Ironheart

This film is notable as being the final movie of Director Robert Clouse. Clouse had previously directed Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee, and a slew of other low budget martial arts films in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Only a few of these, such as China O' Brien, and The Big Brawl were really that good, so I was keen to see if this would be hos swansong.

Unfortunately, it isn't. It's a poorly cobbled together junkfest with little redeeming features.

The main problem is that this film was supposedly a kickstart vehicle for lead star Britton K. Lee, but the issue is that Lee was also the producer, so he basically made the film for himself.

Now there's nothing wrong with that in itself, but the problem is that Lee is neither a good actor, nor is he charismatic in any way. In previous films, Robert Clouse had Bruce Lee and Cynthia Rothrock in front of the camera - two very strong personalises who came across well on screen. Britton K. Lee has none of thee qualities, and come across as an out of place protagonist, and more like a sidekick who got his own film.

All of this could be forgiven if the martial arts action was good, but it's not. In fact - it's dire. Loads of tight shots with too much slow motion, and some clumsy choreography make this look like a TV episode.

With films like China O' Brien, fight choreographer Nijel Binns created some really cool action scenes with wide angle shots so that you could see the full glory of the fights and the actors skills, but here it just feels awkward and messy.

The film's one saving grace is that it features the legendary talents of Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton (both veterans of Hong Kong cinema,) and it's great to see them again.

They unfortunately can't save what is a dull and meandering movie with bad fight scenes and a boring plot.

Bob Clouse will always have Enter The Dragon, and no one can take that away from him, but his final word in film is not worth bothering with unless you are a super fan of Bolo Yeung.

The hero John Keem is going after some drug dealers who kidnaps girls for some reason. On his journey he uses karate and kung fu moves and I don't believe he got hit a single time during the movie. This is Crap.

(1992) Ironheart ACTION

Misleading poster cover in which Bolo Yeung is not the star of this straight to rental movie, but it really stars Korean martial artist Britton K. Lee, as officer John Keem moving to LA to investigate the death of his partner. Who eventually uncover a human trafficking ring lead by Australian martial artist, Richard Norton as Milverstead.

Directed by Robert Clouse who was infamous for "Enter The Dragon" and a much cheerful movie called "The Big Brawl" starring a rather young Jackie Chan. This movie is a stinker with a much lower budget he had to handle, but at least Clouse had Enter the Dragon and The Big Brawl in his resume.

Robert Clouse, Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton in the credits of working in the movie, what can go wrong? Well, the movie is in a desperate need for a better script and star. Do not get me wrong, Britton got the martial arts skills and believability to be a hero but the script and his acting are severely lacking to give the movie narrative thrust. The only characterization he has got is that he knows martial arts and that he is a cop which leaves us - the audience - with nothing much to root for. Even worse are the villains who are apparently just evil because the movie demands it.

Bolo Yeung and Richard Norton being in the movie should make it quite entertaining because both actors have been in bad movies where they outshine the stars of the bad movies. But they are barely utilized and we are instead stuck with a lot of other unknown actors who are equally as thinly characterized as our main character. Which is frustrating because the movie had potential to be good but it is severely handicapped with a badly written script and flat acting with equally flat characters. Not to mention the movie lacks any sort of tension or ambiance where the music just feels out of place. The plot is also just there where it feels like the writer and director just kind of forgot about it.

The only few good things about the movie is the cinematography, choreography and directing. It is not the worst I have seen but it is certainly a wasted potential.

While I agree that this was the most horrendous movie ever made, I am proud to say I own a copy simply because myself and a bunch of my friends were extras (mostly in the dance club scenes, but a few others as well. This movie had potential with Bolo and the director of Enter the Dragon signed on, but as someone who was on set most every day I can tell you that Robert Clouse was an old and confused individual, at least during the making of this movie. It was a wonder he could find his way to the set everyday. I would also like to think that this might have been a better movie if a lot of it had not been destroyed in a fire at Morning Calm studios. I can't say that it would have been for sure, but it would be nice to think so. I was actually surprised that it was ever released, and that someone like Bolo would attach his name to it without a fight. Oh well. Also look at the extras for pro wrestler Scott Levy, AKA Raven. He was a wrestler in Portland at the time...nice guy, very smart.