Circle of Iron | | Cast : | David Carradine, Roddy McDowall, Eli Wallach, Christopher Lee | | Director : | Richard Moore (IV) | | Studio : | Wea Corp | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | , 1978 | | DVD Released Date : | September 28, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | "Do you answer every question with a question?" | Content
 | Way back in the day legendary martial artist/cinematic icon Bruce Lee set out, along with fellow actor and student James Coburn, to create a film with the intent of displaying the spiritual side of martial arts along with imparting some of their philosophical Zen beliefs. Brought in to assist the men was screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, also one of Lee's students, whose other works include In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and The Towering Inferno (1974). Anyway, the treatment, titled The Silent Flute, was finished, but apparently there was some difficulty in getting it made into a film, until about 5 years after Lee passed away, when producer Sandy Howard (A Man Called Horse, The Island of Dr. Moreau) took interest, bringing on director Richard Moore (The Wild Angels, Devil's Angels, Wild in the Streets) who claimed the original treatment `unfilmable', to which Howard hired screenwriter Stanley Mann (Damien: Omen II, Conan the Destroyer). Mann punched it up a bit, removed some of the more graphic material (both in terms of sex and violence, which, if kept in, would have resulted in an X rating for the film), tossed in a little humor, and eventually became this film titled Circle or Iron (1978), for better or worse. Starring in the film is David Carradine (Death Race 2000, Cannonball) and Jeff Cooper, whose previous gig had him playing Derek Thurston #1 on the TV soap `The Young and the Restless'. Also appearing is an interesting list of cinematic dignitaries including Christopher Lee (Dr. Terror's House of Horrors), Roddy McDowall (Planet of the Apes), and Eli Wallach (The Magnificent Seven).
As the movie opens we are watching some sort of martial arts tournament, and the focus is on a character named Cord (Cooper), who looks a little like beefed up Peter Frampton, shaggy mane and all. The purpose of this tournament is to choose a champion, one who would have to endure three trials on a path to find a wondrous book, possessed by one called Zetan, which contains all the wisdom in the world. Anyway, Cord, who isn't affiliated with any school or restricted to any particular fighting style, easily makes it into the final match, but is ultimately disqualified due to not following the rules...if you're familiar with Bruce Lee, you might begin to see the similarities between the character of Cord and Lee as far as where they both were coming from, figuratively speaking, and their difficulties in working within the `establishment', hindered by those who need to pigeonhole people and concepts for their own sake of understanding and acceptance. Undeterred, Cord decides to go after the book despite his not being declared champion, and has a number of adventures, encountering all kinds of interesting individuals and groups including a blind flute player who generally answers questions with more questions (he also uses his three foot flute as a weapon, causing it to make interesting sounds when he fights), a tribe of monkey men, their leader (played by Carradine) garbed in Joseph's Technicolor dream coat, a nomadic troupe/tribe, who specialize in bacchanalian delights, led by Chang-Sha, played by an an Arab-y looking Carradine, a man purposely boiling his privates in oil, a band of gypsy horseback riding desperadoes, and even death itself in the form of a puma man (also played by Carradine). Will Cord find the strength, wisdom, and perseverance needed to confront Zetan for the ultimate prize? What the heck is in the book that makes it so sought after? I'm guessing secret recipes or perhaps the answer to why, when a piece of toast is dropped on the floor, it is always the buttered side that lands face down...
I'm curious as to why the title of this film was changed from The Silent Flute to Circle of Iron...I think Carradine talks about it a little in his interview piece, as those who finally made the movie decided the original title was too confusing, so they opted for a more generic, less fitting, in my opinion, title for the film. Overall I thought this was an entertaining movie, one that stayed relatively true to Lee's original intent of focusing on the transcendental and philosophical aspects inherent within martial artistry, although I couldn't help get the sense it may have gotten watered down a little in the process, perhaps in a effort to make it more accessible to mass audiences. It's interesting that Carradine, who plays four, separate roles, was chosen to appear, since he also took on the lead in the 1972 television series Kung Fu, a vehicle created by Lee with the intent that Lee also star, but prevailing prejudices at the time chose to go with the Caucasian Carradine, making him appear Asian, rather than going with a real Asian in Lee himself. I thought Carradine, who was originally sought to play the part of Cord, but felt he had since 'graduated' from the role as the student, did very well, creating four, distinct characters, and nicely offset the awkwardness in Jeff Cooper's performance. Cooper has the physique, but lacked the required acting range, in my opinion, to properly portray his character , especially in terms of being an arrogant, naïve individual whose quest for a material object turns into a often dangerous journey of learning and self discovery. There are a number of interesting locations used, and the anamorphous fighting sequences were kept realistically within reason. I thought director Moore did very well keeping what was probably a difficult story to film on track and paced well. I did like the somewhat humorous revelation in terms of the book and the character of Zetan, played by Christopher Lee, even though the revelation itself was obvious, especially to anyone who's seen a number of chop socky films.
The picture quality on this Blue Underground DVD release looks sharp, clean, and generally excellent, and is presented in wide screen (1.76:1), enhanced for 16 X 9 televisions. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono comes through well enough, and I had no complaints. There are a number of worthy extras including a newly recorded interview with David Carradine titled Playing the Silent Flute (13:55), an audio commentary track with director Richard Moore, a sort of dissertation titled Bruce Lee's The Silent Flute: A History by Davis Miller and Klae Moore, an alternative title sequence, a theatrical trailer, three 30 second TV spots, a poster & still gallery, and a DVD-ROM feature containing the first draft script by Bruce Lee, James Coburn, and Stirling Silliphant.
