The Big Boss Part II

One of the most infamous and illusive films to ever come out of Hong Kong, The Big Boss Part II has finally graced the world once again thanks to the team over at Severin Films unearthing this rare obscurity. While its notorious unavailability may have fuelled the film's legacy, it's not a great film, often bordering on inept. All very odd as director Chan Chue had served as the 1st AD (and even starred as the villainous Ice Factor Manager, a role he reprises in this film) on the original film. It's an absolute mess but one that is very enjoyable in the right mindset, be it the poorly edited and slow-speed boat chase set to the James Bond Theme (arguably the film's best moment), fight scenes that jump cut to people having sex or the kung fu alligator fight. There's a mini Five Fingers of Death reunion going in with its cast as both Lo Lieh and Wang Ping headline as protagonist and antagonist respectively, although they are both blatantly phoning it in making for some hilariously awful romantic chemistry. While Bruce Le, in his Bruceploitation debut, takes over Lee's role from the original but is stuck in prison for the entire film meaning all he gets to do is overact and look bored. Misguided to a point but not without effort, I don't know what came over the cast and crew with The Big Boss Part II but I do know that I'm always grateful for any opportunity to watch a rare piece of film history.