I have now updated my "how to rate reviews" opinion
I have now updated my "how to rate reviews" opinion
Member since:10.03.2004
Reviews:45
Members who trust:5
On the rare occasion that I get home at the crack of dawn, I find myself living the cliche 'too tired to go to bed'. With your mind refusing work or sleep, and somehow keeping you in a limbo of half wakefulness, there are only a couple of things you can do in my humble abode. First one is flipping to pirated playboy and watching Julie Ashton in one of her weird home made porn flicks. The other and definitely more preferred thing to do is to have a cheesy kung-fu flick sitting someplace so you can watch it to sleep. Iron Monkey was such a movie, and much to my surprise and agony, it kept me awake so I could find out what happens at the end.
Set 100-200 years ago in China, the Iron Monkey is the Honk Kong version of Robin Hood, and unlike all other Robins, this guy does not speak with an English accent. He speaks Chinese. He is a Chinese d00d dressed up like a Japanese Ninja who stalks a very poor town at night, stealing from the rich and feeding the hungry. The fight scenes are highly unrealistic and humorous, yet they are much too much fun to watch. Indeed, fighters fly like kites to get to their destinations, and people can send their shirt sleeves 50 feet forward to strike their opponent (like Scorpio in Mortal Combat). But you really need to distance yourself from the believable to seriously enjoy a Kung-Fu flick true to its roots.
The Iron Monkey is a Doctor by day, with a lovely assistant that he so honorably never touches (which in my opinion is dishonorable but anyway). What is really kewl about this flick is the involvement of Fei Hong (Oi can't speel), who is some sort of a Chinese Kung-Fu hero. Fei comes to the scene with his son, and gets into a battle with the Iron Monkey. The Monkey is seen as a superhuman with no real opponents until Fei comes into the scene, but you know that Fei is really the good guy. Somehow the plot twists and you begin thinking Fei is going to kill the monkey, but the two eventually turn up as allies.
With two kick you in the butt kung-fu d00ds fighting side by side, who is going to oppose them? Well who else other than a Shaolin Monk who has strayed from the righteous path. We see the 5 finger red-stain that Buddha Palm inflicts on the human skin, a myth that is even taken into our RPG games where monks get involved. The Shaolin characters are too funny, and their entrance to a fighting scene is always followed by this screaming video game music that makes them sound kewler than they really are. The final battle scene involves a huge fire and people fighting on top of high bamboo poles. Now what could be a better way to spend a morning?
I have to say that ,this is a movie that is over before you know it but even though it seems short its still very good. Not everyone will like this film, i would say that if you are into martial arts films, or if you are an action movie fan, then you should see this film, either by buying it or renting it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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: 1993 - Martial Arts - Director: Lo Wei - Original Language: Cantonese - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, James Tien
think i'll stick to the travel channel instead.... good op
jillmurphy 16.03.2004 20:33
Oh goodness me. Not for me! My husband works nights and often has that too tired to sleep thing. He seems to solve in a much more boring way though: Sky Sports News!
![The Iron Monkey [1977] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78512129.jpg "The Iron Monkey [1977] [DVD]")
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