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Plot Outline: Brother Lo and Brother Yuen (please take note that I
had to write the names down while watching and that imdb doesn’t have names that I am familiar with, so
misspellings are to be expected) are part of a highly respected Chinese syndicate called The Iron Flag,
a talented and elder martial artist leads the group and is well liked by all. After Lo and Yuen
discover a slavery/prostitution ring set up by another arch gang, The Eagles, the two of them decide to
put an end to the sordid ordeal. Afterwards though, the top members of The Iron Flag are then welcomed
to a ‘friendship party’ held by the leader of The Eagles. The top Iron Flag members are already wary
that they may be walking into a trap, so Brother Chow (Lu Feng), who seems to be acting a little funny
here lately, hires the hitman known as The Man in White, alias, Spearman. Brother Lo and
his gang show up at the friendship party with master in hand, not to a great surprise, the discover it
was indeed a trap set up by The Eagles. A large fight then ensues, only to end with The Iron Flag’s
master dead from a stab wound in the back. So, after a little discussion into the area of whom should
fill the master’s shoes, Brother Chow is chosen to be the new leader because of his age among other
reasons. Lo’s world has already been shook up enough it would seem, but after all of this, some local
inspectors show up to talk about the massacre of The Eagles. Turns out the rival gang pressed charges
and the group is wanted for murder. After some haggling with the inspectors, it is agreed upon that
Brother Lo will take the heat for the murders and be set off into the world. Problems arise once Lo is
actually set out into exile, Chow promised to send him money through a messenger, but Lo never hears
anything from back home. Lo soon gets a job in a Teahouse in order to support himself, and before long
he finally meets back with Brother Yuen who informs him that Chief Chow has taken over all of the
illegal rackets and has joined forces with The Eagles. Not only that, but The Ten Killers just so
happen to be in Lo’s neck of the woods, and they’re out to kill him! Now Lo and Yuen meet with The
Spearman who joins them in their quest to find the original Chief’s master and bring order back to the
Irong Flag clan. |
Well, it’s December 2003. It’s chilly outside,
Christmas is right upon us and I’m feeling the holiday spirit. So with that in mind, I could think of
no better way to commemorate my favorite holiday than to throw a marathon of cinematic treats from my
personal favorite cinematic style. The Kung Fu genre boys and girls. I’m going through seven randomly
chosen Hong Kong classics, all coming straight out of the old school, and hopefully you the reader will
join in on the festivities as well. So this is the fifth film reviewed for my little marathon, and once
again I’m back with Chang Cheh and the Venom Clan. Now, this film doesn’t feature the whole gang (five
members officially, six counting Chiang Sheng) but we do get three members as well as one of the most
vibrant, original and underrated of the films the Clan and Cheh made together. The film takes a lot of
what makes the Venoms Clan flicks great, and produces a new and vigorous film with a bite. It may not
win any awards for breaking down barriers by any stretch of the imagination, but it takes an average
formula and makes it work to a phenomenal degree. While sitting down to re-watch it today, I was just
able to relax with it and let the film take me where it wanted. Something I’m finding hard to do these
days. Chang Cheh took his usual wild characters, blood splattered fight scenes and tales of heroism
and packed them into a nice Kung Fu mystery to rival the original Five Deadly Venoms. As of the moment
I haven’t seen but maybe a small fraction of the films Chang Cheh and the various members of the Venom
Clan made together, but I find that Flag of Iron seems to be the most comparable with the original Five
Venoms. It’s more story oriented, and doesn’t just deliver us with a story that says “this has to
happen, watch how it does” ala Kid With the Golden Arms, it delivers a story where things aren’t quite
as vividly planned out and the mystery elements are more dragged out. Whether you find the mystery
easily decipherable or not is another question, but I like the way the film moves and asks for audience
participation to some degree. The ‘mystery’ elements work in every way for me, although I’ve read
reviews that criticize the film for being bland in it’s delivery of a story. What can I say, to each
his own. Albeit the plot for the film may not be earth shattering because of it’s originality, but I
thought it was played well and with ease not usually seen. The film’s pace fits for the film perfectly,
not quite speedy enough that it feels rushed but not too slow that it becomes monotonous. To
shamelessly compare this film with the others reviewed this month, Flag of Iron is kind of in between
Chinese Super Ninjas and Kid With the Golden Arms. It’s not as quickly over as Kid, creating a far too
complex plot and set of characters for such a short and immediate film. Then it’s not as long with
dispersed bits of fighting by characters who don’t really factor into the storyline for more than a
minute or two. Take into account that I love both films and hold them dear to my heart, and out of
these three films I don’t think I hold one of them to a higher degree than the other (although I’ll bet
my reviews appear to look otherwise), it’s just that I tend to enjoy the flow and pace of Flag of Iron
quite a bit more for what it’s worth.
