The Iron-Fisted Monk: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1977
Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Writers: Huang Feng, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Yu Ting
Cast: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Sing Chen, James Tien, Hark-On Fung, Dean Shek, Shi-Kwan Yen, Casanova Wong

Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Approximate running time: 93 Minutes 8 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese, DTS-HD 5.1 Cantonese, DTS-HD Mono Mandarin, DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.95

"Rice Miller Luk (Hung) is just a simple man trying to live a quiet life, until one day the Manchu Bannermen bully their way through town, killing his uncle in the process. When a nearby Shaolin monk, San De (Chan Sing, The Shaolin Plot), easily defeats them and sees the fallen Luk, he offers him a chance to learn martial arts at the Shaolin Temple. However, Luk's impatience with his training sees him return to his town to witness an even more ruthless organization of Manchus, led by a depraved official (Fung Hak-An, Warriors Two) who has a nasty and violent habit of taking whatever (and whoever) he wants. Will Luk's incomplete Shaolin teachings, combined with the skill set of San De, be enough to put an end to the Manchu stronghold plaguing their people?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information given about the transfer, "The film was restored in 2K resolution from original film elements by Fortune Star, who supplied this master to Arrow Video for this Blu-ray release. Additional color correction was undertaken on behalf of Arrow Films by Brandon Bentley. Further materials were kindly supplied for this release by Eureka Entertainment, originally produced for their UK edition."

The Iron-Fisted Monk comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 31.8 GB

Feature: 29 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Colors and flesh tones look correct, contrast and black levels look strong throughout, details look crisp, and there are no issues with compression. That said, this transfer is comparable to the transfer Eureka Video used for their 2019 Blu-ray release.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Mandarin, DTS-HD Mono Cantonese), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD 5.1 Cantonese) 

This release comes with five audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Cantonese, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Cantonese, a DTS-HD mono mix in Mandarin, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English. All five audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, the Cantonese and Mandarin mono tracks sound more robust than the other audio tracks. With a slight edge going to the Mandarin track. The two DTS-HD 5.1 tracks do a good job expanding their original mono sources. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese language track, a second removable English subtitle track for the Mandarin language track, removable English SDH for the English language track, and an English subtitle track for Cantonese text when watching the English language tracks. None of the subtitles can be removed while watching the movie; they can only be changed or turned off via the main menu. Also, the only way to change a language track is via the main menu.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (39 images - stills/lobby cards/posters/other promotional materials), a theatrical trailer (4 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Cantonese with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Casanova Wong (17 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Korean with removable English subtitles), archival #1 with actor Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (9 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), archival #2 with actor Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (6 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng, reversible cover art, a double-sided fold-out poster (limited to first pressing), a slipcover (limited to first pressing), and a 24-page booklet (limited to first pressing) with cast & crew information, an essay titled From Feng to Hung: The Cantonese Crossroads of The Iron-Fisted Monk written by Brandon Bentley, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Though Sammo Kam-Bo Hung had established himself by the late 1970s as a stuntman and action choreographer, most of his roles at this point in his career were as supporting characters. With The Iron-Fisted Monk, he was able to prove himself as a director and a leading man.

Content-wise, though, The Iron-Fisted Monk bears many similarities to the style of films made by The Shaw Brothers. And yet the result is a film that, in many ways, can be seen as a precursor to the martial arts comedies that dominated 1980’s Hong Kong cinema.

That said, though comedy plays a large role in The Iron-Fisted Monk, throughout the film there are some noticeably darker moments that you rarely see in Hong Kong martial arts comedies. Most notably, the scene where a Manchurian official rapes a woman This in-your-face scene is in direct contrast to the humor that dominates most of the film. It should be noted that for this release from Eureka Entertainment, there’s a brief moment where the image censors the raped woman’s pubic hair. Previous releases of The Iron-Fisted Monk did not censor this moment.

Front and center in The Iron-Fisted Monk is Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, who delivers another charismatic performance that steals every scene he’s in. Even at this stage of his career, his fighting skills were impeccable, and his comedic timing was flawless. Other notable performances include James Tien (The Bedeviled) in the role of Husker’s master and Hark-On Fung’s (Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow) menacing portrayal of the Manchurian official who rapes women.

Though there’s predictability to most martial arts films from this era because they tend to be overly formulaic, fortunately, this is not an issue with the Iron-Fisted Monk. The revenge-themed premise is well executed, and the action set pieces are second to none. Ultimately, The Iron-Fisted Monk is a finely tuned film that fans of martial arts cinema should thoroughly enjoy.

The Iron-Fisted Monk gets an excellent release from Arrow Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer