Customer Reviews

Iron Monkey

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A truly superb classic 70s kung fu film. When a kung fu movie starts out during the opening credits with a live animal fighting another live animal on an empty sound stage, followed by the film's stars fighting each other in their signature animal form on the sound stage, while a serious-sounding narrator gives you the history of each animal form --- you know it gotta be good! If you like that truly classic-style flick, buy this video immediately. Chen Kwan Tai is superb, as always. The plot is straightforward and engaging and leaves you in suspense throughout. Spectacular intricate fight sequences are scattered liberally throughout the entire film, from beginnng to end. One of the Kwan Tai's many opponents, I believe, is a Venom.

This movie, made in 1977, should not be confused with the altogether different 1993 film of the same name. From my "classic" perspective, this film (the 1977 "original") is far superior. This is one of my favorite kung fu movies of all time. It contains one of my favorite kung fu films lines, uttered by the aging monkey fist master to his new would-be student on the first day of training, "The monkey fist technique is most complex..."

Fans of Sonny Chiba and Bruce Lee may not find this movie to be their pride and joy,but will probably find it enjoyable nevertheless. Iron Monkey is set in Manchuria, and made by the Eastern Heroes Video Company. This fact alone would usually turn me off, because of the extremely realistic and conservative fight scenes. There is no gore, unlike the Street Fighter, and there is not that certain charm that Bruce Lee gives to his films. But, somehow Iron Monkey finds a way to please a westerner (me) through its original,laid back fight scenes and a very strong ending.

A great film. Chi Kwan Tai stars as Iron a strong willed rebel boy who sees his family die at the hands of the manchurians. After hiding out he encounters some students at the shaolin temple, where he ends up joining and studying kung fu. After he learns and masters the basics of shaolin kung fu, he is able to choose a style in which he wants to master and specialize in, his decision is Monkey. With the help of an old angry monk he masters the technique. Soon after he joins the manchurian army in order to get closer to those who did his family in. After forcing himself to kill and fight against those who he once fought beside, he earns a chance to move up in rank. Finally he finds his chance to seek revenge. One by one he takes on the evil lords top fighters until he get his chance of redemption Amazing fight scenes and some great styles. The eagle claw, and monkey style like never before. a must have. Look for a young Chi Kwan Chun also as the friend.

This is enjoyable unless you bought this expecting the '93 Iron Monkey by Yuen Woo Ping. This Chen Kuan Tai film is good because the fights are really good at the end, and even though the revenge story is cliched, you still root for him getting his revenge on those bad guys all by himself. Worth seeing, but maybe not the old-school classic that many make it out to be.

I just finished watching this underappreciated gem and all I can say is "holy christ!" This film delivers the goods with AWESOME choreography and fluid, authentic monkey and eagle style action. The film moves sort of slow for the first two thrids or so but it keeps intrest and displays a few well done fight sequences. When it gets to the last thirty minutes or so, brace yourself for maniacal kung fu action! I have practically seen it ALL in the realm of kung fu and I am one of the most fanatical peoeple on this planet when it comes to martial arts movies. I can honestly say that this picture ranks with the cream of the crop, a true classic that makes me want to see more of the talented Chen Kwan Tai. This film is a must!

I am a big fan of Kung-Fu movies, even the average ones. So, I checked this one out just for the [heck] of it. I was not sure what to expect, so I just watched it with an open mind. As this type of movie goes, it's the same old story. Guy seeks revenge for death of family members. Hey, I am not one to complain. As long as it's fun to watch, and has good fighting in it. I figure, I got my what I wanted. Iron Monkey was just that. Sure it's not the best Kung-Fu film by any means, but it is a fun one.

The Problem: The company who made this DVD desurves to be beaten just like many of the bad guys in Iron Monkey. This is by far, the worst quality DVD I have ever watched. You can tell they just made it from an old VHS tape! To make matters worse, the quality of the tape is just downright sad. The movie is watchable, but thats it. Now I am not sure what the story behind this movie is. Was the original print lost or what? There is a part in the film where the English just stops, and Chinese starts. Then it goes back to english again. I am confused.

In final. Not a bad movie, but it feels like you are watching a bootleg. Don't waste your money.

The great Chen Kuan Tai ("Challenge of the Masters") stars as the title character in a revenge-themed movie that distinguishes itself from others in the genre of old-school kung fu. For starters, IF this movie has a sense of humor, it's long gone within 10 minutes!

