Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks (2019) Martial Arts Cinema Documentary

[Mike Leeder]

I was interviewed amongst some solid Hong Kong talent for this upcoming documentary covering the evolution and intl appeal of the martial arts movie from old school to new school and beyond, it makes its debut at Melbourne International Film Festival

had to rock a 36 Styles shirt of course for the interview... was funny as we touched on The Matrix and i was shooting Loveland a sci-fi thriller in Hong Kong with Hugo Weaving at the time....

 

 

 

[AlbertV]

Looking forward to this and hearing your words Mike. 

[DragonClaws]

 

'Iron Fists And Kung Fu Kicks': Melbourne Review -  "A dynamic and informative journey through martial arts movies"

 

Quote

As frenetic and fun as the genre it celebrates, Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks takes a kinetic ride through martial arts movies, charting their evolution from the Shaw Brothers’ huge Hong Kong hits to the eye-popping abilities of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and their impact upon today’s YouTube stars. Breadth, rather than depth, drives Serge Ou’s affectionate documentary, but the result is an entertaining package filled with thrilling clips, informative interviews and infectious enthusiasm, with the upbeat film destined to land a firm blow with eager cinephiles. 

Link- https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks-melbourne-review/5141935.article

 

[whitesnake]

Posted at https://variety.com/2019/film/news/iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks-documentary-digital-release-1203326109/ and picked up at https://filmcombatsyndicate.com/iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks-serge-ous-fantastic-fest-martial-arts-cinema-doc-opens-on-september-17/ 

Serge Ou, Australian director of documentaries and TV series documentaries, has a new documentary, Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks, which was recently shown at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The U.S. premiere will be at the 2019 Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX, on September 19 - 26.  Description from the fantasticfest.com website - https://fantasticfest.com/films/iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks 

- "Filling a long overdue gap with a thoroughly examined, endlessly entertaining, and utterly wonderful documentary looking at the width and breadth of the history of kung fu movies, IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS is a blazing roundhouse of a film that splits at the seams with interviews, anecdotes, and utterly outrageous memories.

Starting in the early ‘60s with the establishment of the Shaw Brothers studio, and traveling all the way to the current stars of the genre, director Serge Ou chooses the best of the best to demonstrate how kung fu movies became a global phenomenon. Interviewing everyone from experts like Grady Hendrix, to stars Cheng Pei-Pei and Cynthia Rothrock, as well as choreographer/directors like Yuen Woo-Ping and many, many more, IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS is paced to match the martial arts films that are its subject, and breathlessly takes the audience on a journey from Hong Kong to New York to Australia and more.

A brilliant historical artifact, a terrific anecdotal piece, and an incredible excuse to rediscover the gems of kung fu cinema that may not have been visited in a while, IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS is a breath of fresh air. Delivering long overdue respect at the door of a genre that has and continues to inspire countless artists working within the industry, this is a historical thrill ride practically custom-made for Fantastic Fest. (EVRIM ERSOY)"

From Variety - "Giant Pictures has acquired worldwide digital rights excluding SVOD and Australi/New Zealand" to the documentary.  "The film will be released on digital platforms and DVD on Sept. 17 to coincide with the Fantastic Fest premiere... Digital platforms for release include Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, udu, FandangoNow, Xbox, and Redbox. DVD online retailers are Walmart.com, Best Buy, and Barnes & Noble." 

Trailer - 

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

@Mike Leeder who appears in the film, made a post about this porudction here too.

 

 

[whitesnake]

Sorry.  I did a search for the director (Serge Ou) and "Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks" and got zero results.  Someone should merge these threads.

[DragonClaws]

9 minutes ago, whitesnake said:

Sorry.  I did a search for the director (Serge Ou) and "Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks" and got zero results.  Someone should merge these threads.

 

No problem, and no need to be sorry. The search function has never been great on this site.

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[whitesnake]

From movie review at https://screenanarchy.com/2019/09/letrange-2019-review-iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks-martial-art-cinema-dynasties-come-and-go-its-legac.html 

"Where were you when Neo said he knew Kung Fu? Where were you when Ong Bak landed its proverbial elbows in your eye holes? Where were you when The Raid changed the game once again? Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks reminds us that there will always be these moments in martial arts cinema.  The vitality of the genre means that it is always changing and always challenging itself to do more, to stretch the limits, to bring it each and every time. The foundation has been laid down before us and it is unshakable. How artists and creators duck and weave on it is where the excitement lies now."

[DragonClaws]

 

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Don’t miss this upcoming documentary on martial arts cinema from Serge Ou featuring Scott and many other martial arts stars.

“Like you said, if it was straight to video days, Scott would be Van Damme. He would be the guy. And not only that, but Scott can act. His work ethic is incredible. He can act and he’s really good at what he does. He should be a superstar. That’s what I’m hoping Ip Man 4 does for him. Because he deserves it. He so deserves it. But it’s really hard because a lot of stuff just doesn’t get any oxygen anymore with the Marvel universe out there.”

Source- https://en-gb.facebook.com/officialscottadkins/

 

Fantastic Fest 2019: IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS Interview With Director Serge Ou

Scott Adkins is discussed, as is Cynthia Rothrock, break dancing, gun fu, & more

Link-https://cinapse.co/fantastic-fest-2019-iron-fists-and-kung-fu-kicks-interview-with-director-serge-ou-fce63d5c6f53
 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

So I watched about half. Very kinetic and trying to cut way, way too fast. I suppose they thought the subject was too lowbrow to actually relax and do it thoroughly. There are nice insights, but I am going to give it a C+. I liked some of the history of the effect in the hood, etc, but just too many jump cuts. I must admit I agreed with the fellow about Bruce Exploitation films, craptastic!

