Iron Monkey (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: Rongguang Yu, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang, Sze-Man Tsang, Shun-Yee Yuen, James Wong, Shi-Kwan Yen, Fai Li, Hou Hsiao, Cheung Fung-Lei, Kwai Po Chin, Siu Wah Chan, Arthur Wong, Woo-ping Yuen, Hark Tsui, Quentin Tarantino, Cheung Tan, Pik-yin Tang, Tai-Muk Lau: DVD

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Since the late 1800s, the real-life Cantonese patriot Wong Fei-hung has evolved into an icon of Chinese pop culture, a sort of Asian Davy Crockett. He's been a central figure in Hong Kong cinema since the 1950s, most recently in Tsui Hark 's Once Upon a Time in China series. In this thrilling 1993 adventure directed by Yuen Woo-ping, we meet Wong as an earnest boy traveling with his upright pugilist father (Donnie Yen) and drawing inspiration from the activities of the benevolent masked bandit known as the Iron Monkey (Yu Rong-guang). The sheer physical prowess of the stars is often flabbergasting, and the action set pieces (especially an interlude atop a set of "Chinese poles") are staged for maximum dynamism. In effect, this is a powerful combination of the older, Baltic style of kung fu action and the newer body-slamming style pioneered by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. This is a perfect martial arts picture to screen for any genre skeptics in your midst. --David Chute

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Customer Reviews

101 Reviews

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (101 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Martial Arts movie of the 90s, Jun 5 2004

By

Taddese Zicke (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Iron Monkey (Widescreen) (DVD)

This movie just fell from the sky or something. Considering that it was produced in 1993, it is of amazing quality. The storyline is excellent and inspiring, and the cast is astonishing. Yu Rong Guang is not very known in the west, but he is indeed a true martial artist. In fact, he has Peking Opera training. Additionally, this is Donnie Yen's best performance to date. His character was so convincing that you really believed him to be Wong Key Ying.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A great Wuxia, it's great to see Tarantino import these, Feb 11 2007

By

Maurice G. Tousignant "Gilvan Blight" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Iron Monkey (Widescreen) (DVD)

Quickly: great Wuxia film. It's great to see Tarantino bringing these classics over.

Summary: The story of the Iron Monkey, a Robin Hood/Zorro like character from Chinese Mythology. Also the story of a Chinese hero's childhood (can't remember his name sorry). A corrupt official runs a town into ruin, the Iron Monkey foils him at every turn, monks and assasins are hired to kill the Monkey. Tons of high flying martial arts, a fair bit of comedy and even a bit of romance.

The Good: the fighting coreography in this was amazing. It's some of the best I have ever seen. Hands above Crouching Tiger. The comdy was hillarious. There hasn't been a movie I watched recently that made me laugh as much. A perfect movie for people considering playing Feng Shui in the 1840s. The story was pretty compelling as well.

The Bad: Some of the high flying wuxia moves could have been done better. You couldn't see any strings but it looked way too much like a fight on cables then some rather unreal 'Fu.

The Ugly: the DVD special features were severly lacking. If any movie needed a Making Of this was it. All you get is an interview with Tarantino talking about his love of Fu and how happy he is to bring it to NA markets. There was one flashback that had a blue filter on it that was rather annoying.

Overall: one of the best Wuxia films I have seen. A perfect example of Honk Kong Kung Fu done right. Will have some extra impact for people familiary with the legends.

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4.0 out of 5 stars fun to watch, April 25 2004

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Cheryl A. (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Monkey (Widescreen) (DVD)

The opening scene and setting of Iron Monkey is very similiar to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Where CTHD is more of an epic drama, IM is more of a comedy, but the martial arts choreography is just as spectacular. Their naming of certain moves is amusing. Enjoyable plot. As to suspending belief, I give you this quote from Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars not cool
This is not a cool film. Watch a real kung fu movie; watch a Bruce Lee flick.

Published on Jun 8 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Swirls on the wind
Amazing choreography. Amazing story. God I love martial arts movies like this. If you liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and want another one with a similar spirit, this is a... Read more

Published on April 17 2004 by ****Empyrean777