1977 · kung-fu · shaolin · martial-arts
The Iron-Fisted Monk
Directed by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo1h 33m1977
Husker is a student of the Shaolin monks, learning kung fu so that he can avenge his uncle who was murdered by the Manchus who control the province. He leaves his training early, desperate to teach the killers a lesson, and teams up with a martial artist monk who is teaching a group of factory workers how to defend themselves. When the Manchus strike again, Husker and his Buddhist pal decide it's time to even the score.
Our read: The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977) reads as a sombre, breathless, grounded kung-fu · shaolin · martial-arts entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, breathless, extreme kung-fu / shaolin, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- kinetic
- intense
Watching The Iron-Fisted Monk tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
More info & search links
How The Iron-Fisted Monk feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want 1970s Hong Kong kung fu revenge with Sammo Hung's early action and edge.”
Skip it tonight — You cannot handle brutal rape, suicide or threats against a child in martial arts films.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like The Iron-Fisted Monk, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
Pick tonight's film →