OVERALL: Draw

Golden Harvest version
- The US Shout! Factory "Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection" includes the most extras and with multiple Mandarin / Cantonese/English dub audio options.
- The identical UK Hong Kong Legends Platinum Edition and UK Cine Asia Ultimate Edition releases have many exclusive extensive extras though note only includes the Cantonese mono and English dub mono tracks.
- The HK IVL "Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection", Taiwan "Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection" and HK Joy Sales have some exclusive extras and have the Mandarin/Cantonese tracks in DTS and original Cantonese mono options. The R1 Fox "Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection" also has the extras from the HK IVL / Joy Sales but only includes the Mandarin/Cantonese tracks in mono and the English dub in DTS.
- The R2 UK Mediumrare release has the Shout! Factory Mike Leeder commentary and the Hong Kong Legends "Platinum Edition" extras though most of the extras are on the Blu-ray copy.

National General Pictures version
A draw between R0 US editions by Fox and Goodtimes, which are currently the only known editions offering this cut of the film. The Goodtimes disc is anamorphic, but taken from a non-anamorphic source.

GENERAL NOTES:
*The following versions of the movie are known:
- The original 1971 version, this version is believed to be "lost" (~115 min).
- The Golden Harvest version (~100 min), which is the most commonly seen version.
- The National General Pictures version (~100 min), released in the US.
Each of the last two versions has exclusive material, but the Golden Harvest version is often considered to be "the best" since source material is in better shape.
A comparison between these two versions (and an old VHS German offering exclusive material) is available on Movie Censorship.
An in-depth article on the original 1971 version is also available on Little Dragon.

ABOUT THE SCORES
There are four main music scores for this film, every cut varying with a different score. The first score was made for the 1971 Mandarin dub by Wang Fu-Ling and was also going to be used in the first English dub as well as all European language dubs (French, Spanish, etc). The second score was made especially for the re-dubbed English print in the U.K. and the U.S. by German musician Peter Thomas. The third score was about the same as the second, but had additional music created by Joseph Koo especially for the Japanese print. The fourth (and supposedly final) score was comprised of music that was made for the Japanese print, Golden Harvest stock music, and a couple of Pink Floyd tracks. This fourth score was arranged especially for the 1980s Cantonese dub.
- The 1971 Wang Fu-Ling score is available on Mandarin soundtracks and on the rejected English soundtrack (only available on the US Shout! Factory "Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection"/"Bruce Lee: Premiere Collection" dvd/blu ray, and on the Australian Beyond Home Entertainment "Bruce Lee: Deluxe Collector's Edition" Blu-ray).
- The 1973 Peter Thomas score is available on most English soundtracks.
- The 1974 Japanese score is available on the Japanese Paramount Home Entertainment "The Big Boss: Extreme Edition" Blu-ray.
- The 1983 Cantonese score is available on most Cantonese soundtracks. The only exception is the Hong Kong Universe Laser and Video Co. Ltd. DVD, which has all the voices re-dubbed.

*Not to be confused with the Bruce Lee movie "Fist of Fury" AKA The Chinese Connection AKA Jing wu men (1972).

*An edition released by Bonzai Media is available through several US retailers but not detailed in this comparison since it is a confirmed bootleg.


OTHER COMPARISONS:
For the image/audio-comparison, see these great links (R3 has the edge):
(1) - Bullets N Babes
(2) - 10K Bullets

CUTS:

• R0 America- Goodtimes - No cuts - 1973 National General Pictures version (99:26 NTSC)
• R0 China- Zoke Culture - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version
• R0 Hong Kong- Mega Star - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version. However, the "Golden Harvest" logo is missing
• R0 Hong Kong- Universe Laser and Video Co. Ltd. - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (95:08 NTSC). However, the "Golden Harvest" logo is missing.
• R1 America- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - No cuts - 1973 National General Pictures version (100:13 NTSC)
• R1 Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection America- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (99:30 NTSC)
• R1 Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection America- Shout! Factory - No cuts, 1983 Golden Harvest version (100:13 NTSC).
• R2 Scandinavia- SME/Scanbox - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (96:05 PAL). However, the "Golden Harvest" logo is missing.
• R2 United Kingdom- Hong Kong Legends - Yes, 1983 Golden Harvest version in which the "Golden Harvest" logo and the first few seconds of the movie are missing (96:01 PAL)
• R2 United Kingdom- Mediumrare - No cuts, 1983 Golden Harvest version (96:06 PAL)
• R2 Bruce Lee 30th Anniversary Commemorative Box Set United Kingdom- Hong Kong Legends - Yes, 1983 Golden Harvest version in which the "Golden Harvest" logo and the first few seconds of the movie are missing (96:01 PAL)
• R2 Platinum Edition United Kingdom- Hong Kong Legends - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (96:02 PAL)
• R2 Ultimate Edition United Kingdom- Cine-Asia - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (96:02 PAL)
• R3 Hong Kong- Joy Sales - No cuts
• R3 Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection Hong Kong- IVL - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (99:28 NTSC)
• R3 South Korea- Spectrum - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version
• R3 Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection Taiwan- Catalyst Logic - No cuts - 1983 Golden Harvest version (99:28 NTSC)
• R4 Australia- Hong Kong Legends - Yes, 1983 Golden Harvest version in which the "Golden Harvest" logo and the first few seconds of the movie are missing (96:01 PAL)

Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!

Comparison added by Craig on 14/07/01
Comparison last updated by Rick_Curzon on 26/09/20

UPDATE LOG:

03/02/11: Removed dead links from the overall.
10/04/11: Added R4 Austraila.
11/04/11: Removed dead link.
20/10/13: Added R2 UK Cine-Asia UE.
11/12/13: Added R0 US by Goodtimes and overall update, mostly regarding the different versions and soundtracks of the film.
05/02/16: Addition of US Shout!, ASINS, capsaholic.
20/07/16: Updated about scores.
26/09/20: Correct typo in notes.
30/08/16: Addition of UK.
22/09/16: Addition of UK 30th AE.
06/11/16: Typo.
04/09/19: Updated Scandinavian release (added missing Finnish subtitles and detailed Extras with running times). Updated Caps-a-Holic link.
26/09/20: Added Taiwan.