Circle of Iron (1978)

A young martial artist embarks on an adventure, encountering other martial artists in battle until one day he meets an aging blind man who will show him the true meaning of martial arts and life.

Director:

Richard Moore

Writers:

Stirling Silliphant (screenplay), Stanley Mann (screenplay),

Stars:

David Carradine, Jeff Cooper, Christopher Lee

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
David Carradine	...	The Blind Man / Monkeyman / Death / Changsha
Jeff Cooper	...	Cord
Christopher Lee	...	Zetan
Roddy McDowall	...	White Robe
Eli Wallach	...	Man-in-Oil
Anthony De Longis	...	Morthond (as Anthony de Longis)
Earl Maynard	...	Black Giant
Erica Creer	...	Tara
Michael M. Vendrell	...	Martial Artist (as Michael Vendrell)
Leo Whang	...	Martial Artist
Donnie Williams	...	Martial Artist
Robert Gardner	...	Martial Artist
Tom Ascensio	...	Martial Artist

Storyline

A young martial artist, Cord the Seeker, competes for and loses the right to go on a quest for the Book of All Knowlege held by a wizard named Zetan, but he goes along the path to seek Zetan anyway. Along the way, he meets strange tests and challenges by enemies and allies - often having difficulty determining which is which.

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Plot Keywords:

martial artist | quest | buddhism | buddhist | bandit | 

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Taglines:

Bruce Lee's spirit lives in ... Circle of Iron

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1978 (France)

Also Known As:

Le cercle de fer

Filming Locations:

Bet Shean, Israel

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sandy Howard/Richard St. Johns Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to a recent biography of Bruce Lee the film was intended to be shot in 1969 with Lee playing the 4 roles of The Blind Man, Monkeyman, Death and Changsha, and the lead role of Cord was offered to Steve McQueen. McQueen however turned down the role after remarking that he wasn't prepared to make Lee a star, and instead it was offered to James Coburn. Disagreements over location shooting (Lee preferred India) led the film to be abandoned until after his death when the rights were acquired by David Carradine. Originally karate champion Joe Lewis was offered the role of Cord but declined as he was unwilling to work with Carradine. Jeff Cooper, a friend of Carradine's, finally took the part and Lewis ended up supervising the re-shooting of some of the fight scenes.

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Goofs

During the fight between Changsha and the Black Giant David Carradine's wig falls off after a high kick.

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Quotes

Chang-sha: Have you eaten? Where's your drink? Your hand is empty.
Cord: Peace.
Chang-sha: [laughs] Don't wish it on me. The whole world is in commotion and you wish me peace! I don't know what peace is, I don't want it. Don't you listen to the desert? Even when there's no wind the sand sings.
Cord: My name is Cord.
Chang-sha: Ha! You see? Cord!
[laughs]
Chang-sha: Play a Cord, strike a Cord? Even your name is a noise! What do you want, Cord? You want us to play on you? My wives can make your skin sing.

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Connections

Version of The Silent Flute

User Reviews

Be the empty vessel

This is the story and journey of a lone man, Cord (played by Canadian Jeff Cooper), who is in search of Zetan and his book of knowledge. Along the way he meets many people and has to overcome several trials.

The story was original conceived by Bruce Lee, with help from James Coburn. In the meantime Bruce left for Honk Kong (Golden Harvest) to make what would be his series of movies that would immortalize him. This movie was resurrected after Bruce's untimely death.

What would have been Bruce's role, as the blind mystic/martial arts flute player with a bell on his toe, went to the universal Bruce Lee role acquiring machine that is David Carradine. In David's defense he does play 4 roles in this movie and is the saving grace of the movie. Jeff Cooper painfully interprets Cord, the hero. He almost lacks any emotion even when annoyed or angry his face is strangely serene and on the verge of a smile. He obviously spent time working out, but little to no time in a dojo. Also what's up with the hair ?? David's problem lies in his "martial arts" skills and his fortune cookie kung-fu babble. The movie seems like an extended version of the TV series that David was in (Kung Fu).

There are problems with this movie. Initially the movie was to take place in the East (China, Thailand, etc) to correspond with the various themes of the movie (Taoism, Zen Buddhism, etc). Instead the movie was filmed in Israel. The landscapes and backdrops are at times breathtaking, just out of place. This along with the crappy martial arts choreography (think Dolemite) and the repetition of extras gives the movie the feel of a Conan knock-off.

There are also some nice cameos by Roddy McDowall, Christopher Lee and Eli Wallach. The man in oil scene is priceless. Throughout all this if one pays attention, one can pick up a lot of Bruce's beliefs and philosophies. One can only wonder how good this movie would have been if Bruce would have been able to make it. I highly recommend this movie for fans of Bruce and the martial arts genre.

-Celluloid Rehab