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Blu-ray Review: THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2

Apr 19, 2015 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The Man With the Iron Fists 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first film. Blacksmith Thaddeus (RZA) has left Jungle Village and is now on a mission to find some monks who may be able to help him balance his chi and find inner peace. However, his journey is interrupted abruptly when he crosses paths with Silver Lion’s brother, who wants revenge. Thaddeus is knocked unconscious and falls into the ocean. He is washed ashore at the mining village of Tsai Fu, where he is found by Innocence (Pim Bubear), the daughter of Li Kung (Dustin Nguyen) and Ah Ni (Eugenia Yuan).

The villagers of Tsai Fu have been living under the oppressive rule of mine owner Master Ho (Carl Ng) and his Beetle Clan, who treat them like slaves. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Lord Pi seems to have returned, and is murdering the girls of the village. Tsai Fu’s disabled Mayor Zhang (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) can’t (or won’t) seem to do anything about the situation. So the villagers look to Li Kung, and the newly-arrived blacksmith to help them take back their home.

 

The original The Man With the Iron Fists was an over-the-top, campy kung fu film, that centered around several unique, magical fighters and clans making their way into town in a series of crazy, bloody, gory battles. The sequel, however, feels much more grounded in reality. There is a single, interesting, coherent storyline. This film focuses on the oppression of the people in Tsai Fu village and how they must rise up to take back the power. This time around, we get a much better sense of who each of the characters are, and their motivations. The tie to the first film is through Thaddeus, who is now on a quest for a more peaceful, spiritual outlook on life. While he doesn’t want to make weapons, he can see that these villagers need his help, and agrees to make them “tools”, which they can utilize however they see fit.

The story connection to first film is very loose, so it is not necessary to have seen it to fully enjoy this sequel. Like the first film, this sequel does not lack when it comes to action, however, it is generally a bit less shocking and gory. There is a fighting ring in the middle of town, and anyone can challenge anyone else (including Master Ho himself) to a fight. This serves as both a way to solve grievances, but also as a form of entertainment for the village. We see this used throughout the film as the Tsai Fu townsfolk challenge Master Ho’s Beetle Clan. These sequences provide some entertaining action with a mix of different fighting styles, but the real action comes at the end of the film with a spectacular all-out battle between the villagers, the Beetle Clan and the evil Lord Pi.

This film looks and sounds wonderful on this Blu-ray. The beautiful landscapes, underground mine and action-packed fight sequences all look crisp and clear, with no signs of artifacts. The director used drones to capture overhead footage of the big final blow-out and this footage blends seamlessly with the rest to provide an epic battle sequence. The audio track provides clear dialogue and sound effects that immerse the viewer in the action. The film’s soundtrack provides a unique blend of hip hop, spaghetti western and kung fu style score that sounds excellent on the Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray contains a small, but entertaining, collection of bonus features. These include almost 12 minutes of deleted scenes, an almost 13-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, and a feature-length audio commentary with the director/cinematographer and writer/producer/star of the film. The Blu-ray Combo-Pack also comes with DVD, Ultraviolet and iTunes copies of the unrated version of the film.



What’s Included:

Film: (1:29:39 rated, 1:30:25 unrated)

    Blu-ray:

    • 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
    • Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS Digital Surround 5.1, French DTS Digital Surround 5.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    DVD:

    • 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
    • Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    Digital Copy (For redemption deadline see NBCUcodes.com):

    • Unrated version of the film
    • UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Universal, Flixster or Vudu or CinemaNow
    • Digital Copy redeemable via iTunes

Extras:

  • Deleted Scenes (11:40)
    A collection of 8 deleted scenes. These include several fun scenes involving Cha Pow, a couple of fight scenes, and a glimpse into Li Kung’s backstory. Play All or select from “Walking Out of the Mine”, “Ah Ni and Innocence Discuss Thaddeus”, “Kung vs. Guards in Mine”, “Cha Pow Buys New Teeth”, “Duyan Questions the Crew”, “Thaddeus Has Cha Pow Bite an Apple”, “Innocence and Ah Ni Discuss Kung’s Past” and “The Battle Begins in the Mine: Kung vs. Ho”.
  • Chi Warriors: The Making of The Man With the Iron Fists 2 (12:42)
    A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. The cast and crew talk about working with the director, filming in Thailand, the costumes, and the stunts. There’s also a bit of a gag reel montage at the end. Features on-set footage and interviews co-writer/executive producer/star RZA, director/cinematographer Roel Reiné, co-producer Chris Lowenstein, SFX supervisor Alex Gunn, producer Ogden Gavanski, and actors Dustin Nguyen (“Li Kung”), Carl Ng (“Master Ho”), Eugenia Yuan (“Ah Ni”), Sahajak Boonthanakit (“Bolo”), Pim Bubear (“Innocence”), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (“Lord Pi”/”Mayor Zhang”) and Simon Yin (“Cha Pow”).
  • Feature Commentary
    Director/cinematographer Roel Reiné and executive producer/co-writer/star RZA provide an entertaining commentary throughout the film. They provide a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and talk about how the film came about, the cast, the story, the sets, the music and more.

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Recommended

The Man With the Iron Fists 2 feels like a classic kung fu tale of a small village learning to rise up and fight back against an oppressive ruler. I found this sequel to be even more enjoyable than the original film—the storyline felt much more coherent, and the characters more clearly-developed. (There is no need to have seen the first film in order to fully enjoy this one.) There is a lot of great action sequences and an epic battle at the end. The Blu-ray picture and audio quality are excellent, and the disc contains a small amount, but really entertaining collection of bonus features. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys kung fu films, or just an action film with a story.