The Venoms Clan is back in action, and wearing much cooler capes! I didn’t really mention the capes of
our characters in my Chinese Super Ninjas review because I just didn’t feel the need to, but seeing the
red capes of our characters in Flag of Iron, I guess my silence needs to be broken. I have no idea if
capes were commonly worn back in the days of ancient China, but I have to say the addition of caped
characters in these films is a definite plus. The white capes in Super Ninjas were a little bit on the
sissy side though, no offense. They just appeared to look like gowns made of silk, but at least the
costumes given to our Iron Flag members have much better coloring. The red and black costumes are both
comedic at first, but still essentially cool. It takes a real man to actually dress up in a cape, and
trust me I know (but that’s a story for my psychiatrist). This kind of leads me to my next point, but
the wily characters you know and love of Chang Cheh’s work (or just read about from my reviews) are
back in full force. Although there are some that are less interesting than others, there’s no denying
how cool the idea behind the 10 Killers is. A series of assassins, all hiding their identity out to get
Philip Kwok, it’s quality entertainment! There are at least three members of the group who make it
high on any list of ‘cool Kung Fu characters’ out there, I’m particularly fond of The Book Keeper. For
those unfamiliar with the film, you’ll know him when you see him. During the first half of the film
with Kwok having his different run-ins with the 10 Killers creates some of the most riveting moments
within the film. The combat between Philip Kwok and The Fortune Teller may be short, but to be honest
it ranks in as one of my favorite fight scenes. Kwok bounces around on top of this beautiful Shaw Bros.
set made to look like a series of small shops, he does this all while being attacked by a man with a
spear. It’s not something to make your eyes boil with excitement, but the way the scene is pulled off
and shot is a prime example of martial arts excellence. The scene then moves on to another fight scene
with the fat kid from The Magnificent Butcher (not Sammo Hung, the guy who played his brother I
THINK). Both fight scenes are brilliant in their own right, but added together it becomes one
amazingly well thought out and choreographed fight sequence with one of my favorite Shaw sets ever.
I really can’t get over that set, it was so rife for movement and watching the shingles break apart
while Kwok dances around on top of one of the small shops added a small but needed detail. Not to
take away from the fight scenes, because they are all amazing. Some of Philip Kwok’s best work in my
opinion (although he was great in ‘Kid’ and everyone showed their absolute best in Crippled Avengers).
Chiang Sheng and Lu Feng are just as on target as well, both putting in some very agile performances,
but Kwok is really the star of the film. The ending showdown of the film with Kwok and Lu Feng going
at each other is one for the ages. It could just be that I’m easily entertained, but I’m most impressed
when I see the characters do some aerial acrobatics, and thankfully Flag of Iron gave just that. The
climatic showdown is fast, high flying and full of bodily carnage. Although the violence in Flag of
Iron is ‘relatively’ (and I stress the word relatively) tame in comparison with some of Cheh’s other
work, it’s still quite full of blood. A personal favorite moment of the entire film is when a beaten
and savaged Philip Kwok is tied to four posts and his body covered in roped netting. The robes having
been soaked in water are supposed to start detracting as the sun comes out and dries them. Kwok at this
point is just drenched with blood. He’s almost hard to look at, but the scene works to dizzying
degrees. The sequence is wrought with tension, and the sheer sight of his gruesome body works to
unnerve the audience, letting us believe he may just die for real.
