Bullet Points: Cantonen Iron Kung Fu
If I were to create a list of my favorite Kung Fu Superstars, I know Leung Kar-Yan would be pretty high on that list. Leung Kar-Yan (or Beardy for those in the know) shined the brightest for me in Sleeping Fist and The Thundering Mantis… two movies that were the perfect mix of action, comedy and story.
But in this edition of Bullet Points, I will be reviewing a Beardy movie that is much different in tone than what I am used to, 1979’s Cantonen Iron Kung Fu…
- Work Hard, Play Hard: Leung Kar-Yan plays Liang Kun, a hard working guy who when he is not loading and unloading carts for his boss, is hanging out with his Kung Fu friends. Liang and his buddies go out to eat, do some drinking and most importantly test their fighting skills seemingly every chance they can get. For example, Liang gets into it with Ah Yi, a guy selling vegetables who has some fighting skills of his own. The two throw down for a bit, before a mischievous young man known as Iron Egg shows up and offers them a better way to figure out who is the better fighter of the two. Apparently there are two master fighters who just hang out on a stage all day and have an open challenge to anyone to try and defeat them. So Liang Kun and Ah Yi stop fighting one another and instead go off to challenge the masters… and both Liang Kun and Ah Yi come out victorious, so this rivalry ends in a draw and the would be street fighters are now fast friends and Ah Yi is out drinking with Liang Kun and his boys. That’s about the time Master Lin shows up to speak to Liang Kun and see if he’d like to work for his company, but Liang Kun already has a job and politely turns Master Lin down.
- Who’s the Boss?: Not everyone is so polite where Master Lin is concerned… rival businessman Chiu Wan-Chin wants to control all of the trade in the Canton province and that means he is going to have to eliminate Master Lin and anyone who will dare to oppose his takeover plans… including a newcomer to town that has obviously had some past dealings with Chiu Wan-Chin. And Chiu Wan-Chin believes he has just the man to help him with his takeover goal… Killer Chao! Killer Chao picks up the open challenge on the stage gimmick and the first man to step up to him is the vegetable selling Ah Yi. Poor Ah Yi finds out that the name Killer Chao is well deserved, because Ah Yi gets a beating from Chao that has him clinging to life when it is over. When Liang Kun finds out what has happened to his new friend, he wants to get back at the man responsible for Ah Yi’s beating… once again Master Lin shows up and at first is able to keep Liang Kun at bay, with Lin telling Liang Kun he doesn’t have the skills to defeat Killer Chao. The impetuous Liang Kun runs off and goes straight to the open challenge stage anyway! Liang Kun steps up to Killer Chao and before he can meet a similar fate, Master Lin interjects followed by the news that Ah Yi has died… Killer Chao is proud of himself and Liang Kun will have a chance to fight another day, but first…
- Good Times, Bad Times: Master Lin needs to pass on his skills and wisdom to Liang Kun if Liang Kun has any chance to defeat Chao… that means it is training montage time. Liang Kun trains with iron rings on his forearms to build up his strength, along with stone plate barbells… which leads to some levity with Iron Egg. But the good times will not roll, because more of Liang Kun’s friends are killed by the bad guys! And then after Killer Chao leads an attack on Master Lin’s warehouse… Master Lin, shows up dead the next day and it is made to look like he was a drunk who died by falling into the river, thus killing the man and his reputation in the process… Liang Kun knows this is bullshit and that Master Lin was murdered and that’s when he goes looking for the most likely killer… Killer Chao! Liang Kun tracks Chao down in the woods where Chao was doing more of his boss’ dirty work. Liang Kun challenges Chao to a fight and wants Chao to confess… the two tangle for a few moments when the aforementioned newcomer to town, Chin Hsuan (played by Wang Chung, the actor not the musical group) shows up and tells Liang Kun that he knows who Chao works for and then he gets some shots in on Chao himself… Liang Kun tells Chin Hsuan to stay out of it and the proceeds to take on the man that killed his master, ultimately killing him!
- Iron Bridge is Born: After Liang Kun defeats Chao, he earns himself the nickname Iron Bridge Kun! But there’s still the Chiu Wan-Chin problem to deal with, or should I say Black Eagle (Phillip Ko Fei, The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious) … it turns out that Chin Hsuan has been after the Black Eagle for six years and his search led him to the province of Canton, where not surprising he found Black Eagle up to his old tricks. Chin Hsuan warns Iron Bridge Kun just how dangerous Black Eagle’s fighting skills are and that he will need Iron Bridge’s help to defeat him…. but first the newly christened Iron Bridge wants to practice some more and this is where we get to see Iron Bridge snapping wires wrapped around his body by flexing… But while Iron Bridge is practicing he misses the memo that Chin Hsuan is going to challenge Black Eagle. We see the longtime rivals battling in the woods, Chin Hsuan wants to take Black Eagle in, but Black Eagle is not going to go down without a fight… and fighting is what Black Eagle does best. Black Eagle ends up breaking Chin Hsuan’s hands and calls his shot saying the legs are next when Iron Bridge Kun shows up! Iron Bridge roars into action with a combination of tiger style and his iron bridge style that leads to one of the most memorable fight finishes I have ever seen.
As I said at the top, Cantonen Iron Kung Fu is a much different Beardy movie than I was used to. The comedy was light and the fighting action was heavy… and brutal, and bloody and even bone crunching at times. I have to give him his props, Beardy pulled off being a badass and while I don’t see Cantonen Iron Kung Fu taking over my favorite Beardy movie spot, it was still a damn good movie and one I that I would highly recommend.
And as always, I recommend that you read the Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Cantonen Iron Kung Fu is also known as The Iron-Handed Boxer and Iron Fisted Warrior.
- Favorite Quote: “You have good eyes. Can you see your death?”
- Lonely Bastard: I heard only one “bastard” said over the course of the 86 minute movie.
- Disturbing Quote: “You’ll lose your pecker!”
- Composed By: John Williams!?!?! Cantonen Iron Kung Fu featured a small sampling of Star Wars music, but then it leaned HEAVY into music from 1978’s Superman.