[Drunken Monk]

I really enjoyed this. @NoKUNGFUforYU is right; it moves at a rapid pace, but it goes over a lot of topics and some I had no clue about. Cynthia Rothrock’s career, for example.

I think it had a large scope hut pulls it off. Skips over a few things here and there but, all in all, a fun and in-depth watch. I hope more people give it a go.

[AlbertV]

I watched it last night and despite the rapid pacing, really enjoyed hearing @Mike Leeder and Grady Hendrix (big fan of his since he co-founded the NY Asian Film Festival. I actually went to the 1st one back in the day and recently interviewed him for his script turned film Satanic Panic), but seeing Amy Johnston and Scott Adkins interviewed as well as quite a delight. Overall, a pretty fun documentary. 

[DragonClaws]

22 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

So I watched about half. Very kinetic and trying to cut way, way too fast. I suppose they thought the subject was too lowbrow to actually relax and do it thoroughly. There are nice insights, but I am going to give it a C+. I liked some of the history of the effect in the hood, etc, but just too many jump cuts. I must admit I agreed with the fellow about Bruce Exploitation films, craptastic! 

 

Are thre any sections on Korea and Taiwanese Kung Fu cinema?, for me these subjects just too vast to put into one film. I wonder if the makers of the movie viewed these forums at all, during the making of process?.

 

Excessive hyper editing is something that ruins any good Martial Arts movie fight. Maybe they felt it was the only way to cram in all the content?. If they had let the actual films clips breath, that would have upped the run-time greatly?. Sadly a lot of quick cuts means you don't really appreciate or see the physical talent of the men and women being showcased. This looks like it aimed at a much wider audience than just the Kung Fu movie die hards. Which might answer the short attention span style of quick cut editing?. Or as you already pointed out, maybe they felt the old school clips couldnt stand up to closer inspection/or the scrutiny of younger audicnes brought up on Marvel,MTV and YouTube clips.

 

That said, I still intend to see this and I'm looking forward to catching it at somepoint in the future.

[Drunken Monk]

23 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Are thre any sections on Korena and Taiwanese Kung Fu cinema?

Not really. They briefly mention Korea in regards to Bruceploitation but it's no more than that.

[DragonClaws]

19 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

Not really. They briefly mention Korea in regards to Bruceploitation but it's no more than that.

 

Thanks @Drunken Monk, these two countries would be worthy of a whole film them-selves. It must have been really hard condensing this documentary down into a neat run-time. Knowing that some areas simply couldnt be covered for practical reason's.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I think the director got too cut up in putting his "stamp" on it. He should have just had the people that were interesting ramble on more, etc. For us, we would want a mini-series, like the Shaw Bros documentary on HBO or was it Showtime, with Sam Jackson narrating, which was very informative. I think they wanted to make it Hip Hop. Anyway, plenty of little tidbits, though.

[DragonClaws]

On 12/4/2019 at 9:16 PM, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

I think they wanted to make it Hip Hop. Anyway, plenty of little tidbits, though.

 

I'll take your word for it  @NoKUNGFUforYU

 

if there's one face they need to interview in any furture Martial Arts movies tribute/documentary, it's Dean Shek. An actor that has sparked a lot of discussion online. Yet he must have an interesting first hand insight, into the glory year's of the genre. Not to mention an extensive filmography that covers a few sub genres.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

13 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

 

I'll take your word for it  @NoKUNGFUforYU

 

if there's one face they need to interview in any furture Martial Arts movies tribute/documentary, it's Dean Shek. An actor that has sparked a lot of discussion online. Yet he must have an interesting first hand insight, into the glory year's of the genre. Not to mention an extensive filmography that covers a few sub genres.

He's only 69, so younger than a lot of the other old school guys and still out there. A couple of quick clips of him on youtube. He likes cigars and seems quite happy. Many of these actor invested in real estate, at least the ones that were smart, so it looks like he was in that category. This is according to my brother in law. I will ask about Dean Shek the next time I see him. You can also look in Jayne Stars but nothing about him lately. His last film was The Bodyguard.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I've got to find time to watch this. Shame to hear that it's got such quick cutting, which seems to be here to stay. I find it especially annoying when watching BTS stuff on Blu-rays. The features for the Marvel movies are like this. They're showing a crew member, you barely have time to read their name and job, and you've already missed the footage they showed. I watch these extras with the pause and rewind buttons in full use. 😉

[Omni Dragon]

On 12/4/2019 at 7:50 PM, DragonClaws said:

Excessive hyper editing is something that ruins any good Martial Arts movie fight. Maybe they felt it was the only way to cram in all the content?

Seemed more of a style choice to me. It felt to me like the narrative was constructed with sound bites from the interviews.

[sym8]

Just watched this on Netflix and loved it.As some people have commented the quick cuts can be a bit annoying but still very enjoyable.What I found odd was the bit towards the end where they go on about the YouTube generation and how they do there thing with fight choreography etc but have Eric Jacobus interviewed but no footage of what he and the stunt people were doing.Great documentary though👍👍👍👍