Circle of Iron (1978)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Richard Moore

Writers:

Stirling Silliphant (screenplay) and
Stanley Mann (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 July 1978 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

The Challenge Of A Lifetime...

Plot:

A young martial artist, Cord the Seeker, competes for and loses the right to go on a quest for the Book of All Knowlege held by a wizard named Zetan...

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Caveman | Chop Socky | Sex | Fight To The Death

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Carradine	...	The Blind Man / Monkeyman / Death / Changsha
Jeff Cooper	...	Cord
Christopher Lee	...	Zetan
Roddy McDowall	...	White Robe
Eli Wallach	...	Man-in-Oil
Anthony De Longis	...	Morthond (as Anthony de Longis)
Earl Maynard	...	Black Giant
Erica Creer	...	Tara
Michael M. Vendrell	...	Martial Artist (as Michael Vendrell)
Leo Whang	...	Martial Artist
Donnie Williams	...	Martial Artist
Robert Gardner	...	Martial Artist
Tom Ascensio	...	Martial Artist

Also Known As:

The Silent Flute

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:15 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:18 | USA:R | Norway:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Bet Shean, Israel

Company:

Sandy Howard/Richard St. Johns Productions

Trivia:

During the filming of the fight sequences, David Carradine's nose was broken twice, his toe gouged and knee hurt.

Quotes:

Blind Man: A fish saved my life once.
Cord: How?
Blind Man: I ate him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

The meaning of martial arts

"Circle of Iron" is a movie that looks beyond the action of martial arts into the mystique and philosophy associated with it. It was originally intended to be made by Bruce Lee, but he died before it could be brought to the screen, so David Carradine steps in to fill the role.

How well the movie accomplishes it's goal depends on how seriously you take eastern philosophies. It's all too easy to watch a few minutes of it and dismiss it as some weird barbarian movie with lots of karate. It is decidedly low budget.

However, if you watch the movie and *listen* to what it's trying to tell, it's extremely engrossing, as it addresses questions and concepts that all of us wonder about at some time or another.

The man making the journey in this movie, "Cord," is acceptable, if a rather generic role. David Carradine plays several roles, but his most striking is that of an eerie blind man who fights off his opponents with a hollow staff that whistles as he twirls it.

This is a hard movie to find, but it does crop up sometimes on late night TV or cable, and is worth checking out.