Jue dou Lao Hu Zhuang

Very good action movie, good for a laugh. When you first start watching It you think "come on!" but after a while you start to enjoy it a little more. A good rental or a party movie. Some of the combat is very well done. I give it a 10.

First off let me say that the original "Iron Monkey" (aka Iron Ape) was released in 1955. Also The Sequel (Iron Ape part 2) and The Concluding Episode (Iron Ape part 3)(Finale) were made in 1955.

"The Iron Monkey" was released in 1977. This movie is called "Duel at the Tiger Village"... I don't know why it's promoted as aka "Iron Monkey Strikes Back" or "Iron Monkey II". I guess it's to lure in sales (most people should realize this by now). It has nothing to do with Iron Monkey and never did.

For those of you that bought Iron Monkey II, oh well sorry for you. And for those that compare it to Iron Monkey (1993) are comparing apples to oranges. You might as well watch "Iron Monkey 2" (1996) and compare it to this one. These are 20 years apart....

For those of you who like the '70's fu flicks and enjoyed watching Black Belt Theatre, then you'll like this movie. It has a good story and plot, good action, so find a good print that isn't chopped and butchered and enjoy.

For those who aren't intelligent enough or too young to understand or enjoy 70's kung fu flicks, then move on and stick with your 90's movies.

I give this a 6.5

This film is a pseudo sequel to the original Iron Monkey (1977) which is in its own right a kung fu classic. This film isn't nearly as captivating or cohesive as the original & it's filled with more plot holes & cliches than you could possibly imagine. If you're a fan of old school kung fu flicks & you're willing to turn your brain off for an hour and 40 minutes then this should be somewhat enjoyable for you. On a positive note, there are countless fight scenes, interesting sets, props & cliche characters galore. Although this film doesn't live up to the original or to its own potential, it can still be somewhat enjoyable for fans of the genre.

Many times the sequel film to the original is a weak "wannabe" of the first and this film keeps that theory correct. Cool Head is a detective that is committed to his job. The first 30 minutes involves a killing that Head tries to solve. The apparent killer is captured by Head but then the detective has doubts. Then starts the confusion in this film. There are 3 women that start to follow Head around the country. Killers also track Head and try to kill him. The women help Head. Fight scenes show nothing extraordinary. The final fight is somewhat interesting but the ending is confusing as to what happens to the detective. If you have nothing else and you feel like watching a confusing martial arts film then watch this.

People talk today as if Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi were the first women to kick ass in the Hong Kong martial arts movies. In fact, "feminism" has been a staple of the genre since the 1950's.

Iron Monkey Strikes Back has Chen Kwan Tai, a 70's Shaw Brothers superstar, forming an uneasy alliance with the sweet-but-deadly Judy Lee. The plot allows the two to face off against each other as enemies (with the two matching each other blow-for-blow in an awesome fight sequence), then later combine forces against the evil conspirators and their henchmen.

While the kung-fu is not as fast-and-furious as the modern product, it is very engaging, but what really sets this apart is the great bi-play between the two stars, as they constantly try to out-do each other, pull pranks, then grow to a grudging respect for each other, before finally the inevitable happens.