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Circle of Iron

Play trailer Poster for Circle of Iron R Released Jan 19, 1979 1h 42m Adventure Fantasy Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer 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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Circle of Iron

Critics Reviews

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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 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 2/5 Oct 8, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Aug 21, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Full Review 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 Read all reviews
Circle of Iron

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Movie Info

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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