Chang Cheh’s direction in the film is just another perfect score. He delivers style, elegance and a
story easily told but with a feeling of importance and larger than life characters. His cinematography
is great as usual, I particularly like the use of red throughout the film, it’s seemingly present
in every scene even when the backgrounds might clash with the color, but it always works. The camera
catches everything, and Cheh’s knowledge of how to shoot a action scene never flinches. It seems that
the camera is always moving, delivering some new and epic shot within the confines of a film smaller
than even it’s self. Of course, the film probably has even more ‘zoom’ shots than even your regular
Shaw Bros/Chang Cheh film, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Chang Cheh’s vision is clear and precise, to
tell a story, and that’s where all the focus generally tends to be. He also seems to slyly add an
underlying sense of humor to a rather sober film, scenes like the ones that take place around ‘the kid’
in the teahouse and the hiding of dead bodies are subtle indications of the group just having a lot of
fun while making their film. All of the actors put in great performances to match the mood though,
Philip Kwok in particular, although he’s pretty much always good. His fight scenes here are just
slightly better than his usual work I find, and he really gets to show off his acrobatic nature, not
to mention his definitive on screen presence. I hope the best for Philip now that he’s making a name
for himself as a fight choreographer, although I’ll never be a fan of Brotherhood of the Wolf. Tien
Sheng Lung as The Spearman is a welcome member to join the cast. I don’t think I’ve seen anything else
with him in it, but he’s very commanding once on screen. He’s the strong but silent type, but his
character calls for a huge amount of admiration. He’s skilled and impressive with his spear, but he
comes off charismatic, particularly when he’s showing off for his girlfriend. It’s really a shame that
he didn’t appear to have a very large career, but Chang Cheh makes everyone look better. Chieng Sheng
delivers his patented smart alek performance, proving once again why he deserves recognition right
along side any of the
‘official’ members of the Venoms Clan. No matter how serious the role he
plays may be, he brings a cheerfulness to it. It’s not that he’s incapable of playing a ‘heavy’, it’s
just that he’s so jovial that it comes through in whatever performance he may have. Lu Feng as Master
Chow is the bread and butter of the performances I find, he may not be as overly easy to get excited
about as Philip Kwok or such, but he puts in one of the greatest Shaw villain performances that doesn’t
involve elderly Kung Fu fighters. He is just evil in the film, about as nasty as it gets and the
strange thing is that it suits him so well. After one point in the film I thought to myself
“Wow,
this guy is a jerk!”, and trust me he is befitting of that title and many more. The performances
may be thought little of because of the seemingly worse English dubbing than usual. At this point in my
Old School Kung Fu watching career, I pretty much have names for the different voice actors from
hearing them from so many different films. The film seems to employ some of the lesser dubbing than
even usual though, for what reasons I took notice this time, I have no clue, but I just couldn’t help
but laugh at some of the rather inane dialogue spit out by our Kiwi voice actors. It’s not a negative
for the film, but it’s just one of those things you take a notice to. I mean, how many times can you
hear someone in agreement say
‘right!’ before bursting out in tears.
It’s funny that my Kid With the Golden Arms review would seem so negative even though I love that film,
but my Flag of Iron review seems far too overly positive. So far throughout this whole marathon I’ve
only gave one film a Stubbing Award, and I’m sad to say I have to give out yet another four. Flag of
Iron is a great film there’s no doubt about it, but for all the great and underrated aspects to it,
there’s not really any breaking free of the mold or setting foot on new ground. For what it is, it’s a
classic, but in the broader scheme of things it’s just another Chang Cheh/Venoms team up with just a
few missing Venom members. Do I recommend it? Highly! If you’re looking to add to your collection, you
can’t go wrong with Flag of Iron, but if you’re looking for films that break free from all stereotypes
you may know, then I might recommend you visit something else. For all the Kung Fu heads out there
though, if you haven’t got your grubby mitts on Flag of Iron you deserve to be scolded by your local
retailer for not searching the film down.
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