Iron Fist

I still can't believe this an Australian film. From looking at the box and the surroundings it looked like another low-budget american actioner, until I checked the credits where I was informed that this was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. Considering the above, I'd say this movie is watchable and certainly entertaining. The plot flows along smoothly from one situation to the next. All the while we watch as the night unfolds through the main character, Frank Torrance, played excellently by Richard Norton. The other side of this movie are the martial arts action sequences, which are excellentely choreographed and filmed in all their brutal bloody glory. There are no fancy jumps or flips in this movie, just plain, raw, martial arts combat. Very entertaining and sometimes funny. 9/10

In comparison to many other stars of low-budget martial arts movies - say, Steven Seagal, Don "The Dragon" Wilson or Dolph Lundgren - Richard Norton has at least one quality that puts him ahead: his sense of humor. And this quality comes through clearly in "Under The Gun": there are a few humorous bits that made me laugh out loud. Besides, the whole movie at times begins to resemble a surreal black comedy. Norton's character simply wants to get through a few hours peacefully before he can escape to a better life, but almost everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and he becomes the target of corrupt cops, impatient mobsters, big goons, suspicious accountants, humiliated pimps, etc. Even the airplane ticket lady on the phone is rude to him! The entire movie takes place during these few hours, which is a quite unusual concept for this kind of movie. The fight scenes (choreographed by Norton himself) are above-average, both violent and technical. Norton is supported by Kathy Long, the kind of woman who will melt your heart with her cute smile one moment, then on the next she'll take on three guys in a fight and come (convincingly) on top. In other words, she's great. But her role is briefer than it should have been, and that was my only serious disappointment with this film. **1/2 out of 4.

Richard Norton is entertaining in anything, and in this he's funny as well. The scene where he bites a telephone in frustration (ad-libbed!) had my husband and me nearly rolling on the floor. Of course, it's a very serious movie, with some very tense and some tragic moments in addition to the many funny ones, but it has a happy ending.

I rented this movie mostly for Richard Norton, and several other of the better-known Australian martial artists with whom I am familiar appear alongside him in the movie.

It's shockingly acted - let's face it, Richard Norton may be a good martial artist, but a great actor he is not. The plot was secondary to the fight scenes, as it really should be in a movie that's really just a vehicle for some spectacular action sequences.

Kathy Long redeems what would otherwise just be another film packed with guys beating the crap out of each other for 90 minutes.

The fight scene with Norton vs Sam Greco is worth a look, but this film will probably only appeal to die hard MA fans and even then, will really only appeal to Australians for novelty value.

I must admit, though I saw a small number of Norton's films, but I heard that most of them are the same, but this one... well It's something different. First of all, Norton is a great martial artist, but here he does some good acting as well. The story is very interesting. Norton is a former football player that holds a nightclub (and, of course he happens to know martial arts), the key story of the plot that Norton's character Frank Torrence must endure through one night against the mobsters, the police, a few hit mans, street thugs and the most dangerous thing on the end - his wife. The fights and the action is quite solid, acting is funny, though OK, and everything is shown through a fine comedy and fun. It's a mixture of action and comedy. Watch it.