"Circle of Iron" is a movie that looks beyond the action of martial arts into the mystique and philosophy associated with it. It was originally intended to be made by Bruce Lee, but he died before it could be brought to the screen, so David Carradine steps in to fill the role.
How well the movie accomplishes it's goal depends on how seriously you take eastern philosophies. It's all too easy to watch a few minutes of it and dismiss it as some weird barbarian movie with lots of karate. It is decidedly low budget.
However, if you watch the movie and *listen* to what it's trying to tell, it's extremely engrossing, as it addresses questions and concepts that all of us wonder about at some time or another.
The man making the journey in this movie, "Cord," is acceptable, if a rather generic role. David Carradine plays several roles, but his most striking is that of an eerie blind man who fights off his opponents with a hollow staff that whistles as he twirls it.
This is a hard movie to find, but it does crop up sometimes on late night TV or cable, and is worth checking out.
How well the movie accomplishes it's goal depends on how seriously you take eastern philosophies. It's all too easy to watch a few minutes of it and dismiss it as some weird barbarian movie with lots of karate. It is decidedly low budget.
However, if you watch the movie and *listen* to what it's trying to tell, it's extremely engrossing, as it addresses questions and concepts that all of us wonder about at some time or another.
The man making the journey in this movie, "Cord," is acceptable, if a rather generic role. David Carradine plays several roles, but his most striking is that of an eerie blind man who fights off his opponents with a hollow staff that whistles as he twirls it.
This is a hard movie to find, but it does crop up sometimes on late night TV or cable, and is worth checking out.