[KFCC] Iron Monkey Review

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Iron monkey

		Country :	Hong Kong
		Year:	1993
		Genre:	Kung Fu
		Format:	DVD
		Running Time:	1H26
		Distributor:	MegaStar Video / Fortune Star/IVL
		Date reviewed:	03/25/2000

		Producer:	Tsui Hark
		Director:	Yuen Woo Ping
		Cast: Cheung Fung-Nei, Lee Fai, Leung Ka-Yan, Siu Hou, Tsang Sze-Man, Wong Jean Ching-Ying, Wong James Jim, Yam Yee-Kwan, Yen Donnie Ji-Dan, Yu Rong-Guang, Yuen, Sun-Yi

Story: In a small village of China the local governor is corrupt and exploits the population. In response to the cruel governor there is a bandit called the Iron Monkey who goes around stealing from the rich and the corrupt so that he may give to the poor. The governor receives word that an official from the emperor is coming for a visit, to avoid loosing face he orders his soldiers to capture the Iron Monkey at all costs. The soldiers round up anyone suspicious or anyone who knows Kung Fu, one of those who is arrested is Master Wong Kay-Ying and his son Wong Fei-Hung. During the trial the Iron Monkey makes an appearance and Wong Kay-Ying decides to fight him. After a powerful display of Kung Fu the governor orders Wong Kay-Ying to hunt down this Iron Monkey, to insure the job is done right Wong Fei-Hung is taken prisoner. Wong Kay-Ying has seven days to find the Iron Monkey or he will never see his son again.

Review: This is a classic Kung Fu film that can be considered as a prequel to Once Upon a Time in China as you have the character of Wong Fei Hung. The movie also resembles to OUATIC because it is in a similar time period. The story is based on the concept of Robin Hood (steal from the rich and give to the poor) but it is in a historical Kung Fu context. The general story is easy to follow, you don't have to concentrate on what is going on and why, but it is a good and enjoyable story.

Most of you already know the character of Wong Fei-Hung. In this movie, it's one of the rare times you get to see him young. After seeing him fight like this at early age, you know why he becomes so deadly at an older age. The role of Wong Fei-Hung was played by a girl, her martial arts expertise was incredible for such a young age. All the other main characters were interesting, there wasn't much of a background to the characters but they were all well played. They were the typical types of characters for a Kung Fu film, nothing innovative but nothing bad either. Even if its similar to other movies we like it, maybe that's why we enjoy these kind of movies we usually know what to expect.

Action is the buzz word for this film, get ready for some of the best kung fu. The Kung Fu used in the movie is of the fantasy style but semi believable as there is no magic or special effects, only the most incredible moves you've ever seen. The action in continuous during the film, you have a few minutes of dialog followed by a long fight scene. There wont be a moment that you'll be sleeping as there is plenty of action to keep you awake. All the fights in the movie make sense and follow the course of the story and every fight is high quality with use of excellent wire effects.

The subtitles were perfect in this film. This is a good classic Kung Fu film, anyone who enjoys traditional Chinese stories or has enjoyed Once Upon a Time in China will enjoy this film, especially the fantasy kung fu fans. One thing we'd like to mention, if you don't know like kung fu fighting all that much you might be bored because most of the film is fighting but if you don't like kung fu movies you probably did not bother to read the review till here.

DVD Fortune Star/IVL [ NTSC, Region 3 ] :

Coming as part of the ‘Donnie Yen & Yuen Woo Ping action collection’ this DVD is presented in a slipcase, along with ‘In The Line Of Duty 4’. Iron Monkey is yet another classic title that’s been lucky enough to receive a long overdue update and comes out as part of the line of Re-mastered fortune star releases.

In terms of video and audio you’re in for quite the treat with this release, with presentation in anamorphic widescreen 1:85:1. As is the standard with virtually their entire re-masters collection fortune star haven’t slacked in this department, with the transfer pretty much as crisp and clean as you can wish for. Colours remain sharp and the lighting is represented well, particularly important as many darker sets are used throughout the movie.

As is the standard with so many releases from fortune star, the full wealth of soundtrack options are available. The most important been the original 2.0 Cantonese track, along with 5.1 and DTS versions of this soundtrack, while the standard 5.1 mandarin dub is on offer too. Once again the original 2.0 soundtrack is the sharpest, but equally the 5.1 and DTS tracks impress too, it’s down to personal preference and in any case, all needs will be satisfied. Along with video and sound, the subtitles have also received the makeover treatment, with error free grammar and general ease of reading, care has obviously been taken with these and shows in the final product.

Unfortunately the DVD falls short in the extra’s department, with a text biography of Yuen Woo Ping all that’s offered, along with the standard still photos gallery, combined with the original and remade trailers for Iron Monkey. In general for most this will be a satisfactory release, and for the price you can pick this up for as part of the boxed set, it’s a very affordable and attractive way to watch the movie. However if you’re hungry for extras the Hong Kong Legends two DVD edition of this movie may suit your needs more.

DVD Reviewed by Gareth Prior

DVD Mega Star[ NTSC, All Region ] :

The image quality is decent but there might be some graininess during some transitions. There is also a Dolby surround 5.1 and there is a dubbed english track that is bad as other dubbing made for Chinese films. You have a synopsis of the story, a cast and credit, the trailer of the movie and a special compilation trailer of other Media Asian DVD titles.

Reviewed by Peter Zsurka

Story Cast Entertainment Subtitles Overall

3 3.5 5 5 5