3.5/4  The best Kung-foo comedy
A movie that I feel inspired the action in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The action scenes were phenomenal and beautiful to watch. I have never seen a another movie that had quite the combination of great action and comedy. The comedy was... (read full)

2.5/4  Iron Monkey Quick Review
Lots of flying around, and some good martial arts. It is an obvious pre curser to CTHD. None the less, it fells less like a great movie, and more like a not so great of one. A worthy watch though for martial arts fans and action geeks.

4/5 Yuen Wo Ping and the choreographed beauty of IRON MONKEY
  by allangiven.com
Yuen Wo Ping has become synonymous with breathtaking fight choreography, and his distinctive style has been highlighted in films such as THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. IRON MONKEY tells the tale of a small village in China that suffers under corrupt rule from the local governor who hordes grain for himself in the reserves while his people starve. A mysterious figure, dressed all in black and known only as the "Iron Monkey" (Yu Rong Guang), soon rises up and begins his Robin Hood-esque crusade to steal from the rich in order to feed the poverty stricken villagers. When the legendary enforcer Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) and his young son Wong Fei-Hung (Sze-Man Tsang) arrive in the village, the Iron Monkey finds that he has a very worthy adversary. As Wong Kei-Ying quickly discovers though, outward appearances can be very deceiving, and he soon must make personal choices as he begins fighting against the oppression in the village in order to save his own son.

Yeun Wo Ping serves as not only the fight choreographer on the film, but also as the director as well, and stylistically, IRON MONKEY rivals any of Yuen Wo Ping's more widely known movies. Drawing upon the tradition of Hong Kong martial arts cinema to utilize wire work to allow kung fu scenes to take on an other worldly and supernatural feel, Yuen Wo Ping has since elevated that which had become gimmicky and expected in these films to that of a grace and beauty in artistic movement. Yes, the fight scenes later used in 2000's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, are completely in the same style as those in IRON MONKEY, but with Yuen Wo Ping, they do not become just rehashed versions of similar themes, but rather have taken on their own distinctive artistic identity, just as one expects to see outrageous stunts in a Jackie Chan film or incredibly fast paced fights in one of Jet Li's movies. With Yuen Wo Ping's style, there is a calmness and grace in the choreography and it is illustrated beautifully in IRON MONKEY as characters chase each other and battle across rooftops. There is a lightness in this approach and an airiness that allows the film to breathe, never stifling the story's progression in sake of a stock action sequence.

A key example of this in IRON MONKEY is a scene where the Iron Monkey and Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) are alone in an open two story room, defying the laws of physics as they both easily fly around to gather papers that were blown around by a breeze. Elementally they each move as light as the air that carries the papers, and while the scene is beautiful in itself to watch, it also serves as a parallel to the gentleness in the relationship between the two characters. Yuen Wo Ping's choreography does become very much like dance, and through it he is able to convey plot elements to the audience without dialogue, thus letting the story progress as opposed to getting bogged down as unfortunately happens in many action sequences in other movies of the genre.

Known as well for his creativity and innovation within his choreography, Yuen Wo Ping likewise envisions some fantastical scenes within IRON MONKEY, including a battle atop a grid of freestanding poles that the main characters must balance upon as they are fighting while an inferno rages below. This sequence is the penultimate one in the movie, and much like the fight amidst the treetops in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, establishes a defining imagery for the film.

While the beauty of Yuen Wo Ping's choreography is central to the visual dynamic of IRON MONKEY, there are fantastic performances by some talented individuals that make the film more fully realized. Having tremendous athletes who can pull off the complex wire work sequences with apparent ease is one thing, but having them also be able to develop complex characters with multi-dimensional layers is what makes IRON MONKEY a success and does not allow it to be relegated to becoming just another superficially stylized picture. Donnie Yen (SHANGHAI KNIGHTS) is fantastic in his role as Wong Kei-Ying and brings a depth of emotion to the actual historical figure. Coupling this with his extraordinarily adept proficiency as a martial artist, Yen's performance is one of the best seen in recent martial arts epics.

