20 Reasons Why You Rock: Fists of Iron
There was no shortage of kickboxing themed action movies in the 1990’s. There were so many kickboxing movies in that era, that it would be easy for a film to get lost in the shuffle.
But standing out from the pack was not an easy task. For a kickboxing movie to really stand out, it needed a talented cast, quality action, a story with some heart and soul and like 1995’s Fists of Iron, it needed to rock…
#1. The poster for Fists of Iron is by far the best poster for any of Michael Worth’s action movies. That may not be the greatest compliment when you consider U.S. Seals 2 is about as generic of a poster as you can get. Street Crimes is more focused on Dennis Farina than it is Michael Worth. Worth is also an afterthought on the To Be the Best poster with Martin Kove (and in some countries Martin Kove with a gun) dominating the poster. And the only people who think that Final Impact is a great poster are those who are fans of a shirtless Lorenzo Lamas. The Fists of Iron poster with stars Michael Worth and Matthias Hues and their fists coming right at you is a work of art and suitable for framing (in theory anyway).
#2. A movie about kickboxing is not one that I would have expected to feature explosions, yet Fists of Iron manages to blow up a car in the first few minutes of the film! Later the trailer on the beach that our hero Dale Hartwell calls home is blown to smithereens.
#3. The man who ordered these explosions is Peter Gallagher, played by Marshall R. Teague of Road House fame. Gallagher loves gambling and kickboxing and proves to be a top notch villain.
#4. Every top notch villain needs a top notch hero to oppose him, Michael Worth’s Dale Hartwell checks all the boxes. Dale is not afraid to take risks. Dale has raw fighting skills (and fists of iron). Dale also wears a leather jacket and drives around in a Corvette. But if all that wasn’t enough, it is also established that Dale has brains to go along with his brawn making him a well rounded action hero.
#5. There is a running gag throughout the movie featuring the late Nick Oleson as a musclebound “Karen” who is not pleased with the work Dale the mechanic did on his truck. The gag works and wraps up in entertaining fashion.
#6. Longtime readers of Bulletproof Action know about the unwritten bar fight rule. If an action hero goes into a bar, he needs to get into a bar fight… Fists of Iron does not disappoint and we see Dale Hartwell mix it up with the late Stefanos Miltsakakis of Legion of Iron fame.
#7. If you are going to cast Nick Hill in your action movie and he’s not playing the wayward friend, what the hell are you doing? We learn that Matt (Nick Hill) and Dale have been friends since childhood, making Nick the perfect sacrificial lamb to Peter Gallagher’s top fighter, Victor “The Destroyer” Bragg.
#8. If you are going to have a character named Victor “The Destroyer” Bragg and it isn’t played by a physically imposing actor like Matthias Hues, what the hell are you doing? Hues is perfect as Gallagher’s seemingly unstoppable kickboxing champion.
#9. I would have never guessed Cindy Snow from Three’s Company was in an action movie. Not only was Jenilee Harrison in Fists of Iron, she does a great job as the woman caught in the middle of the war between Peter Gallagher and Dale Hartwell.
#10. Three words: Art Camacho cameo
#11. Flash Gordon himself, Sam J. Jones, plays Tyler Green, at one time one of the best fight trainers in the world and a man who used to be in business with one Peter Gallagher. These two facts make him the perfect guy to get Dale Hartwell ready for his inevitable fight with Victor The Destroyer!
#12. But wait… what’s better than one trainer? How about two? Eric Lee plays Daniel Lee a former kickboxing great (that was trained by Tyler) but had to retire after an injury. Daniel also helps prepare Dale for his fight with Bragg. The combination of Eric Lee and Sam J. Jones play well off of one another.
#13. Trainers + Fighter = Training and Exhibition Fight Montages
#14. While I don’t think I’ll ever be humming any of the music featured in Fists of Iron, Louis Febre’s score does compliment the film and does not detract from it.
#15. Are you a fan of nudity in your R rated action films? Well, Fists of Iron does not disappoint… first Julie walks in on a voluptuous woman entertaining Peter one afternoon. Then Julie gets in on the naked action herself when she engages in some love making with Dale Hartwell.
#16. When Peter Gallagher informs Tyler and Daniel that there is a $25,000 buy in on the tournament he is presenting, it seems all of Dale’s hard work may be for naught. But then Dale does the unthinkable and sells his little red Corvette… but when they are still short we get some old school crowdfunding as the patrons at the local watering hole all chip in and raise the $25,000. This was humanity at its best.
#17. Director Richard W. Munchkin (who Michael Worth confirmed was a regular sized man on The Bulletproof Podcast) came into Fists of Iron with a wealth of action movie experience from his work with PM Entertainment, That experience paid off with a well shot, and well paced 94 minutes.
#18. The people who attend the fights that Peter Gallagher promotes are an enthusiastic bunch to say the least. In this era of sporting events with no fans in attendance, you realize how important the fans are to the overall viewing experience. There is one kickboxing fan in particular who adds to my enjoyment of Fists of Iron, this fan was actually the inspiration for the seldom seen Unsung Heroes feature here on Bulletproof Action.
#19. Given the talented martial artists on camera and the fight choreography of Art Camacho, it is no surprise that Fists of Iron’s fight scenes are one of the movie’s biggest positives.
#20. After Dale’s big fight with Victor Bragg, we get to see Eric Lee pay homage to some of the kung fu classics of yesteryear like Crippled Avengers.
