Review of Circle of Iron (1978) by Mark D — 03 May 2009
Circle of Iron (a concept that was developed by Bruce Lee himself but was never alive to see it come to fruition) stars Jeff Cooper as Cord the Seeker in a fictional world where fighters engage in combat to be able to go on a quest to seek and defeat Zetan (Christopher Lee, who's a bit underused in this film, especially for being 2nd billed) and obtain the mystical Book of All Knowledge.
Naturally, all of those who seek the book never return, save for Cord who is eager to pass all of the trials in order to find the book. All of the trials lead him to fight off the great David Carradine, who plays a number of characters including a Monkeyman, Death, and Changsha.
His best character though is a blind wise man who shows up here and there to trade guidance and laughs in some fun scenes with Cooper. This was a decent 70's Martial Arts fantasy Exploitation film, but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, given the Death Race-sorta look to it.
Still, the fights are fun, and Carradine is always a pleasure to watch. A lot of the focus is paid on him, though Cooper manages to steal the movie away at times rightfully (he is the damn lead after all!).
Good film, though it concerns me greatly over how much of Lee's actual input made it to this film. It has a definite feel of catering moreso to an American audience with its abundance of Western aesthetics.
I can't help but feel as though only a small morsel of Lee's ideas made it to the finished product.
This review of Circle of Iron (1978) was written by Mark D on 03 May 2009.
Circle of Iron has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
