Iron Monkey [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

This kung fu classic weaving fact and myth earned a theatrical release in the U.S. from Miramax eight years after it was produced, following a successful retrospective screening at the 2001 Los Angeles Film Festival. Wong Kei Ying (Donnie Yen) is a master of the Hung Gar style of boxing in mid-19th century China. His son, Wong Fei Hung (Sze-Man Tsang), though still just a boy, will grow up to become a martial arts legend, a nearly mythical figure in Chinese history. When Wong Fei Hung is kidnapped, his father is forced to use his daunting skills in the service of the abductor, a dishonest politician plagued by the Robin Hood-style thief known as Iron Monkey, a mysterious masked avenger stealing from the rich, delivering the spoils to the poor. Wong Fei Hung's only allies are the kindly Dr. Yang (Yu Rong Guang) and Yang's assistant, Orchid (Jean Wang), who are protecting an important secret. Iron Monkey (1993) director Yuen Wo Ping is also the masterful martial arts choreographer behind The Matrix (1999) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); his father served as action choreographer on a series of popular, long-running films centered around the Wong Fei Hung character in the 1950s. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: ABC
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Color
• Subtitle: Spanish
• Features:
  • Quentin Tarantino interview
  • Donnie Yen interview

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Yuen Woo Ping

• Producer:

  Tsui Hark, Celia Hallquist

• Screenwriter:

  Tsui Hark, Tang Pik-yin, Lau Tai-Muk, Cheung Tan, Elsa Tang

• Cinematographer:

  Arthur Wong Ngok Tai, Tam Chi Wai

• Composer (Music Score):

  James L. Venable

• Editor:

  Mak Chisin, Angie Lam, Chan Chi-wai

• Production Designer:

  Ringo Cheung

• Co-producer:

  Raymond Lee

• Associate Producer:

  Raymond Lee

• Executive Producer:

  Raymond Chow, Wang Ying-Hsiang, Mary Stuart Welch

• Set Designer:

  Chu Yen Ping

• Costume Designer:

  Bo Bo Ng

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  David C. Hughes

• Makeup:

  Chan Kwok Hung, Wong Chun Fai

• Special Effects:

  Cinefex Workshop Co.

• First Assistant Director:

  Anthony Wong, Hester Yip, Lai Kai Keung

• Consultant/advisor:

  Yuen Cheung-Yan

• Supervisor/Manager:

  Philip Carbonaro

• Coordinator:

  Keiko Koyama

• Production Manager:

  Ho Lai Sheung

• Fights Choreographer:

  Yuen Cheung-Yan, Yuen Shun-Yi

• Visual Effects:

  Peter Kuran

• Music Editor:

  Carl Sealove

• Sound Effects Director:

  Kevin Sellers

• Second Assistant Editor:

  Stephanie Johnson

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Randy Thom

• Foley Artist:

  Kevin Bartnof, Ellen Heuer

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Tim Holland

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Joseph Grossberg

• ADR Editor:

  Tom Bellfort

• Sound Effects Director:

  E. Larry Oatfield

• Visual Effects:

  Pixel Magic

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Brad Kuehn

• Visual Effects:

  Metrolight Studios

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Michael Semanick

• Fights Choreographer:

  Ku Huen Chiu

• Script Supervisor:

  Sze Oi Ling, Ho Tim

• Gaffer:

  Chau Lam, Ng Man Ching

• Best Boy Electric:

  Chow Shui Hung, Law Wing Tong

• Still Photographer:

  Chan Kam Chuen

• Properties Master:

  Lai Pak Shing

• Hair Styles:

  Ng Yuk Ho, Lee Ching Lam

• Assistant Costume Designer:

  Lau Lai Lai

• Production Assistant:

  Wan Chi Fuk, Ko Chi Wai, Ng Ka Wing

• Post Production Supervisor:

  Venus Wong, Tunis Chow

• First Assistant Editor:

  John Zeitler

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Jurgen Scharpf

• Sound Effects Director:

  Addison Teague

• ADR Mixer:

  Sina Oroomchi

• ADR Recordist:

  Sharpe Sound Studios

• Foley Editor:

  Fred Burke

• Visual Effects Producer:

  Wendy Grossberg

• Visual Effects:

  Discope, Vce.com

• Production Coordinator:

  Susan Bendana

• Post Production Accountant:

  Don Mink

• Assistant Sound Editor:

  Aura Belle Gilge

• Negative Cutter:

  Vivian Hengsteler

• Supervising Animator:

  Christopher Ryan

• Post Production Supervisor:

  Steve Barnett

REVIEW:

• Originally released in 1993, Iron Monkey finally arrived in the States on the heels of the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Yuen Wo-Ping, who did the stunt choreography for that film as well as for The Matrix, directed this high-flying take on the Robin Hood story, in which an amiable country doctor (Dr. Yang, played by Yu Rong-guong) spends his evenings chasing across rooftops and stealing from the corrupt local lord. Produced by Tsui Hark, the prolific director of, among other things, the fabulous Once Upon a Time in China series, Iron Monkey has all the action of a kung-fu action flick -- as you might expect -- and all the grace and poise of an expertly staged musical. Donnie Yen, as itinerant doctor Wong Kei-ying, plays his role with understated elegance. Wong's son, who turns out to be the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hong, is here embodied by Tsang Sze-man with a lively animation that makes her a delight to watch. As is usual for any film where Yuen's involved, the plot here is merely something upon which to hang the nonstop action, culminating as it does in one of those unlikely kung-fu balancing acts for which Yuen is renowned. Not exactly high drama, perhaps, but it hangs together better than most movies of the genre, and it's great fun. ~ Genevieve Williams, Rovi