Siu nin Wong Fei Hung chi: Tit ma lau (1993)

A martial artist/doctor steals from the corrupt authorities as a masked thief to give to the poor while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt him down. But a major threat unites them as a powerful and traitorous shaolin monk takes over the authorities.

Director:

Woo-Ping Yuen

Writers:

Tan Cheung, Richard Epcar

Stars:

Rongguang Yu, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rongguang Yu	...	Dr. Yang / Iron Monkey
Donnie Yen	...	Wong Kei-Ying
Jean Wang	...	Miss Orchid
Sze-Man Tsang	...	Wong Fei-Hong
Shun-Yee Yuen	...	General Fox
James Wong	...	Governor Cheng Pak-Fong
Shi-Kwan Yen	...	Hin Hung (as Yee Kwan Yan)
Fai Lee	...	Hin Hung's disciple #1
Hou Hsiao	...	Hin Hung's disciple #2
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brianne Brozey	...	Wong Fei-Hung (voice)
Mandy Chan	...	Shaolin Monk #4 (as Man-Dik Ko)
Siu-Wah Chan	...	Shaolin Monk #2
Fung-Lei Cheung	...	Governor Cheng's favorite mistress
Kwai Po Chun	...	Shaolin Monk #1 (as Kwai Po Chin)
Peter Doyle	...	Orchid's Boss (Flashback Scene) (voice)

Storyline

A Hong Kong variation on Robin Hood. The corrupt officials of a Chinese village are continually robbed by a masked bandit know as "Iron Monkey" named after a benevolent deity. When all else fails, the Govenor forces a traveling physician (Donnie Yen) into finding the bandit. The arrival of an evil Shaolin monk, brings the Physician and Iron Monkey together to battle the corrupt government.

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Plot Keywords:

shaolin monk | monk | iron monkey | outnumbered | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes the only way to become a hero is to be an outlaw

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R16

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the US release, distributor Miramax made their own subtitles that did not accurately translate the Cantonese dialogue. Scenes were also edited or removed to tone down the violence and comedy.

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Goofs

(at around 59 mins) In the Iron Monkey's first fight with the witch, she cuts off his braid of hair. However, in some scenes after the fight, it's there again, and in some scenes, it isn't.

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Quotes

Iron Monkey: [dubbed and subtitled versions] Don't take things too seriously, and you will always be at ease.

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Alternate Versions

The Miramax version released in the U.S. in 2001 is severely cut from the original Hong Kong version and has the memorable original musical score by Richard Yuen removed and replaced by a new score by James L. Venable. The new score was made to sound similar to the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon score because Miramax hoped that it could cash in on its success.

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Connections

Followed by Jie tou sha shou (1996)

User Reviews

He's pretty young

I know that action movies do well around the world because they focus less on dialogue and don't have to translate as much. It looks like Chinese movies that come to our country apply to the same rule. This is another film of the literally dozens of Wong Fei-Hong movies. I think only ten or so of them made it to the United States. This movie features a repressed town being helped by a costumed figure known was the Iron Monkey. Wong Fei-Hong is held captive so his father can find the Iron Monkey's identity.

I don't know how you can really call this a franchise in the strictest sense as I believe Wong Fei-Hong was a real person. Anyway, this is probably one of the best in the series as it has the best and most creative action. It can be hard to keep up with the story but this has a good time doing it. It's always great to learn about other cultures. It seems fitting as China has four times as many people as us! Wong Fei-Hong is seen as a child but he does get to fight some. ***1/2

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Release Date:

3 September 1993 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Iron Monkey

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,014,653, 14 October 2001

Gross USA:

$14,694,904

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,694,904

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Workshop, Golden Harvest Company, Long Shong Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (US version) Dolby Digital (US version) Mono (original release) SDDS (US version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1