Chen plays Iron, an irresponsible gambler whose priorities seem to relate primarily to loafing. When his anti-Ching parents and siblings are betrayed/executed by his father's friend (Wilson Tong, "Daggers 8"), it's up to Iron to earn his namesake and take revenge by training at the Shaolin Temple. He takes a lot of crap from his fellow secular students (including Chi Kuan Chun, "Showdown at the Cotton Mill") but quickly passes them in terms of martial progress. He climbs the Shaolin ladder one rung at a time and is soon offered the opportunity to train with an individual master. He chooses the Monkey Fist as taught by the Bitter Monk (Chan Muk Chuen, "Crippled Masters") and trains until the Ching General (Kam Kong, "Master of the Flying Guillotine") sends men to recruit fresh talent from Shaolin. A request answered only by Iron Monkey.

The fights are kinda slow but occur frequently. I actually like them but I know of a lot of fu-fans who don't and I can't really blame them. A lot of kung fu movies of this era had slow choreography and had I seen this one as a kid, I would definitely have loved it and the nostalgia would've carried over BUT I saw this for the first time about a year ago. What makes this work is Chen Kuan Tai and the degree of masochism Iron Monkey is willing to inflict and endure to achieve his ultimate revenge. Methods that would in no way be endorsed by his father or the Shaolin Temple!

Once again, a Xenon DVD advertises itself as being "Digitally Remastered". And once again, the consumer responds with "not likely". However, last year's viewing was a rental with an even worse picture so perhaps it is. I still can't categorize the picture quality as being anything beyond decent but it is widescreened and fans of old-school fu have had to tolerate much worse. If you enjoy costumed, mid-70s kung fu, without the Peking Opera-inspired humor, then this is recommended. Not quite a classic but solid.

1977. aka: Bloody Monkey Master; Iron Monkey of Shaolin; School of Shaolin

You definately don't want to buy the 1977 version... Again, as some of the others have mentioned, you absolutely MUST see the 1993 version, starring Yu Ron-Guang as Dr. Yang and Donnie Yen as Wong Kei Ying. There is a slight differnce in the Subtitled/Dubbed versions. I had watched the Dubbed version (English) and thought it was fabulous, but when I rented it again when a couple of buddies came over, I got the Subtitled version by accident, and there ARE differences (That actually make the movie make more sense in some places)

man i have to tell you for a movie made in 1977 the action is so crisp and persistent. now this movie stars one of my favorite actors of the martial arts genre chen kuan tai as the real iron monkey who in real life studied and mastered the shaolin monkeyfist. this movie also has some of actors i like such as leung kar yan aka beardie, wilson tong aka the foot doctor, kam kong (master of the flying guillotine) and of course the great chi kuan chun as his shaolin brother. you can also catch a brief appearance by wong chi sang and on the back cover of the xenon version of the dvd it says alan hsu and jack long and william yen are in it but i couldnt spot'em. they must've been doing stunts and sommersaults. dvd quality i give it a 4 ans sound i give a 5 despite the brief switch to mandarin/cantonese in the middle of the movie. but anyways go pick this one its worth whatever price you pay.

With Chen Kuan Tai as director and lead actor and Ni Kuang writing the script, it would be hard for this movie to go wrong. That is why it is so hard to believe that it did. The Bloody Monkey Master is a proper name though I would have named it the Blood Soaked Iron Monkey. I wish I could just review this but I had so many problems with it and have to bring them all up.

THERE ARE GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF SPOILERS DOWN BELOW BUT I CERTAINLY WON'T GIVE A AWAY THE ENDING.

Chen Kuan Tai is a gambler and his family is full of revolutionaries. His family is captured by the general and are tortured because they won't give up the whereabouts of Kuan Tai. One kid looks like he is going to tell a soldier where he is Kuan Tai's dad chokes him to death so he won't tell. That was OK with me, but then things just get worse the whole movie. His family is killed and Kuan Tai wants revenge. So he goes to Shaolin and hopes to learn there. Chi Kuan Chun is a student there and they end up having a really good fight in the movie. So after learning monkey style the now called Iron Monkey goes undercover in the government and becomes a high ranking official. This is where my major problem comes into play. In order to gain trust by the 3 top guys under the genereal-Kam Kong(Elvis Tsui), Iron Monkey has to kill a bunch of revolutionaries. He goes on to kill like a hundred people!!!!! Finally at the end we get the battles with the top 3 guys and then Kam Kong. That was truly spectacular to watch and the movie would easily get a 4 or even a 5 if they didn't have all of those killings in the movie. Then I hated the ending. If they would have at least given him punishment than I would have been fine with this whole thing.

Overall I haev to say that Chen Kuan Tai's portrayal of the monkey style is right up there with a movie like Mad Monkey Kung Fu and that is near impossible to do. Great kung fu but a tough movie to watch. You have been warned.

The dvd quality is fine. Old print and scratched up but at least we get to see it, right?