Circle of Iron

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Circle of Iron

R

Released Jan 19, 1979

1h 42m

Adventure

Fantasy

Action

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Popcornmeter

43%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

59%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In a mystical desert kingdom, young martial arts fighter Cord (Jeff Cooper) loses a contest to determine who will journey to take the powerful Book of All Knowedge from Zetan (Christopher Lee), an evil wizard. Despite his lack of a sponsor, Cord's rule-breaking nature leads him to try retrieving the book anyway. Help is offered by a mysterious blind man (David Carradine) who gives advice as Cord fights his way through multiple opponents, discovering more about himself as he gets closer to Zetan.

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Times (UK) Staff

The Times (UK)

The hardest work, however, was done in the sound dubbing studio, making all those back-slapping whip-cracking, bone-crushing noises.

Jul 14, 2020

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Without Lee's charisma or guidance, the movie never sparks to life.

Jul 6, 2007

Full Review

Ryan Cracknell

Movie Views

Five years after his untimely death, Lee's vision project was finally made. Whether or not it's truly his vision, the world will never know. One thing is for sure though - this is one confusing, self indulgent and often tedious film.

Jun 10, 2007

Full Review

Bill Gibron

PopMatters

By downplaying the physical and emphasizing the cerebral (or in some cases, the spiritual) Lee was looking to take the genre to another level. For that alone (Circle of Iron) is very important.

Rated: 3/5

May 24, 2007

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Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Rated: 2/5

Oct 8, 2005

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Aug 21, 2005

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the r

Fairy tale like story produced in true great B movie fashion. B movies back then had inventive production techniques, great original musical scores and usually a well written story with at least a few great actors. The naivety that some B movies had were its strengths not its weakness. Circle of Iron had all the making of a great B movie and is a testament to its time. In a land that never was with characters that always are, Circle of Iron takes you on a Zen journey for the answers we all seek in life. This movie is a classic. For the haters of this movie, rest assured these type of movies will never be made again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/08/25

Full Review

Eric G

Another idea by Bruce Lee ruined by David Carradine. Also a very poor representation of Eastern Philosophy. This film claims to show Buddhist beliefs, but it really only touches on one at the very end of the film. Lots of bad acting, boring challenges, bad fighting and poor excuses for wisdom.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/16/25

Full Review

Mike W

The movie was hard to watch to it's finish. I wish I had done something else. The dialogue was so full of riddles it left one thinking who cares. Two birds locked together with 4 wings, but cannot fly, OK, deep.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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annette Z

a really weird movie

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/08/24

Full Review

lance c

A really neat movie written by Bruce Lee & James Coburn. It is highly dialogue driven and starts slow, but it was a lot of fun to watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Unfairly panned. Great story, beautiful scenery and photography, and pretty much everyone BUT the star (Jeff Cooper) was very good, Carradine was great in a variety of roles and even Jeff had a few good moments. Despite its faults, one of my favorite movies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Richard Moore

Director

David Carradine

The Blind Man

Jeff Cooper

Cord

Roddy McDowall

White Robe

Eli Wallach

Man-in-Oil

Erica Creer

Tara

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Synopsis

In a mystical desert kingdom, young martial arts fighter Cord (Jeff Cooper) loses a contest to determine who will journey to take the powerful Book of All Knowedge from Zetan (Christopher Lee), an evil wizard. Despite his lack of a sponsor, Cord's rule-breaking nature leads him to try retrieving the book anyway. Help is offered by a mysterious blind man (David Carradine) who gives advice as Cord fights his way through multiple opponents, discovering more about himself as he gets closer to Zetan.

Director: Richard Moore
Producer: Paul Maslansky, Sandy Howard
Screenwriter: Stirling Silliphant, Stanley Mann
Production Co: Sandy Howard/Richard St. Johns Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 1979, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 6, 2017
Runtime: 1h 42m

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