Cookieman108
By the way, did anyone understand the significance of the sequence with Eli Wallach as the man in the oil? Was it just a humorous interlude, or sort of representational allegory representative of some abstract concept?
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| Rating | | | Date | July 13, 2005 | | Summary | Circle of irony | Content
| First thing, right off the bat. the quality of this DVD is really pretty good!I mean this movie did'nt look all that great back in the HBO days.I kinda expected it to be gainy and difficult to hear,but instead I was really impressed by the great job they did getting this on DVD.
The directors commentary is on the dry side of sand, so be prepared for that.Even though, it, along with the rest of the extras, is still well done and very clear.
The story, well, read the other reviews for the cliffnotes.
I know that you shouldnt take this stuff too seriously, but I have been training and teaching consistently for the past 30 years in the martial arts. I have weathered everything from riots at tournaments where the cops were required to shut the whole thing down, to wannabe Ninjas.Hey, its all good in the end.But I just have never seen the reason why David Carradine forces us to watch him in Kung-fu movies.
The Circle of iron stars David Carradine as the blind master,Jeff Cooper plays the seeker,"Cord".A reviewer made the comment that Cooper makes Carradine look good. Man, thats cold !The truth is both these guys really arent very good. The fight scenes could have been so much better if only a little more effort was given to training and fight choreography.At some points it looks like balance was a serious issue.Dont give me that "Drunken monkey" stuff either,even the drunken/monkey systems have a percision and disipline to them.
So you may think I dont hold either Mr. Carradine or Mr.Cooper in very high regard. Well, you'd be mistaken. Carradine did the best he could with the circumstances he was constrained with.Also,to be fair, nobody really knew how to make a martial arts movie in the U.S.A. back in those hazy hippie days.Somebody asked me about this movie once, and I suggested that they read "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas" to get a better perspective on it.All the same,"The Silent flute/Circle of iron" was made into a movie. A living treasury of Bruce Lees philosophy .
So whats wrong with this picture? Just this, This is Bruce Lees story...He came up with it,(he also came up with the t.v. show,"Kung Fu".Something else that Carradine managed to flatten with his lackluster skills).You would think they could have tried a little harder.Most of the fights are close ups of Carradine and Coopers faces "reflecting conflict" and grunting.
Now also consider that Bruce Lee, who is starting to seem like he got totally reamed on this whole deal,even after death,was an absolute expert on fight scene choreography. He was a real genius with the stuff.So much so, that ideas of his are still being used on movie sets today.The fights in "Iron" are composed by Kam Yuen.Carradines Sifu.He also choreographed the fights for "Kung-fu".If you remember the "forced softness" that made the fight scenes so flat and staged, you'll get my point.
These two points alone,(physical and techincal skill), make me wonder what else has been lost in this "Hollywood Kids" attempt at playing Bruce Lee.If you think about it, its enough to make ya weep.
Okay, so theres my complaint.I,not being an actor of even poor ability, will not comment on the level of acting that was employed to explain the philosophy of Bruce Lee.Except to thank GOD for Eli Wallach,Roddy McDowall and Christopher Lee.But over all the movie is good stuff. Well worth watching.This movie,along with Jake Speed and Dune, have a certain...late nite movie appeal...Frankly, I like this better than Dune,and about as much as Jake Speed.These three are my spacing out in front of the t.v. movie trinity.
If youre thinking about this DVD, I highly recommend it. Its quality is really excellent,and the movie is a fun romp
through non-existent martial art skills and flat acting.
So toss down that hard earned coin and enter the Circle of Iron,
no matter what, you'll have a good time.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 12, 2005 | | Summary | Possibly Carradine's finest film | Content
| It's about time this classic came out on DVD. I have two VHS copies in case one wore out. The screenplay was written by Bruce Lee and two of his Hollywood students, James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant. The plan was to have Coburn play Cord and Lee play the multiple roles of Death, the Blind Man, the Monkey Man and the Rythm Man. That would have been a better film, but things like Lee's death got in the way. The action scenes are good, not great. It's the philosophy (which Lee majored in College) that make this film worth seeing. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 21, 2005 | | Summary | Tao Of Bruce Lee On-Screen!!! | Content
| I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail about the storyline details of the Silent Flute...but keeping it short & sweet, Bruce Lee's Zen philosophy is alive and well in this film.I can only descibe it as Beastmaster meets Conan meets Zen Buddhism from start to finish...and the overall message is clear, the philosophy that Bruce Lee pushed from the founding of Jeet Kune Do, which was that TRUE and EFFECTIVE martial arts is without fixture and that the TRUE source of life and empowerment is found within. In comparison to the hatchet job that 20th Century FOX did on Bruce Lee's Game of Death...I'd recommend Circle of Iron/Silent Flute a million times over because it captured the spirit and philosophy of Bruce Lee. Only wish he'd have lived to star in and see the movie, but David Carradine does a nice job. The only thing is,wouldn't Bruce Lee have been a little salty about HIS intended roles being taken up by the guy who STOLE his role in the Kung-Fu TV series? As sure as we'll never see Bruce Lee catch up with David Carradine to take out his frustrations PHYSICALLY ,only God knows and we'll never know. LOL! But Bruce's philosophy is as alive & well as his fighting spirit in this film so I strongly recommend it for Bruce Lee fans and those that adhere to his philosophy. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 13, 2005 | | Summary | Bruce Lee's best | Content
| Wow, This movie is cool! It is sort of wierd but I even ejoyed that. It is probably one of the coolest Martial Arts movies that is not based on action, but more philosophy. If Bruce was around of course the action would have been even better, but the story is still amazing. David Carradine did a very good job acting as the Flute Player, the Monkey Man, the King,the Panther Man.... |
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