Director – Serge Ou (The Nazi Jesus, Stranded)
Starring – Juju Chan (Savage Dog, Fist of the Dragon), Jessica Henwick (Luke Cage, The Defenders), and Scott Adkins (Doctor Strange, X-Men Origins: The Wolverine)
Release Date – 2019
Rating – 4/5
Tagline – “How Hong Kong kicked off a cinematic revolution”
Horror is and always will be my love but I also find myself getting sucked into the world of 70s exploitation cinema. I never realized how much I love these films until I was an adult. Now I find myself becomes infatuated with them. I love all the sub-genres of exploitation as well. Blaxploitation, hixploitation, sexploitation, and even Bruceploitation.
As you can imagine it’s because of those films that I often checkout some fun kung fu flicks. I’ve watched these classic films for years so when Umbrella Entertainment accounted that the documentary Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks would be getting a release I had to jump on it. I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send one over.
**Spoiler Alert**The documentary discusses the rise of the Shaw Brothers and their kung fu films, other kung fu films inspired them and the cheap knock offs. We then move through the worldwide impact of these films from 42nd street and other grindhouse theaters to the influence it had on urban and hip hop culture. We get a look at some of the stars that came from the Hong Kong kung fu film and how these films influenced movies all over the world even until today.**Spoiler Alert**
There is some things that all movies fan know about the classic kung fu flicks from the 70s but this documentary sheds light on so many aspects of them that I was unaware of. It was really an eye opening trip back in time when these films ruled.
The interviews in this one are extremely informational. We get in-depth interviews from film producers, stars, distributors, fans, and even those influenced by them. The wide variety of interviews really does help paint the picture of how influential these films were. The chronological approach to the interviews helps to clarify everything, even the most popular of kung fu film history, and really puts the film in perspective for the average movie goer.
Finally, the editing in this one is extremely smooth with nice and easy transitions that fits the flow of the film. I read a comment on the trailer for this that one viewer thought the editing was choppy and made it difficult to watch but I have to disagree with him. The movie flows very well and the editing fits the film. Overall, Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks may not be as entertaining as the films it’s discussing but it is still a highly entertaining watch. I really enjoyed all the information it brought to the table and the amazing interviews. Movie fans will want to pick up the DVD from Umbrella Entertainment.
