The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins, and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers.

Director:

RZA

Writers:

RZA (story), RZA (screenplay) (as The RZA)

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
RZA	...	Blacksmith
Rick Yune	...	Zen Yi, The X-Blade
Russell Crowe	...	Jack Knife
Lucy Liu	...	Madam Blossom
Dave Bautista	...	Brass Body
Jamie Chung	...	Lady Silk
Cung Le	...	Bronze Lion
Byron Mann	...	Silver Lion
Daniel Wu	...	Poison Dagger
Zhu Zhu	...	Chi Chi
Chia-Hui Liu	...	Abbott (as Gordon Liu)
Andrew Ng	...	Senior Monk
Kuan Tai Chen	...	Gold Lion
Yoyao Hsueh	...	Copper Lion (as Xue Jing Yao)
Telly Liu	...	Iron Lion

Storyline

In Jungle Village, the leader of the Lion's clan Gold Lion is summoned by the Governor and assigned to protect his gold that will be transported through the village. However he is betrayed and murdered by the greedy Silver Lion and Bronze Lion. Gold Lion's favorite son Zen Yi, a.k.a. The X-Blade, seeks revenge and heads to Jungle Village, but he is defeated by Brass Body and rescued by the local Blacksmith Thaddeus. Meanwhile the Gemini Female and the Gemini Male protect the Governor's gold, but they are vanquished by the army of Silver and Bronze Lion. The Blacksmith is abducted by the Lions and has his arms severed by Brass Body. However he is saved by the British Jack Knife, who is the emissary of the Emperor, and he manufactures iron arms for Thaddeus. Meanwhile the Governor sends the Jackal army to fight against the Lions and they hide the gold in the brothel of Madam Blossom. However, Madam Blossom and her girls form an army of black widows and together with Jack, Zen Yi and The...

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Plot Keywords:

chop socky | martial arts | actor director writer | village | blacksmith | 

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Taglines:

You can't spell Kung Fu without F and U.

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Genres:

Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, language and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

2 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre con los puños de hierro

Filming Locations:

Shanghai, China

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,910,980, 4 November 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,634,090, 5 June 2013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,721,245, 5 June 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arcade Pictures,Iron Fists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 107 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donnie Yen was turned down the role of Poison Dagger.

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Goofs

As Jack Knife walks across his room he puts on his glasses, just before he reaches the door his glasses fall off. When he opens the door to Madame Blossom his glasses are on his face again.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Jackknife: I always bring a gun to a knife fight.

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Connections

References The Warriors (1979)

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Soundtracks

Unpredictable
Written by RZA, Shavo Odadjian, John Frusciante, Inspectah Deck, and Charles Woods
Performed by Wu-Tang Clan

User Reviews

Painful to watch

"I always take a gun to a knife fight..."

I provided this rating based on the fact that I would not see this movie a second time, would not recommend it to a friend, and did not take anything away from it other than the thought that Quentin Tarantino must have been high when he agreed to lend his name out for it.

I saw this movie because of my love for martial arts flicks, and I usually give all of them a chance. Also because I am a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan. What I expected to see was some decent fight choreography back-dropped with a grimy, old-school soundtrack. Now from what I recall on the soundtrack part, it did not deliver. And I know that RZA could have incorporated a couple tracks that would have lined this film up nice. Some that could have been included were; Da Mystery of Chessboxin', Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuttin ta F*** Wit, and pretty much anything from the 36 Chambers album. The fight scenes were mediocre until near the end to which I decided I would suck it up and just watch the rest of the movie. The first scene of the film actually made me angry because the fight scene was chopped up (which I hate), and the track they used in the background (actually from the 36 Chambers album) just didn't fit right!

Other things that were disappointing, other than Bautista from WWE showing up, was the weak script and amateurish plot. The dialogue was horrible (see quote from above) and the plot was...well there wasn't really a plot at all. I walked out of the movie asking myself/trying to remember what the story was really about. I'm not sure if it was because I was blown away by RZA's acting or because I was too busy trying to figure out why Russell Crowe was in the movie at all.

The set and costume design were the only things I thought were good about the movie. And the effort to create something visually appealing did not go unnoticed. But its all about the story and characters, which were both lacking aside from Lucy Liu's bit. Wait I think I just remembered what the movie was about...yeah it's pretty weak.

If Quentin Tarantino had more involvement/any involvement at all in this movie it might have been quite possibly something spectacular. But then RZA would have probably not been in it. Hey when is Kill Bill Vol 3 coming out?