 |
| Images courtesy of Arrow Video |
One years before embarking on a more polished version of his
caricature of fay guy stereotype buddy comedy martial arts action with Warriors
Two, Hong Kong stuntman and choreographer Sammo Hung and Golden Harvest
head Raymond Chow put their heads together for what is known as the directorial
debut of Hung: the still-abrasive kick-punch extravaganza The Iron Fisted
Monk. Co-written by his former director
Huang Feng who guided the action star with Hapkido and The Shaolin
Plot, this first-time effort for hung is a tad rough around the edges in
certain scenes, including not one but two rape scenes as well as child bullying
but ultimately serves as a harbinger of things to come with what would or would
not be the unfolding career of a Hong Kong action-comedy superstar. While not every fan of the Wing Chun
hand-to-hand combat fighters will like this one as much for its mentioned
transgressions, completists of all things Sammo Hung will nevertheless want to
add Arrow Video’s deluxe new limited edition of the uncensored version to their
shelves.
Rice Miller Luk (Sammo Hung) is an average man living in medieval
China when his elder uncle is murdered by the Manchu Bannerman who violently
bully their way through town. Luk is
next on their list but is saved from a roughing up by nearby Shaolin monk San
De (Chen Sing) who makes easy work of the bullying Manchus and takes Luk under
his wing as a Shaolin Temple martial arts trainee. Time goes by and Luk masters the art of
hand-to-hand combat but grows impatient with training and makes a pit stop back
to the town he once knew, now overrun with brutal and depraved Manchus led by a
ruthless official (Fung Hak-An of Warriors Two) with a cruel mean streak
including but not limited to an infamous sexual assault which retroactively
earned the film the dreaded Category III (China’s NC-17) upon rerelease years
later. Despite only having half of the
training needed at his disposal, Luk takes on the Manchus. Soon The Iron Fisted Monk himself San
De joins his side against the Manchus, but will it be enough?
While showcasing the early screen antics and talents of
leading action star Sammo Hung in what would evolve into his own unique brand
of the martial arts entertainment thriller with tons of wild choreography
including but not limited to paving the way for Gordon Liu’s The 36th
Chamber of Shaolin, this Golden Harvest/Sammo Hung effort still has sharp jagged
scales its director would shed away as he further refined his action-comedy formula. With the aforementioned scene falling under
censorship in the UK and US before its country of origin branded it with the
adults only rating, this Sammo Hung effort is recommended for more steely
viewers and not for the faint hearted.
Still, despite the more disturbing moments which may not have been completely
necessary for this endeavor, there’s still a lot fans of the Sammo Hung brand
of action comedy will have loads of fun with.
From Hapkido and Police Story 2 cinematographer
Yu-Tang Li’s widescreen photography which ranges from the trademark fast zooms
of Golden Harvest actioners and whip pans during fight scenes to Chungking
Express composer Frankie Chan’s action-oriented score, the look and feel of
The Iron Fisted Monk is handsomely constructed though when it goes into
kick-punch mode we find the music calms down while the camerawork and editing
by Peter Cheung becomes more frenetic. Still,
the filmmaking is almost secondary to the rapid-fire action choreography
carried out by Sammo Hung and Chan Sing onscreen as a kind of action-fighter
tag team.
Sammo Hung completists will be delighted with Arrow Video’s
new limited edition licensed from Fortune Star who continue to restore and
reissue both Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest’s back catalogue but buyers
beware this one is a bit of a tougher pill to swallow compared to some of the
other ones the action actor-director would do later. One which will leave some cuts and bruises
other Hung offerings likely will not, The Iron Fisted Monk despite these
moments will nevertheless provide an entertaining riff on the story of San De
and Miller Luk while opening the doors to what would evolve into a prolific
action film directing career. Arrow Video’s
blu-ray 2K restored from original film elements and rife with extras will make
a splendid addition to any martial arts aficionado’s film library, just know
your audience before throwing it on.
--Andrew Kotwicki