Playing Yen's son, the wonderfully talented young actress Sze-Man Tsang has absolutely amazing martial arts talent, and her ability to play so remarkably well off of Yen and her other adult co-stars further strengthen the core cast that Yuen Wo Ping has assembled for the film. This focus on character, and the incorporation of specific character traits into the fight choreography itself, helps establish a through line in which the audience can be drawn in and in turn empathize with the characters' struggles. This elevates IRON MONKEY into more than just a retelling of a tale from classic Chinese folklore, but something that is indeed timeless and that can be accessed by any audience. When paired with the innovative and distinctive style of Yuen Wo Ping, IRON MONKEY becomes a film that stands apart from its imitators.

For the Blu-ray release, there are two small interviews that comprise the bonus features. The first featurette is a nine minute interview with Quentin Tarantino about his insatiable love for Hong Kong cinema and the other is a six minute interview with Donnie Yen on the making of the film. While not extensive in nature, both interviews provide great insight into the genre and feature clips from multiple other Hong Kong kung fu films to allow the audience to compare and contrast what it is they are talking about, thus making for an enjoyable look into the genre.

3/5 Blu-ray: One of my favorite Donnie Yen films. The revised version with no lossless Chinese audio soundtrack
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
Full of action and wonderful fighting choreography,

A remake of the 1970's film of the same name, the 1993 film "Iron Monkey" stars Rongugang Yu ("Musa the Warrior", "Shanghai Noon", "Midnight Express in Orient" as Dr. Yang a.k.a. "Iron Monkey".

During a time when the poor were being mistreated by bandits, many tried to flock towards government officials for protection but finding mistreatment at a higher level as well. So, the "Iron Monkey" is like an equivalent of Robin Hood, steal from the rich and give back to the poor. But being the popular doctor in the village, no one suspects him of anything.

Dr. Yang works with Miss Orchid (Jean Wang, "Once Upon a Time in China" films, "Swordsman III"), a woman who is also an impressive fighter but is seen as the shopkeeper at Dr. Yang's office.

But with a senator coming to visit the village, the current governor wants a search for Iron Monkey (who has stolen a lot of the governor's savings) and has his men try to capture anyone who may be the one who has been stealing from them.

One day, a man named Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen, "Kill Zone", "Shanghai Affairs", "Hero") and his son Wong Fei-Hung (Sze-Man Tsang) visit the village and make some purchases but when Wong Fei-Hung spots a child being bullied, he defends him by using a slingshot and shooting a rock at one of the bad juveniles. But when his father takes the slingshot away, the bad bullies suspect he is the culprit and the father easily beats them.

Because the governor's men watched Wong Kei-Ying fight, they arrest both Wong Kei-Ying and his son.

While all men who were arrested try to plead to the governor that they are not Iron Monkey, the governor doesn't care and wants to imprison all of them. But then the real Iron Monkey shows up and Wong Kei-Ying who wants to protect his son, gets into a fight with Iron Monkey and everyone is at awe at both men's martial arts. The governor then cuts a deal with Wong Kei-Ying, if he catches the Iron Monkey, he will release his son to him. If not, his son will be in prison forever.

With Wong Kei-Ying knowing that all he has is his son, he will do what he can to catch the Iron Monkey. But he is quick to learn that the villagers are supportive of the Iron Monkey and will not feed him. Being broke and having no money and knowing he has a week to catch the Iron Monkey, unbeknown to him, Miss Orchid takes him into their home for food and both she and Dr. Yang learn that his son has been captured and learn that the only way they will be free is if the Iron Monkey is killed.

Knowing that Wong Kei-Ying is being wronged, Dr. Yang (ala Iron Monkey) and Miss Orchid do what they can to help him.

It's important to not that Wong Kei-Ying's son is the Wong Fei-hung that is a Kung Fu hero in China. The real man lived from 1847 through 1924 and was a master of the no-shadow kick, drunken boxing, the lion dance and Hung fist. The character has been explored in a number of films which include the Jet Li "Once Upon a Time in China" films and for Jackie Chan in the "Drunken Master" films

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Iron Monkey" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1). For the most part, this 1993 film definitely looks better with the HD treatment than its 2002 DVD counterpart. The picture quality looks much clearer and compared to the 1994 "The Legend of Drunken Master" film that is coming out on Blu-ray, "Iron Monkey" has less scratches and dirt. For the most part, the film looks good, not great but good and better than DVD.

