The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		1.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 23, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a bonus disc that is part of Severin's own web exclusive edition of The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1. This is not included in the wide release offered on other sites like Amazon.

When Severin Films released Kung Fu Trailers of Fury and Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury several years ago, I'm sure I wasn't the only one initially thinking, "Well, that's a stupid idea for a release", only to have the sheer lunacy of the trailers assembled in both collections "fight back" against that assessment, as if to say in response, "Yeah, well who's stupid now?" In fact, both Kung Fu Trailers of Fury and Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury were kind of deliriously enjoyable in their own slapdash way, and those releases evidently were one of the inspirations for a full on collection of so-called "Brucesploitation" films, this time offering the actual films in addition to their trailers. The goofily affable Michael Worth, who has contributed so many fun commentaries through the years to various kung fu films on Blu-ray, is your "host" of sorts here, offering introductions to all the films and commentaries for many of them. If none of these films is ever going to be acclaimed as an unappreciated masterpiece, and if both video and audio on many of the films in this set might be charitably termed problematic, merely having these films in high definition will be alluring, and an absolute glut of other supplemental material is included as well, making this a probable "must have" for a certain demographic.

Michael Worth calls this film a "Sasquatch" for Brucesploitation fans, in that it's been well nigh impossible to find for years, and that may give this bonus item offered in Severin's own website version of this release some extra allure. That doesn't necessarily mean the movie is any good, mind you, but this supposed sequel to The Big Boss at least was directed by the Lee film's second unit director Chan Chue and makes some passing attempts at weaving its story organically out of the ending of the well remembered Bruce Lee film. Unfortunately, that means pretty much discarding the Lee character out of necessity soon after the film begins and focusing instead on Cheng Chao-Chun (Lo Lieh). The film offers Lieh some decent fight scenes, but the story may well be too slow to completely engage adrenaline junkies. Still, as Michael Worth mentions, this has evidently never been available on home video in any format since the early days of VHS, and so it may well be a holy grail for some Brucesploitation fans.

The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Big Boss Part II is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Michael Worth states this transfer was culled from the only known print in the world, a 35mm print sourced from a private collection. As mentioned in the audio section, this features burnt in subtitles in both Mandarin and English (within the frame). That may be a constant irritant to some, but the transfer is littered with other issues, including near nonstop damage ranging from flecks and speckling, to larger scratches and some pretty major damage during a ritual scene at around the 55 minute mark. The palette is noticeably faded, but still at least somewhat intact, but the entire presentation has a slightly purplish cast. This is another transfer that can show some odd anamorphic peculiarities, including the same kind of tilting / skewing I've mentioned in several other reviews (see screenshot 2).

The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Big Boss Part II features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Mandarin. While this has a consistent background hum and some hiss and other noise, it actually manages to deliver some interesting music and sound effects with at least reasonable fidelity, though there is once again that overall boxy and hollow quality that I've referred to in a lot of the other reviews of films in this set. There are both burnt in Chinese and English subtitles.

The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Severin's Kung Fu Theater With Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth (HD; 1:51) offers a brief introduction. This is accessible as either a standalone supplement or under the Play Menu, where it's authored to lead directly to the feature.


• Trailer (HD; 3:38)

The Big Boss Part II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's probably a reason aside from a kind of shoddy source element with not one, but two, sets of burnt in subtitles that Severin decided to make this a "bonus item", but that said, its apparent rarity is going to make this a "must have" for a certain demographic. Technical merits are pretty questionable, though audio despite consistent issues is decently reverberant. The introduction is fun.