Flag of Iron

Rating:
Summary: Venoms In Action
Review: Another Great Shaw Brothers movie. Starring The Venoms. Tons of great technique, awesome fights and just goes to show the Venoms are truly legends in the Martial Arts.

Rating:
Summary: Spotty well-choreographed spear-laden Venom flick
Review: Similar in many respects to Masked Avengers, the weapon of choice here is the spear and its variations, ie short spears, long spears, flag spears, etc. In Masked Avengers, the trident was the featured weapon. Also, as in Masked Avengers, this is a bloodier gorier Venom flick. Also, as in Masked Avengers, the plot is rather convoluted (does it matter?) and Lo Meng and Sun Chien are nowhere to be seen (though they are listed on the box). The fighting, under Chang Cheh's masterful direction and camera work, is mind boggling and nearly every conceivable "spear move" is explored. Hand to hand fighting is sparse. I'm not a big-time spear fan, therefore I was not thrilled enough to give this a 5, but the movie nonetheless is a solid entry into your Venom collection.

Rating:
Summary: Spotty well-choreographed spear-laden Venom flick
Review: Similar in many respects to Masked Avengers, the weapon of choice here is the spear and its variations, ie short spears, long spears, flag spears, etc. In Masked Avengers, the trident was the featured weapon. Also, as in Masked Avengers, this is a bloodier gorier Venom flick. Also, as in Masked Avengers, the plot is rather convoluted (does it matter?) and Lo Meng and Sun Chien are nowhere to be seen (though they are listed on the box). The fighting, under Chang Cheh's masterful direction and camera work, is mind boggling and nearly every conceivable "spear move" is explored. Hand to hand fighting is sparse. I'm not a big-time spear fan, therefore I was not thrilled enough to give this a 5, but the movie nonetheless is a solid entry into your Venom collection.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Venoms Film!
Review: The Iron Flag clan is a group of honest young warriors whose colors are red and black and who use long silver spears with gigantic flags on them as their weapon of choice. Their enemies are the Eagles- a clan of fighters who are involved in shady dealings within the underworld, such as gambling, usury and prostitution. Chao Fong (Lu Feng) is a member of the Iron Flag with designs on overthrowing the chief and becoming leader. In a devilish plot, he conspires with two of the Eagles, Kao Tang (Chu Ker) and Cheng Chang (Yu Tai-Ping) to slaughter both the Iron Flag and Eagle Clan masters so they can control both groups themselves. They hire a hit man called "The Spearman", who uses short silver spears to kill, to do the job. The Spearman (played by Lung Tien Hsia) is a noble man who would never have killed a good master such as the Iron Flag Chief. However, he is tricked into doing so by Chao Fong. By the time The Spearman realizes the Iron Flag chief was a good man, it is already too late. Before the Iron Flag chief dies, he tries to name the goodhearted Lo Sin (Kuo Chui) as his successor, but Chao Fong manipulates the situation and takes over as chief himself. Another brother of the Iron Flag, Yuen Lung (Chiang Sheng) tries to get the Clan to see that their master wanted Lo Sin to take his place, but he is unsuccessful. Lo Sin takes the blame of the murder of the Eagle Clan's chief upon himself, and is forced to flee. He takes up a job as a lowly waiter in a small inn far away. A year passes, and Chao Fong now controls both the Iron Flag and Eagle Clans, and he has expanded the gambling, usury and prostitution a great deal. Brother Yuen Lung protests these dishonorable acts, and he is thrown out of the Clan. He goes to seek out Lo Sin and ask him to help in the matter. Chao Fong decides that he needs to get rid of Lo Sin, since he may one day return to cause trouble for him. He hires a group of mercenaries called the "10 Deadly Killers" to dispatch Lo. They come secretly, and when Lo least expects it- with axes, butcher knives, swords, spears.. and one killer even uses an abacus as a weapon! But with the help of Yuen Lung, Lo Sin manages to avoid the trap.Meanwhile, The Spearman has never forgotten the wrong he has done in killing the chief of the Iron Flag. He seeks out Lo Sin and confesses what he has done. He offers to help Lo Sin seek revenge on Chao Fong, however, Lo Sin is reluctant to take help from the man who killed his master. He warns him that after he settles the score with Chao Fong, he must avenge his master. Together, Lo Sin, Yuen Lung and The Spearman return home to settle the score with Chao Fong.The fighting in this movie is exciting, but to be honest, I usually expect a lot more from the Venoms. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of flying, flipping and whirling, along with no shortage of clanging and spinning weapons, but compared to the artistic glory of movies like "Crippled Avengers" and "Avenging Warrior", this film comes up a bit short. Lung Tien Hsia does a lot of standing around and staring, and little fighting for someone who is supposed to be so menacing. Chiang Sheng barely fights at all, which is a bit of a disappointment, as he is always one of the most exciting to watch. The giant flags make for great choreography, but they don't look like very effective weapons (except in the case where they blind their opponent). However, you can always expect Kuo Chui and Lu Feng to deliver when it comes to fight sequences, and the final battle between these two is the highlight of the entire movie.This is one of the shorter Venoms movies around lasting only approximately an hour. Even so, there's a lot to take in during the film- it's a series of betrayals, conspiracies and slaughters, with plenty of blood and guts to go with a solid, well depicted storyline.

Rating:
Summary: Another Chang Cheh classic
Review: This movie makes fighting with large flags look really good. Probably the only movie to do so. The usual Chang Cheh fighting force is here and in top form. This movie is on the same level as "Kid With The Golden Arm", "Five Deadly Venoms", and "Masked Avengers". If liked those, you'll like this one. The DVD quality is pretty good and the sound equal and audible unlike the "Executioner From Shaolin" DVD. Funniest death scene: an iron flag flying through a bad guy and he still takes a few seconds to die.

Rating:
Summary: Check out the VHS version --- it's LONGER than the DVD!
Review: This version is all right on DVD but some parts are missing. The ten deadly killers after Kuo Chui had just killed the Axe Man with Chiang Sheng was longer because the axe was left behind and Chiang Sheng was wondering who does that belong to? Kuo Chui points down int the well where he placed the body and they continue on about the appearance of the 10 deadly killers along with the saying "The axeman and the spearman, the butcher boy, the fortune teller, the bookkeeper, the young kid, the old man with the three youths," All of that is missing from the dvd version. If you want to check out the VHS version --- go to http://www.kungfuflix.com to get it and check it out. Other than that --- one of the reviewers was right Chiang Sheng didn't do much fighting in this film, only in the beginning and near the end. Hope this helps whoever is a true fan of the Shaw brothers films