I am 34, married to Hazel and we have one son, Matthew and a daughter Erin, they are both absolutely...
I am 34, married to Hazel and we have one son, Matthew and a daughter Erin, they are both absolutely adorable.
I'm a bit of a movie watcher, and am not afraid to call a spade a spade. I like to voice my opinions, but never take my word as...
Member since:14.01.2001
Reviews:18
Members who trust:5
What is Iron Monkey, or Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau (original title). Well in my humble opinion, it is one of the best martial arts films ever made! (But I’ve never heard of it I hear you say) OK it is the best, most understated martial arts movie of all time. It’s hip at the moment to have Yuen Woo Ping as your action director or even fight co-ordinator, but is a “proper” director in his own right, and a damn good one too.
The story is a Robin Hood type story, based in myths and legends of the late Ching dynasty. A distinguished doctor, Dr. Yang is a upright member of the community by day and then the Iron Monkey my night, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. A travelling physician, Wong Kei-Ying is convinced to help capture the “Iron Monkey”, after his son is imprisoned by the corrupt Local Governor. This leads to fantastic and some-what elaborate fight sequences, which all have the inevitable Woo-Ping touch. (As seen in Matrix, Charles Angels and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
The town is run by the above mentioned corrupt governor, who the Iron Monkey takes great pleasure in humiliating at every possible chance. When the Governor is about to be visited by a government auditor , the Iron Monkey gets there first and Cons the Governor. When the real auditor arrives and the auditor finds out what has happened he searches for the Iron Monkey. This is a very sensitive plot part (so I will be particularly vague here).
It was originally made in 1993, but has only become well known (ish), since Woo-Ping has done the action sequences in the major Hollywood Blockbusters.
How did I find out about this little gem? Well I have watched Charlie’s Angels, McG, or should I say Woo-Ping used moves directly from Iron Monkey, and the bit where Drew Barrymore says “King Kong Palm” is taken straight from the script. It was mentioned several tomes in the directors commentary, so I thought got to see it. Glad I did.
Production Year: 1993 - Martial Arts - Director: Lo Wei - Original Language: Cantonese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, James Tien
Production Year: 1971 - Martial Arts - Director: Lo Wei - Original Language: Cantonese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien
Production Year: 1981 - Martial Arts - Director: Kenji Misumi, Robert Houston - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida, Masahiro Tomikawa, Tomisaburo Wakayama
![The Iron Monkey [1977] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78512129.jpg "The Iron Monkey [1977] [DVD]")
very helpful by (86%):
helpful by (14%):
