Cantonen Iron Kung Foo (1979) User Reviews

Average kung fu comedy enlivened by a decent protagonist and good ending

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 23 December 2015]

CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU is one of those low budget period kung fu flicks that found a new wave of popularity following the success of Jackie Chan's DRUNKEN MASTER. These films, all of them invariably made on poverty row budgets, mixed slapstick and lowbrow comedy with intense training sequences and wild kung fu fights, and usually followed a template whereby the initial humour of the production gradually gives way to the deadly serious climax. This film is no different, and for the most part it's pretty unmemorable.

The scripts are never the strongest points of these productions but CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU's story seems particularly weak. There are too many central characters, many of whom are just set up to be killed at some point, thus setting our hero on a path of revenge. There are lots of stereotypes and interchangeable folk, and as usual awful dubbing to sap away any credibility the production might have generated. The hero this time around is THE VICTIM's Leung Kar Yan, more affectionally nicknamed 'Beardy' by his fans. Kar Yan has been good value for money in every film I've watched him in, and he brings a level of depth and likability to his otherwise straightforward hero character here. The supporting actors are a motley crew, with genre staple Phillip Ko working hard as the chief bad guy.

The metallic title refers to the gruelling training procedures that Kar Yan is tasked with by the aged kung fu master. These involve practising with iron rings around his arms, and later attempting to break wire wrapped about his torso by flexing his muscles alone. There's also some fun with saplings and ropes pulling at our hero's limbs a full decade before KICKBOXER used the same trick. The production gradually gets more interesting before ending in an extended bout in the woods, when Kar Yan tackles the villainous Ko in a fight to the finish. As usual, the final fight is the best part of the film and makes good use of some STREET FIGHTER-inspired x-ray inserts to show our hero breaking the enemy's bones.

A decent martial arts film displaying some excellent fight scenes, although the plot is somewhat lacking at times.

[black_sabbath308 · 7/10 · 9 April 2007]

I found this movie under the name of "Iron Kung Fu" as part of a 4-movie set released by Disc Plaza Entertainment.

Unfortunately, the sound on the disc seemed to have a one-second delay, so there was some confusion due to it being out of sync with the video. I'm assuming this error is exclusive to the DPE release of "Cantonen Iron Kung Fu", and should not affect people's opinions in regards to purchasing the film.

Other than that one minor technical issue, I found the film to be, on the whole, quite enjoyable. The fight scenes seemed well choreographed, and Leung Kar Yan, who played Ah Tung, managed to pull off the moves quite convincingly despite his lack of martial arts training. The plot was fairly typical of the period and style, although director Lee Chiu did use certain camera angles uncommon during that period, and the leg-snapping scenes were quite surprising (think of a 1970's version of the bone-breaking scenes from Jet Li's "Romeo Must Die").

On the whole, an enjoyable film that will see repeated plays despite the standard plot and minor technical error.

CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU - The exploits of "Iron Bridge"

[BrianDanaCamp · 7 December 2002]

CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU (1979) offers the rather unusual touch of having all of its characters be working men or merchants based in a town in Kwangtung province in the south of China. Leung Kar Yan (aka Liang Chia Ren) plays Liang Kun, a common laborer who finds little use for his kung fu skills except for occasional challenges from other workers. At some point, three fighters show up in town to help a reclusive local merchant take over the trade routes from the north which pass through the town. A local kung fu-fighting merchant stands up to them but dies in his one big fight with the thugs, but not before passing on many of his techniques to Liang Kun, who puts on such a show of force that he's dubbed "Iron Bridge Kun" by the townsfolk. A mysterious stranger shows up also and turns out to be on the trail of the corrupt merchant, who had left a sinister past up north and taken on a new identity in Kwangtung. All this leads to a pair of superb fight sequences in the woods outside of town late in the film.

The plot is rather slight and a bit confusing at times. The fight sequences are well staged and well shot although they come late in the film and are not framed against any interesting backgrounds. There are some good training sequences featuring the star in which he makes use of slender tree limbs, lots of rope and metal bonds. The direction (by Li Chao) is competent but lacking any distinct imaginative touches. The cast is largely unfamiliar, except for star Leung Kar Yan (who's much better used in such films as SLEEPING FIST, THUNDERING MANTIS and LEGEND OF A FIGHTER); Wang Chung (a former Shaw Bros. supporting player), who plays the sympathetic stranger; and the always dependable Kao Fei (aka Phillip Ko) who turns up as the main villain.

The opening narration invokes the famed "Ten Tigers of Kwangtung" (a band of 19th century Cantonese kung fu experts who were featured in a movie of their own by that title), but there is never any mention of them in the film itself.

The real distinction of this film, however, is its availability in a letter-boxed DVD transfer made from a pristine 35mm print. Rarely do we get to see old-school kung fu films in such high-quality editions. The fact that it's a lesser film means less than the fact that such a great-looking print simply has to be seen by kung fu fans anyway.

Fantastic martial arts movie.

[linahduuw33 · 9/10 · 8 March 2019]

Would strongly recommend it. Loved every minute of it. My only gripe would probably be the story, but most people don't see these movies for that kind of stuff.