Tie hou zi

I'm a big fan of Chen Kuan Tai. His elegant style stands apart from other martial arts stars from the same era, and you can tell that people find most of his movies favorable from the high ratings they get.

This is one of my favorite movie of his (Others being The Flying Guillotines, and Executioner From Shaolin), and also one of my favorite kung-fu movie.

He plays a rebel against the Manchus in this movie, but that's almost irrelevant. It's strait forward Chen Kuan Tai with him being at his best. I like this movie more than some of the other kung-fu movies that are considered "classics" such as "The Five Deadly Venoms". None of those characters has the appeal Chen has. In this movie, he's also the director.

One great kung-fu movie that's a classic in its own right.

There's a decided brusqueness in the editing and storytelling that makes for a somewhat choppy viewing experience, with movement between scenes and beats (and even points in time) that's far less than smooth, and therefore less than fully convincing. It's gratifying that there is at least a complete, cohesive, compelling story told, which is more than can be said of some lesser contemporary martial arts flicks. Set this aside, and in 'Iron Monkey' we see facets common to most all such fare: a period setting, brought to bear with gorgeous sets and costume design; pronounced sound effects, exaggerating blows or even just movement; dubbing in the widely available version that's questionable at best; direction that accentuates spectacle where possible - and, of course, excellent stunts and action sequences. There is perhaps less emphasis here on fight scenes than in similar titles, surely making it a tad less appealing when that's what we come here for in the first place, but those that we do get (almost entirely in the last act) are fantastic, and worth the wait.

Despite how the plot is structured, and the editing that shapes it, over a runtime of ninety-five minutes the narrative shows itself to be rather simpler than one might think. It's still a good time, though, for that's all that the picture wants to provide, and that's what we get, however much one may reasonably critique various aspects. The fight choreography really is terrific, however long we wait for it - and in fairness, while the most significant and invigorating action violence waits over an hour to show up, we do get the obligatory training scenes in the meanwhile that are enjoyable in and of themselves. I think the feature would have definitely benefited from a more careful, mindful hand, in most every capacity, not to mention even more of the martial arts that audiences anticipate in the first place, yet it remains well done and worthwhile in its own right, with the climax naturally being the best of all. While 'Iron Monkey' falls short of being a must-see compared to many of its kin, if one has the chance to watch it's nonetheless suitably entertaining despite its weaknesses, and sometimes that's all a movie needs to be.

Fans of Sonny Chiba and Bruce Lee may not find this movie to be their pride and joy, but will probably find it enjoyable nevertheless. Iron Monkey is set in Manchuria, and is made by Eastern Heroes Video Company. This fact alone would turn me off from the movie, because of the extremely conservative fight scenes (no decapitation). There is no gore, unlike the Street Fighter, and there is not that certain charm that Bruce Lee gives to his films. But somehow this film was able to please me through many well done fight sequences and a strong ending.

In my opinion this has to be one of the best movies ever made...considering the year is 1978, and the action holds up to this day as credible.The iron monkey is a tormented character and is played to full potential by the actor. The story is good to...very true to chinese history.And any movie that involves a bitter monk from shaolin is a-plus in my book.10 out of 10! I recommend this highly to anyone remotely interested in true chinese storytelling and action!!!

The movie starts with animal cruelty mixed with two guys sparring. Kam Kong wants all the rebels killed. Chen Kuan-Tai's family is arrested while he is gambling and they are all killed. He is reduced to stealing the offerings at Shaolin. The monks offer him a place. It seems he has already learned most of their kung fu just by watching. He leaves the temple with the strategy "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". He becomes part of the corrupt officials that killed his family in order to get close enough to the general to kill the man at the top. Revenge is certainly the most common plot of martial arts movies and it might be the most common plot of all movies. I find it hard to understand why revenge is such a favorite plot in Chinese culture while at the same time the dominant Chinese philosophy is Buddhism and Buddhism has no place for revenge. "At what price revenge?" typically becomes a moral issue in the revenge plot. I would say never in the history of any martial arts revenge movie did revenge come at a higher price than in this movie. Fans of Chen Kuan-Tai must ask what was his best movie? "The Flying Guillotine" is certainly more well known but I consider this movie his best because he had more to do with it, he both acted and directed "The Iron Monkey" so I rate this as a ten of ten for Chen Kuan-Tai perfection.