As for the audio, this is what will determine whether or not one will probably but it or not. "Iron Monkey" is provided in English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHZ/24-bit) lossless audio, while the original Chinese dialogue is only 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 2.0 digital. I'm not going to add flame to the fire of whether or not to call an English dub bad or not, especially since I'm biased towards the original language. But I also know there are many people who dislike reading films with subtitles and will put up with the English dialogue. So, with that being the case, the English dub is much clearer and there are some scenes that utilize the surround channels. But for the most part, the film features a lot of front and center channel usage with some thumps being heard on the surrounds. I didn' t notice much LFE on the English dub either.

As for the original Chinese soundtrack, it is in 5.1 Dolby Digital but for the most part, at least with Blu-ray, you know that the 5.1 DD track is at a higher bitrate. But yes, too many people, not having a lossless audio soundtrack is a deal breaker.

And of course, the major deal breaker for many fans of "Iron Monkey" is that this is the edited version. Scenes were cut out, some fixed up but the most significant change audio-wise is the replacement of the music. Miramax wanted to capitalize on the popularity of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", so the music was changed to a classical score.

As for subtitles, the film is presented in English SDH and Spanish. And yes, the subtitles have been revised as well to eliminate the political context of the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Iron Monkey" comes with two special features:

* Quentin Tarentino Interview - (9:35) Quentin Tarentino talks about his passion for Kung Fu films.
* Donnie Yen Interview - (6:21) Donnie Yen talks about how he got involved in martial arts and film.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Iron Monkey" is an entertaining martial arts film filled with interesting characters and wonderful fighting choreography.

Personally, this was one of the more memorable fighting films that dominated the 80's and early 90's but the controversy lies on the cutting and editing of the films for the US release. Like "The Legend of Drunk Master", this release is going to be loved or hated by fans.

Again, I want to make it clear that this film has its best looking transfer to date on Blu-ray and much better than the previous 2002 DVD. Picture quality is very good but not reference quality but for a 1993 film, it looks pretty good. But what it all comes down to is the viewer and what they want are expecting from this film.

For those who have a disdain towards watching films with English subtitles, you're going to get a solid English dubbed soundtrack via its lossless English 5.1 DTS-HD audio. Fight scenes sound very good and although not an immersive soundtrack, it's still quite solid. Again, I'm not going to debate if the English dubbing is good or bad because everyone has their own opinion on dubs and personally, I'm biased towards the films with its original language but at the same time, I know plenty of people who are unable to enjoy a film with subtitles and thus needs the English dub.

But for those who have been waiting for the uncut release, this is not it. The film has the edited scenes, revised subtitles and also the music change but at least the Chinese audio via Dolby Digital 5.1 was still included. It may not be lossless but I'm glad it was included (unlike "The Legend of Drunken Master" which doesn't have it nor does it have the original ending scene) but still, with the revisions made, purists will not be satisfied and its understandable.

So, needless to say...it's going to be a love or hate release among fans. As a fan of the film, one can either wait and hope that an import uncut release of the film makes it to Blu-ray. Or perhaps maybe purchasing this latest release with the better picture quality, better lossless audio than the original DVD.

But with that said, "Iron Monkey" is still an entertaining martial arts film that has an enjoyable storyline, enjoyable characters and awesome fight choreography. "Iron Monkey" one of my favorite Donnie Yen films but unfortunately, it's not the uncut/unrevised version that I was hoping for. But again, if you enjoyed the original US DVD release and don't mind the revisions, then this is the definitive version to own.

1/5 Audio Is A JOKE!!!
  by B. Roberts
I really enjoyed the movie, however as with the other movies released as part of the box set(Drunken Master, blind swordsmen) the audio on the disc is terrible. These movies will be released with only the dubbed english version being presented in lossless audio. Simply awful...not buying this..,