The Man With the Iron Fists

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The Man With the Iron Fists

R

Released Nov 2, 2012

1h 35m

Action

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

52%

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83 Reviews

40%

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25,000+ Ratings

In 19th-century China, a stranger (RZA) settles in a jungle village and becomes its blacksmith. Radical tribal factions force him to fashion elaborate tools of destruction, and the clans' conflict soon erupts into a full war. Knowing he must take action, the blacksmith channels an ancient energy to transform himself into a human weapon. Fighting beside iconic heroes, the blacksmith harnesses this incredible power to defend his adopted people from an army of soulless villains.

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Critics Consensus

Messy kung-fu homage The Man with the Iron Fists demonstrates a slavish affection for the genre it mimics, for better or worse.

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

One is occasionally infuriated by the archness of the exercise. But there is a charming innocence to Fists' faith in the values of 1970s cross-cultural exploitation.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 7, 2012

Full Review

Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

Predictably, this kind of gleeful fanboy excess yields diminishing returns. RZA hasn't much sense of storytelling rhythm, and lacks Tarantino's gift for turning adolescent obsessions into something uniquely personal.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 7, 2012

Full Review

David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

Thank goodness for Russell Crowe who gives a sardonic, who-gives-a-damn performance as one of the good guys.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 7, 2012

Full Review

Annalee Newitz

io9.com

In any case, Crowe's a hoot, RZA's instrumentals mostly deliver (save the occasional and baffling metal guitar), and I left the theater not lamenting that this movie exists. Good hustle, everybody.

May 23, 2018

Full Review

Sean Burns

Philadelphia Weekly

All that matters here are cockamamie anachronistic music cues, low-rent filmmaking and one spectacularly hammy turn from Russell Crowe.

May 3, 2015

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Jeremy Lebens

We Got This Covered

The Man with the Iron Fists is an off-balanced and bloated martial arts film that barely gets by on its gorgeous set design.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 17, 2013

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Audience Member

Watching this is always going to be good for me. The fighting scenes are great and the costumes are just as, if not, better.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/24/25

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Chief B

This is some serious garbage. When I heard about this movie, the Rza who did the kill Bill score and a Kung fu movie geek who incorporated Kung fu sounds and snippets from classic Kung fu movies in his hiphop productions and that Russell Crowe was in it I was happy and couldn't wait to see it.. But oh my God this movie is bad. And I mean really bad. The fight scenes are trash. The acting is trash. The sets and costumes look fake and plastic.. It's really bad

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/07/24

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Dick C

It's a very good film, The Man with the Iron Fists, 2012...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/01/23

Full Review

James B

sooo bad its good russell crowe was cool in film and so is rza cool film lots of action cool kung fu action

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/15/23

Full Review

Elvis D

Primero debo decir que siento que esta película está algo infravalorada, ya que las estadísticas muestran que no tuvo mucha aceptación, pero creo que merece algo de mención, ya que fue hecha en modo de homenaje a las clásicas películas de artes marciales del cine chino. Además, tiene un buen elenco, también buenas escenas de acción y escenas gore que fueron desarrolladas por Gregory Nicotero y Howard Berger. Tampoco se puede dejar de lado la banda sonora que tiene buenas canciones y una partidura compuesta por el mismo RZA. Para mí fue una buena película en su momento y me gusta pensar que películas de este tipo son un excelente ejemplo de como se tiene que hacer una adaptación live action de un anime. Yo le doy un 10/10.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/23

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Audience Member

If only it had a 2d platformer based off the movie this would get another 1/2 star.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

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RZA

Director

RZA

The Blacksmith

Russell Crowe

Jack Knife

Cung Le

Bronze Lion

Lucy Liu

Madame Blossom

Rick Yune

Zen Yi

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Blossom vs. Lion

1:40

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - My Name is Mr. Knife!

3:12

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Forging the Iron Fists

2:23

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Gears of Hell

2:34

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - The X-Blade

2:22

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Gemini Fight

3:27

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Fists of Vengeance

1:23

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - The Prostitutes' Revenge

2:13

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Brothel Battle

2:54

The Man With the Iron Fists: Official Clip - Brass Body vs. X-Blade

2:09

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Synopsis

In 19th-century China, a stranger (RZA) settles in a jungle village and becomes its blacksmith. Radical tribal factions force him to fashion elaborate tools of destruction, and the clans' conflict soon erupts into a full war. Knowing he must take action, the blacksmith channels an ancient energy to transform himself into a human weapon. Fighting beside iconic heroes, the blacksmith harnesses this incredible power to defend his adopted people from an army of soulless villains.

Director: RZA
Producer: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Eli Roth
Screenwriter: RZA, Eli Roth
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Arcade
Rating: R (Brief Drug Use|Bloody Violence|Language|Strong Sexuality)
Genre: Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 2, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 4, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.6M
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS

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