much better it is cropped! Even on the VHS version that is als included it is cropped as well. I guess it doesn't matter that much since the quality is so good...but it still sucks that the original UK double feature has that one aspect that looks better! Still props to Arrow fir including both the masterpieces on bluray! Such an awesome set!!

9/10 only did deliver like the HKL set English and Cantonese 🎉❤😮😅😊😢

Hi Stripey, I'm interested in your opinion & what others think is the issue I am having with both discs in my 'Golden Harvest' 4K Arrow boxset. All discs in my set work absolutely perfectly, however both 'The Big Boss' discs have no audio the moment I press play for the film. I hear sound on the main menu, extras & even the two audio commentaries tracks are working fine. Just no sound whatsoever during the film, I've of course played around with every sound setting possible. Now here's the strange part, I then placed the discs into my PS5 & it works perfectly. I can hear the full film with all audio tracks available. I am currently using a Panasonic DP-UB820EBK with an LG55C9. That tells me it's my player. With these two discs being in mono, am I missing something? Any suggestions on what this could be will be greatly appreciated.

I think the Mandarin Cut and the English dub will have to be my joint goto. I love that Peter Thomas score too much!

The fight between bolo and Bruce lee needs finding

Great release. Too bad they had to ruin it by cheap shipping. Many of the people who ordered it from Arrow directly to get the box with the other artwork have big dings on the corners. The Mandarin Cut of the Big Boss I felt was unnecessary. I don't think it added anything that had been missing. It's not the version I would watch with the jump in picture quality and the Mandarin subtitles being displayed prominently.

Could you post these deleted images here on your channel?🤔

wanted to ask, obviously as you have hit 10k subs now, did u manage to sort something out for the sale of your t-shirts, as am very interested, thanks,

I agree with you 100 percent with regard to the dub .. it was how we watched them over and over on video .. The Peter Thomas music is better than the Mandarin music which is dull and you can see why they changed it . I wasn't a fan of some parts of the final GOD cut ... loved the credits BUT the projector was too modern maybe a reel too reel film projector would be better , the lookalike was poor and could of been replaced by close ups of bruce from ETD and the dub for Bruce was imo better on the old versions, but the quality was amazing! the edit was ok but feel these could of been edited a tad faster speeding up the fights they linger too long sometimes and become dare i say it boring ! ..... i feel Bruce lee would of edited a hell of a lot . more dramatic music would of helped also . but .. to see all this footage was superb and yeah they just asked for Big Boss Mandarin audio version fortune star for it and they came up with a digi beta video and then the HK film archive came up with a 35 mm .. LOL which looks amazing ! i believe this was the version that premiered in HK to which the Ted Ashley Interview was after ... Great video as always mate and hopefully this set may open up the flood gates to maybe more footage being located !!

Do you know if these are region free? Just want to make sure I can watch these in Canada

Well I got my new 4k UHD player at last, and I've just finished watching the Mandarin cut of Big Boss which was great to see. Picture on the film does fluctuate in quality (arrow does state that) but overall I really enjoyed it. Just to ask, it that actually Bruce's own voice on the soundtrack or is it dubbed?

Wasn’t going to bother watching the Japanese cut but Pink Floyd on the score 🤯. And the ice factory has changed so little I think the cast could start working there with half a day’s training.

Bruce Lee, if he had not been killed, we would have witnessed fairy tales in combat, especially his voice when he screamed 💪

What’s the difference between this set and the one on sale at Amazon. Also I remember seeing the saw scene as a kid, what happened to it?

Hey Stripey, do you know if they'll produce another run of these boxsets? I can't find any and they're being sold for up to £600 on Ebay!

Stripey did you ever find out if the Manderin cut has an english dub option?

Stripey I am trying to find out how many of these box sets are or being made, yellow or red box sets as they say limited edition. I bought the box set from Amazon. They state they have sold 500 instantly UK

Finally got my boxset on Monday 😊 watched The Big Boss 6 times with all different ways of audio and Mandarin cut ect.. love the new hooker scene before end fight. I'll be watching it twice more till I get onto Fist of Fury 😂

I Got My Box Set , there is one bad thing , My 4k player can't play the last 4 Blu Ray Discs , my player says can't play it , maybe i can get a player that can play them some time ? If they had put all the discs in 4K , they would have been able to play them , funny thing The Enter Dragon Blu ray played and the last 4 four were Blu Ray but would not play , and why , Yes Brother Scene , that looked like a real brothel , some those women look pretty young like between 13 to maybe 17 .

What distributor released the box set?

Stripey what did you you think of them putting the lower quality mardarin cut ending vs having the better ending from negative? I just don't understand why why why!!

I’m looking to get the blu ray master collection and it’s been discontinued by the look of it, nothing on amazon or any retailers. so gotta get it second hand. The arrows new boxset is expensive otherwise would’ve got it. Do you recommend the Master collection?

How to watch the mandarin version?

Where can I purchase this Arrow box set? I’m in the US

Is there a scene where the manager throws a head of the cousin in water ?

Wait, they got away with the Floyd tracks on the disc?! 😆

15:18 not for the same guy I hope!

Watched the deleted footage on disc one and I am honestly not that impressed. I might be watching The Mandalorian Cut at some point, for variation, but nothing in those scenes I think add or improve, biscuit sex or not. Glad you and many others enjoyed it though.