Duel of the Iron Fist

Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC KUNG-FU MOVIE
Review: A YOUNG STREETFIGHTER RETURNS HOME TO FIND OUT WHO KILLED HIS GODFATHER. GREAT STORYLINE AND GOOD FIGHT SCENES. IF YOU LIKE OLD SCHOOL MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES, YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS ENJOYING THIS MOVIE. IT EVEN HAS AN ENDING I DIDN'T SEE COMING.

Rating:
Summary: The Deadly Batle
Review: David Chiang is superb in this one. A kung fu expert with a bad cough who must batle the great Lueng at the end of the movie. Lueng who was in John Woo's " A Better Tomorrow". Plays a carefree streetfighter who must do batle with the establishment and of course David Chiang who was brought in to deal with Lueng. The final batle between Chiang and Lueng in the rain at the end is fantastic, very well staged.And the ladies will love the tattoed buterfly on Lueng's chest, a symbol of his love for his lovely lady. I strongly recommend this one. It's a must see.

Rating:
Summary: The Deadly Batle
Review: David Chiang is superb in this one. A kung fu expert with a bad cough who must batle the great Lueng at the end of the movie. Lueng who was in John Woo's " A Better Tomorrow". Plays a carefree streetfighter who must do batle with the establishment and of course David Chiang who was brought in to deal with Lueng. The final batle between Chiang and Lueng in the rain at the end is fantastic, very well staged.And the ladies will love the tattoed buterfly on Lueng's chest, a symbol of his love for his lovely lady. I strongly recommend this one. It's a must see.I also recommend David Chiang's "Seven Blows Of The Dragon".And "The Streets Of Hong Kong".

Rating:
Summary: not bad for an early kung fu flick
Review: Duel of the Iron Fist was made and released before Bruce Lee took the world by storm, so the fight choreography in this movie is not the best, not saying that it is the worst either. Bruce Lee would later provide the formula for martial arts choreography. Duel of the Iron Fist is still worth viewing. The story is great, the acting is great and the fights are entertaining. It stars both David Chiang and Ti Lung, who are 2 of the better actors in Kung-Fu Cinema and it's directed by my favorite martial arts director Chang Cheh. So if you love old school Shaw Brothers than view this flick, if your'e expecting something like Jackie Chan or Jet Li, look elsewhere

Rating:
Summary: Only if you like old-school fu
Review: For those not in the know, this was the second martial arts film shown in America (Yes, even before the late, great Bruce Lee's Golden Harvest classics became available). Being a Shaw Brothers movie directed by the greatest HK director ever, Chang Cheh, this film has its merits, but considering the talent behind it, it's somewhat disappointing in the choreography department. It has a decent story with good performances by Ti Lung & David Chiang, arresting visuals by Chang Cheh, glossy cinematography by Kung Mu-To, but what is up with the sloppy choreography by The Pops~Liu Chia-Liang?! Being an old-school fan who saw this on a rainy Saturday afternoon as a kid, I can be forgiving (to be fair, it does have an action-packed ending including a bamboo pole duel between David & Lung in the rain), but I do NOT recommend this for younger fans raised on Jackie Chan or Jet Li. If you're a fan of Shaw Brothers (like me) and/or Chang Cheh (like me), then you probably already saw this movie and can decide for yourself. If you're not familiar with the aforementioned names, then I suggest you check out some later Chang Cheh films he made with the Venoms. They never disappoint!

Rating:
Summary: Good Story But Dated Action Sequences
Review: This is an example of what kung-fu movies were like at the time Bruce Lee burst onto the Hong-Kong movie scene.

The story is actually very good. It's basically a mafia/gangster flick, with martial-arts. Ti Lung & David Chiang are very convincing in their roles. (Chiang is an undercover agent who mistakenly murders Lung's gangster godfather at the behest of a treacherous & ambitious right-hand man to the godfather. Lung must seek vengeance against Chiang, who actually saves Lung's life later in the film!)

However, I wouldn't recommend this film to today's younger martial-arts movie fans, because admittedly, the fight scenes, by today's standards, are very sloppy. Young fans used to seeing Jet Li & Jackie Chan probably wouldn't be able to sit through this movie. The fights, as a matter of fact, aren't much better than what you would see in a typical episode of the original "Star Trek" tv series from the 1960's! (Sometimes, they're not even as good!)

No wonder Bruce Lee was such a sensation when he came out! With movies that have poorly-done fight scenes like this, in addition to Wang Yu's "Chinese Boxer", Lo Lieh's "Five Fingers of Death", & the other Ti Lung/David Chiang/Chen Kuan Tai features made before 1974, Bruce Lee, with his flashy high-kicks that he utilized in "Way of The Dragon" & "The Chinese Connection", was obviously head & shoulders above the rest of his contemporaries.

If you're a Shaw Brothers "Old-School" kung-fu movie fan like me, then get this movie. It's still fun to watch.

If you're too young to remember these old flicks, however, you probably would be better off getting a more recent Donnie Yen or Lau Kar Wing flick.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story But Dated Action Sequences
Review: This is an example of what kung-fu movies were like at the time Bruce Lee burst onto the Hong-Kong movie scene.

The story is actually very good. It's basically a mafia/gangster flick, with martial-arts. Ti Lung & David Chiang are very convincing in their roles. (Chiang is an undercover agent who mistakenly murders Lung's gangster godfather at the behest of a treacherous & ambitious right-hand man to the godfather. Lung must seek vengeance against Chiang, who actually saves Lung's life later in the film!)

However, I wouldn't recommend this film to today's younger martial-arts movie fans, because admittedly, the fight scenes, by today's standards, are very sloppy. Young fans used to seeing Jet Li & Jackie Chan probably wouldn't be able to sit through this movie. The fights, as a matter of fact, aren't much better than what you would see in a typical episode of the original "Star Trek" tv series from the 1960's! (Sometimes, they're not even as good!)

No wonder Bruce Lee was such a sensation when he came out! With movies that have poorly-done fight scenes like this, in addition to Wang Yu's "Chinese Boxer", Lo Lieh's "Five Fingers of Death", & the other Ti Lung/David Chiang/Chen Kuan Tai features made before 1974, Bruce Lee, with his flashy high-kicks that he utilized in "Way of The Dragon" & "The Chinese Connection", was obviously head & shoulders above the rest of his contemporaries.

If you're a Shaw Brothers "Old-School" kung-fu movie fan like me, then get this movie. It's still fun to watch.

If you're too young to remember these old flicks, however, you probably would be better off getting a more recent Donnie Yen or Lau Kar Wing flick.