Circle of Iron

Way back in the day legendary martial artist/cinematic icon Bruce Lee set out, along with fellow actor and student James Coburn, to create a film with the intent of displaying the spiritual side of martial arts along with imparting some of their philosophical Zen beliefs. Brought in to assist the men was screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, also one of Lee's students, whose other works include In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and The Towering Inferno (1974). Anyway, the treatment, titled The Silent Flute, was finished, but apparently there was some difficulty in getting it made into a film, until about 5 years after Lee passed away, when producer Sandy Howard (A Man Called Horse, The Island of Dr. Moreau) took interest, bringing on director Richard Moore (The Wild Angels, Devil's Angels, Wild in the Streets) who claimed the original treatment `unfilmable', to which Howard hired screenwriter Stanley Mann (Damien: Omen II, Conan the Destroyer). Mann punched it up a bit, removed some of the more graphic material (both in terms of sex and violence, which, if kept in, would have resulted in an X rating for the film), tossed in a little humor, and eventually became this film titled Circle or Iron (1978), for better or worse. Starring in the film is David Carradine (Death Race 2000, Cannonball) and Jeff Cooper, whose previous gig had him playing Derek Thurston #1 on the TV soap `The Young and the Restless'. Also appearing is an interesting list of cinematic dignitaries including Christopher Lee (Dr. Terror's House of Horrors), Roddy McDowall (Planet of the Apes), and Eli Wallach (The Magnificent Seven).As the movie opens we are watching some sort of martial arts tournament, and the focus is on a character named Cord (Cooper), who looks a little like beefed up Peter Frampton, shaggy mane and all. The purpose of this tournament is to choose a champion, one who would have to endure three trials on a path to find a wondrous book, possessed by one called Zetan, which contains all the wisdom in the world. Anyway, Cord, who isn't affiliated with any school or restricted to any particular fighting style, easily makes it into the final match, but is ultimately disqualified due to not following the rules...if you're familiar with Bruce Lee, you might begin to see the similarities between the character of Cord and Lee as far as where they both were coming from, figuratively speaking, and their difficulties in working within the `establishment', hindered by those who need to pigeonhole people and concepts for their own sake of understanding and acceptance. Undeterred, Cord decides to go after the book despite his not being declared champion, and has a number of adventures, encountering all kinds of interesting individuals and groups including a blind flute player who generally answers questions with more questions (he also uses his three foot flute as a weapon, causing it to make interesting sounds when he fights), a tribe of monkey men, their leader (played by Carradine) garbed in Joseph's Technicolor dream coat, a nomadic troupe/tribe, who specialize in bacchanalian delights, led by Chang-Sha, played by an an Arab-y looking Carradine, a man purposely boiling his privates in oil, a band of gypsy horseback riding desperadoes, and even death itself in the form of a puma man (also played by Carradine). Will Cord find the strength, wisdom, and perseverance needed to confront Zetan for the ultimate prize? What the heck is in the book that makes it so sought after? I'm guessing secret recipes or perhaps the answer to why, when a piece of toast is dropped on the floor, it is always the buttered side that lands face down...I'm curious as to why the title of this film was changed from The Silent Flute to Circle of Iron...I think Carradine talks about it a little in his interview piece, as those who finally made the movie decided the original title was too confusing, so they opted for a more generic, less fitting, in my opinion, title for the film. Overall I thought this was an entertaining movie, one that stayed relatively true to Lee's original intent of focusing on the transcendental and philosophical aspects inherent within martial artistry, although I couldn't help get the sense it may have gotten watered down a little in the process, perhaps in a effort to make it more accessible to mass audiences. It's interesting that Carradine, who plays four, separate roles, was chosen to appear, since he also took on the lead in the 1972 television series Kung Fu, a vehicle created by Lee with the intent that Lee also star, but prevailing prejudices at the time chose to go with the Caucasian Carradine, making him appear Asian, rather than going with a real Asian in Lee himself. I thought Carradine, who was originally sought to play the part of Cord, but felt he had since 'graduated' from the role as the student, did very well, creating four, distinct characters, and nicely offset the awkwardness in Jeff Cooper's performance. Cooper has the physique, but lacked the required acting range, in my opinion, to properly portray his character , especially in terms of being an arrogant, naïve individual whose quest for a material object turns into a often dangerous journey of learning and self discovery. There are a number of interesting locations used, and the anamorphous fighting sequences were kept realistically within reason. I thought director Moore did very well keeping what was probably a difficult story to film on track and paced well. I did like the somewhat humorous revelation in terms of the book and the character of Zetan, played by Christopher Lee, even though the revelation itself was obvious, especially to anyone who's seen a number of chop socky films.The picture quality on this Blue Underground DVD release looks sharp, clean, and generally excellent, and is presented in wide screen (1.76:1), enhanced for 16 X 9 televisions. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono comes through well enough, and I had no complaints. There are a number of worthy extras including a newly recorded interview with David Carradine titled Playing the Silent Flute (13:55), an audio commentary track with director Richard Moore, a sort of dissertation titled Bruce Lee's The Silent Flute: A History by Davis Miller and Klae Moore, an alternative title sequence, a theatrical trailer, three 30 second TV spots, a poster & still gallery, and a DVD-ROM feature containing the first draft script by Bruce Lee, James Coburn, and Stirling Silliphant.Cookieman108By the way, did anyone understand the significance of the sequence with Eli Wallach as the man in the oil? Was it just a humorous interlude, or sort of representational allegory representative of some abstract concept?

