Review of Iron Monkey

Introduction

Iron Monkey is another in the long line of DVDs released by those very nice people at Hong Kong Legends, although this is one title that the more casual Hong Kong fan may not know so much about.

Directed by Yuen Woo Ping (so that should give you a clue as to what you`ll see on screen), this film introduces us to a familiar character, Wong Fei Hung (and his no shadow kick) as a young child, as well as the Iron Monkey himself, an eastern version of Robin Hood, who redistributes the wealth and fights corruption and evil villains.

Video

As we`ve come to expect from Hong Kong Legends this is another faultless transfer. Detail levels are very high, colours are excellent, and this is a beautifully restored 1.85:1 anamorphic print which is cleaner than the much more recent Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This is no mean feat given the budget available to Hong Kong Legends, which probably comes nowhere near to Columbia`s budget for a disc.

Being a Yuen Woo Ping film, you`ll know that you`re in for another fantastic display of "wire-fu" and fans of this genre will absolutely love this film, as it`s action all the way with different styles, moves and weapons used along the way. Watch out for "Shaolin King Kong Palm" too. A visual treat for your eyes.

Audio

A pair of DD5.1 soundtracks - you can choose from Cantonese or an English dub. As usual I watched the film in Cantonese with English subtitles (although you can only turn these on via the menus), but I did dip in to the English soundtrack a few times along the way. The one thing that I noticed was that it was slightly louder and seemed to have slightly more surround action than the Cantonese track.

There`s nothing wrong with the Cantonese track though, it`s just a little bit subdued. Some of the fight "noises" are a touch over the top, but there`s also some good directional sound at times.

Features

Another Hong Kong Legends disc means another bundle of extras, although this one is unfortunately missing a commentary track. The commentary tracks have often been the best extra on many Hong Kong Legends DVDs.

But we still get a reasonable selection here, interviews with Donnie Yen and Yuen Woo Ping, trailers for the film and other Hong Kong Legends discs, a photo gallery and animated biographies which feature the annoying voiceover man found on some of the other DVDs from the studio.

Conclusion

An excellent and entertaining film presented on a very good disc. Fans of Yuen Woo Ping must watch this film, and any Hong Kong fan who doesn`t have it in their colllection should be going out to buy it right now. There`s plenty of action combined with a bit of comedy, and you`ll be glued to your TV or projector screen.

Fantastic visuals are complemented by good sound and a reasonable selection of extras, all of which add up to making this an essential addition to your Hong Kong collection. Highly recommended.