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The Big Brawl

The Big Brawl

Action · Comedy · 1980

A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.

Movie details

The Big Brawl

“Where the only rule is to stay alive.”

1980 Action · Comedy 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.7 / 10

6.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

67 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Big Brawl?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A crook quietly plots his revenge against the boss who murdered his brother while working for him.

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Three middle aged men polish their martial arts skills to avenge their fallen master.

The Meteor Man

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Rush Hour 3

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Rush Hour 2

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Action · 2001

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Clouse

Written by

Robert Clouse · Fred Weintraub

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan

Jerry Kwan

Mako

Mako

Herbert

Kristine DeBell

Kristine DeBell

Nancy

José Ferrer

José Ferrer

Dominici

Rosalind Chao

Rosalind Chao

Mae

Chao Li Chi

Chao Li Chi

Kwan

H.B. Haggerty

H.B. Haggerty

Kiss

Court is in session

Put The Big Brawl on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.