Whatever his personal habits, David Carradine must have been the bane of Bruce Lee's life and afterlife. After losing out on the lead role in Kung Fu despite the show being developed as a starring vehicle for him, if Lee weren't dead by the time The Silent Flute aka Circle of Iron was made, the casting of Carradine in the multiple roles intended for Lee in one of his abandoned pet projects might just have killed him. Or maybe he simply wouldn't have cared anymore. Still, it's a wonder Carradine didn't turn up playing Lee's part in Game of Death as well.Originally written by Lee with James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant in 1970 until Lee's ego took over and he fell out with his collaborators and dropped out of a post-Fists of Fury attempt to revive the project because "you can't afford me anymore," the original version was intended as a mixture of hardcore Zen philosophy and scrotum scrunching hardcore violence that bore only passing resemblance to the film that finally got made. As other reviewers have noted, the heavily revised script is an attempt to explain Zen philosophy by people who don't really understand it, simplifying it and leavening it with humour to try and make it more accessible for the American grindhouse crowd. Well, one man's philosophy is another man's comedy...Jeff Cooper, who looks a bit like Michael Ironside on steroids with a lot more hair, is Cord the Seeker, a disgraced fighter with more brawn than brain seeking the right to search for Zetan and his Book of Enlightenment. Yes, it's one of those films. Okay, Cooper looks a bit old for this seeking lark, but he's game, but to get to Zetan he has to pass many challenges that all involve David Carradine in many guises - blind flute player, monkey king, hospitable kung fu fighting wife-swapper and death himself. Along the way he discovers humility, wisdom, that abstinence is as bad as excess, that monkeys are cowardly egotists, that you should break good looking children's noses to stop their beauty turning them into tyrants and that it's okay if your girlfriend gets crucified the morning after the night before just as long as you learn a fortune cookie parable about the nature of love in the process.The fights aren't especially impressive, neither particularly well choreographed nor excitingly shot, while Carradine's martial arts skills are surprisingly pallid in many scenes: his fight using his flute is a rather lethargic affair with none of the rather slow blows having the kind of impact and force Lee could have brought to them. If anything, he seems to just be tapping the stuntmen rather gently. The few star names in the cast - Christopher Lee, Roddy McDowall, Eli Wallach - are little more than cameos, though Wallach is an absolute joy in the film's most notorious scene as a man who has been dissolving his penis in a vat of oil for ten years to rid himself of the temptation of the pleasures of the flesh, as you do. With a playful, matter-of-fact absurdity worthy of Lewis Carroll, it's completely bonkers and funny in all the right ways. It's also nothing to do with Lee, Coburn or Silliphant but part of Stanley Mann's rewrite that added lots of dialogue and moved the story from the modern-day East to a mythical kingdom `that never was and always is' that looks a lot like Yugoslavia with better weather and the odd desert but is in fact Israel. Still, as you may expect from a film directed by a former cinematographer (Richard Moore), it looks good and has an occasionally fine Bruce Smeaton score that sounds at times like a dress rehearsal for his haunting work on Iceman. And while it's one of those films that is easy to mock, it's also one of those films that, even while it really isn't very good, is still just offbeat enough to make it hard to dislike.Blue Underground's 2-disc DVD is an impressive package, with a plethora of interviews - the most interesting an audio one with Stirling Silliphant - and the original Lee/Coburn/Silliphant script. The trailers are also revealing: the US distributors tried to sell it as an action film while the international trailer pitches it as `the first mystical martial arts adventure' as much to the arthouse crowd as action fans.

