3 Controversial Scenes From Bruce Lee’s ‘The Big Boss’ That Never Made The Final Cut

Bruce Lee is a legend of martial arts cinema, and for good reason. While he’s most famous for his work in Enter the Dragon, that wouldn’t have happened had he not released The Big Boss (1971) years before.

A story of a man traveling to work with his family in Thailand, only to find the boss is a drug lord, makes for a perfect action drama, and it was. But there were many key moments that were cut from the finished product that were deemed controversial. While there’s a 2023 “Mandarin Cut” that added 10 minutes of footage, there are three controversial scenes that were cut that more people should know about.

The Big Boss Cut a Brutal Kill in a Fight Scene

There are many fantastic fights in The Big Boss that showcase Bruce Lee’s martial arts prowess, but his most famous is during a battle in the ice factory where he takes on a ton of the Boss’ employees. This also led to a major moment when Cheng takes a handsaw, and the camera shows him lifting it and immediately cutting to a man falling to the ground with little explanation.

What was actually filmed was a detailed death scene in which Cheng uses the saw to slice into the worker’s head. All of this was shown in slow motion, and it didn’t help the filmmakers get the scene to release, as the censors saw the scene as way more graphic than they hoped. With it being cut at the last minute, there was no way to fix the changes, and thus, we were left with a strange jump in continuity.

The Big Boss Toned Down a Major Revelation

The secret of The Big Boss hinged heavily on the fact that the ice factory was a front for the transportation of illegal drugs. When Cheng’s cousins discover this, their fate is revealed when some factory workers are shown chopping up their bodies and tossing pieces into an ice mold.

In the original cut, the grotesque acts of the factory are shown in greater detail as director Lo Wei showed many limbs and severed heads being packed into ice molds, driving home the brutality of the operation. While it was great for narrative effect, the distributors wanted the scene toned down so the film wouldn’t be banned.

The Big Boss’ Western Version Cut an Emotional Moment

Due to Cheng’s efforts to do the right thing by disrupting the Big Boss’ drug operation, this led to almost all of his family being killed in their home. After Cheng discovers this, he goes to a brothel where, in the Western cut, it’s shown that he wakes next to a woman without much information about what actually transpired.

In the real cut, he’s shown visiting the brothel multiple times during his grief phase, eating chips and talking to a prostitute about how he felt. It showed just how lost Cheng felt and his desperation for companionship. Unfortunately, this was all cut in the Western version because those in charge wanted to focus more on the action and cut minutes of plot perfect for character development.