THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS
www.ironfists.com

You know I love my Kung Fu movies, so when when I saw the trailer to RZA's "The Man With the Iron Fists" movie, I had mixed feelings about it. I knew RZA was a Shaw Brothers fan (having created the Wu-Tang Clan and naming all the rappers after characters from Kung Fu movies), but after finally watching his movie that I really respect the man for his love of the Kung Fu movie genre.

Is "The Man With the Iron Fists" a great movie? Well… it's not the best Kung Fu movie, but for what it is: I was entertained. I can see where RZA was inspired by old Shaw Brothers movies (in particular those Venoms movies, including "Crippled Avengers"). I wish RZA just stay true to the source period - which meant no rap music in the soundtrack (this was also another problem I had with Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" usage of hip hop and rap music in a western!) and no Americans (so sorry, but RZA's character shouldn't have existed in this world - along with Jack Knife).

I guess my advice to you is that you shouldn't spend any time analyzing the plot or wondered how a man can use his iron hands (surely you didn't ask those questions in those incredible Chang Cheh movies), then you'll have a really good time. It's a popcorn movie; just expect a lot of martial arts action.

Look, I'm just happy that more people are interested in Kung Fu movies, I am hoping to see more Shaw Brothers movies on Blu-Ray, as of this writing only 10 titles are available (and I own 7 of them!)

You can buy "The Man With the Iron Fists" on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 12th.

If you can't wait for the DVD, might I suggest checking out the soundtrack. You can stream the songs on Bandcamp, and if you're a massive fan - there is the deluxe edition with includes five CDs, vinyl and posters, etc.

I feel I should explain the 'monk' thing below. Legend has it that it was the Shaolin Monks who developed Kung Fu to defend themselves.