MAN OF IRON is Chang Cheh's direct follow-up to his classic BOXER FROM SHANTUNG and once again features Chen Kuan Tai in the leading role, although for obvious reasons he plays a different character in this film (but still one much the same as his role in the first film). The story is set no less than 20 years after the events of the first movie so the setting is more modern day, which allows for some fun action scenes involving death by car and a bit where a motorbike is driven through a window.
The predictable story is the worst thing about this feature; it's merely a re-tread of the first film's plot but without any of the style or originality. Kuan Tai turns up in a part of Shanghai ruled over by vicious gangsters and soon finds himself subjected to threats and then violence by those he threatens to muscle in on. Peripheral characters are killed, Kuan Tai takes time out to romance Ching Li, and it all builds to a ferocious fight-filled climax. Bolo Yeung has a nice supporting role as a chief henchman who gets endlessly beaten up.
Thankfully MAN OF IRON is an action-packed film which helps to take your mind off the limitations of the plot. Kuan Tai has never been cooler than when wearing his high-collar leather jacket and the bad guys carry these foldable long knives which are truly wicked. The fighters are fast, bloody, and fantastic, and the best is saved for a wide-scale climax that deliberately references that of BOXER OF SHANTUNG with a few key differences (for one, it's set outdoors). The melodrama is heaped in and the violence is through the roof, so Shaw fans will be in their element.
The predictable story is the worst thing about this feature; it's merely a re-tread of the first film's plot but without any of the style or originality. Kuan Tai turns up in a part of Shanghai ruled over by vicious gangsters and soon finds himself subjected to threats and then violence by those he threatens to muscle in on. Peripheral characters are killed, Kuan Tai takes time out to romance Ching Li, and it all builds to a ferocious fight-filled climax. Bolo Yeung has a nice supporting role as a chief henchman who gets endlessly beaten up.
Thankfully MAN OF IRON is an action-packed film which helps to take your mind off the limitations of the plot. Kuan Tai has never been cooler than when wearing his high-collar leather jacket and the bad guys carry these foldable long knives which are truly wicked. The fighters are fast, bloody, and fantastic, and the best is saved for a wide-scale climax that deliberately references that of BOXER OF SHANTUNG with a few key differences (for one, it's set outdoors). The melodrama is heaped in and the violence is through the roof, so Shaw fans will be in their element.