I admit it. I have loved, participated and taught numerous martial arts in my more than fifty years of training. I also love martial arts books, weapons and films. I have both seen and bought numerous movies as well as hundreds of books on the martial arts. This action packed movie, (Circle of Iron, which came from a story called "The Silent Flute" by the late Bruce Lee), is one of the very best martial arts films ever made. Even with the horrible acting and dubious fight scenes with the co-star Jeff Cooper, this movie stands out overall as a fantastic and meaningful film.The late David Carradine stars in this movie playing numerous parts and really carries the story. Other good actors in this tale include Christopher Lee and Eli Wallach. This is a story about a search for the ultimate knowledge of life which a great book is supposed to contain. In order to reach the summit where this book is kept by a group of quiet and peaceful monks, one has to meet various difficult challenges and tests along the way. There is a lot of Asian philosophical lessons to be learned and the final lesson is the most revealing, which I will not give away in this review. I have seen this movie at least ten times in the past and I still bought this recent DVD because I had lost the original VHS copy I had many years ago. This interesting and unique movie has a little bit of everything one could desire in a martial arts action movie, including great philosophical lessons about how one might live their life more meaningfully. "You can't step into the same river twice" (Heraclitis), but you can see this movie more than twice if you purchase the DVD.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: The Samurai Soul: An old warrior's poetic tribute)

At the height of his international fame, the legendary Bruce Lee-along with his friends and students James Coburn & Oscar winning screen writer Stirling Silliphant - began to write what he believed would be the greatest achievement of his film career. Five years after his death, Lee's vision would be realized. David Carradine (KILL BILL, Kung FU TV series) , Christopher Lee( Famous stage actor, STARWARS, THE LORD OF THE RINGS) , Roddy McDowell (PLANET OF THE APES, BATMAN THE ANIMATED TV SERIES) , & Eli Wallach (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY) star in this acclaimed cult hit that brings Lee's personal philosophy to the screen with a still potent combination of mysticism, philosophy, Humour, & Martial Arts.PS. David Carradine is not a real Martial Artist he was a dancer, the fight scenes had to be reshot & choreographed by Joe Lewis( Heavy Weight Karate & Kickboxing Champion, friend and former student of the late Bruce Lee. Watch the extras very interesting.

beautiful bruce lee film on zen buddhist philosophy,message at end of film with christopher lee as he opens the ultimate book of enlightenment what does cord the seeker of the truth see a mirror of himself in the book of enlightenment,meaning you do not look outside for material external security,becouse you will find it in your self,happyness,secutity,love,peace,harmony,mercy,compassion,forgiveness

Fantastic movie - part action kicker, part Zen tutorial. Carradine is wicked as the great wise man, and the bad-guys are so unbelievably good it's remarkable. 'Cord', our hero, travels around the countryside having fights, in order to reach the temple of infinite knowledge. The film starts with a fighting contest and really the plot sort of carries on in that vain. The philosophy is added by the blind man, our hero Carradine. He rescues Cord from his own innocence and ignorance and generally guides him on his quest. Of course when he meets the big boss-man, he's a nice guy - another one who went all the way - I won't spoil it by giving too much away. Fantastic. Highly entertaining and worth a shot even if you hate kung-fu movies.

Having owned a VHS copy of this film for many years now, I wanted to upgrade to DVD but despite searching for 'Silent Flute' under DVD, came up with nothing. Then one day the search engine led me to 'Circle of Iron' which I knew was a working title that Bruce Lee originally came up with. Why have they changed the name? Perhaps there is some legality to do with copyright, but it does make it confusing!Ok, now on the plus side. What can I say? Great film - one of my favourites if not my favourite. I bought the standard version rather than the 2 disc version and I'm more than happy with it. It might not have all the extras that the 2 disc version has to offer, but there is a good, if short, interview with David Carradine at the end. Even he expressed his puzzlement as to why 'Circle of Iron' was chosen as one of the working titles for the film. 'The Silent Flute' is much more appropriate. What is particularly good about the DVD version is that they've transferred it straight from the original negative (as stated on the back of the DVD case). The picture is crisp and sharp and you don't get that annoying little 'jump' at the beginning and in the middle of the film that you get on the VHS version. I can only think that the copy that was originally sent to the UK was either faulty or got jammed in the machine, as this problem is not present on the DVD version. All I can say is thank heavens they've finally released it on DVD. David Carradine puts a great performance in the four roles he takes and Jeff Cooper is good as the bumbling seeker of truth. There are some light-hearted moments in the film that help to balance out the more philosophical side of it and despite some of the criticisms that other reviewers have aimed at it, I think in essence it makes a good point. If only more people embraced the main concept in this film, maybe we wouldn't be killing each other in the name of our particular faiths and would feel more 'at cause' in our lives rather than taking the passive 'my fate lies in the lap of the Gods' approach. That having been said, you can either watch the film purely for entertainment value or think about the message. Either way, it remains a great film. A story that doesn't rely on the whizz-bang CGI effects of today's so called 'blockbusters'. Aye, now there's a point!

Good story with an interesting theme that exemplifies the philosophy of the late great Bruce Lee.