Hasn't anyone seen Circle of Iron (1978)????

I've been searching the movie forums for any mention of the movie Circle of Iron - a movie written, in part, by Bruce Lee. The starring role - or I guess I should say roles, plural, seeing as this actor plays 4 different characters (The Blind Man/Monkeyman/Death/Chang-Sha) - while originally written for Bruce Lee to play, had to be re-cast due to his untimely death. So who filled Bruce Lee's shoes in this instance? DAVID CARRADINE!!!!! Those scenes in kill bill 2 where the Bride (I won't use her name for those of you who haven't seen it) lays next to the fire while listening to Bill play his flute (bamboo flute, and in all likelihood, one that Mr. Carradine himself made, since he himself made 3 of these flutes for Circle of Iron) and impart his wisdom to her are dead ringers for scenes in Circle of Iron. In Circle of Iron, at an annual martial arts contest, the prize is the right to quest for Zetan and the Book of Enlightenment. Cord (Jeff Cooper), a man w/no school, wins the fight, but is disqualified. Cord follows The Chosen One anyways, who dies in the 1st trial and sends Cord in his place. Before the 1st trial, Cord meets the Blind Man (Carradine) who becomes his teacher. The Blind Man plays a bamboo flute that only Cord can hear, which he also uses as a walking staff and a formidable weapon (too cool - it whistles as it cuts through the air when he's fighting, and small bells are attached to it, so every other step is punctuated by the ring of these bells when the staff hits the ground. Not exactly a classic, but this movie was one of my favorite ones to find playing on Sunday afternoon when I was a kid - the trials are fanciful, and I thought it was cool. When I got older and saw it again, I then realized it was also the Zen precepts and delving into the philosophy behind martial arts that kept me so enraptured whenever I have seen it. "...there is no meaning in life except the meaning that man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers."

Other brilliant movie references in kill bill 2 made by QT: Bill's 1st line fireside w/the Bride "Once upon a time...in China," (I was the only person in the theater who laughed, I think) and, of course - Daryl Hannah's 1st movie: BLADERUNNER. Pris and Elle have notably similar death scenes, or am I the only person who thinks so?

Yes! I'm aware of that movie! I been searching for this film for almost a year. Is a very rare Kung fu classic. From what I heard it was never air on national tv (USA). You can find it on VHS and I think it hasn't been transfer to DVD yet.

You also correct Daryl was in Blade runner (my all time favorite sci fi movie) but Pris gets shot by the Blade runner whereas Elle doesn't appear to be death. She only loses her sight. We don't know if she is death or not.

I'll keep my search for Circle of Iron! That's one movie I really want watch soon! 🙂

Well, once you see Circle of Iron, yoiu'll totally know what I'm talking about....and as for Pris/Elle, I was referring to their spazzing out - Daryl Hannah was obviously recreating that performance. Also, didn't you love the way the bathroom suddenly became like this huge room inside the camper? All tiled and everything! that's the same kind of room Pris was in during her death scene....I've never seen a bathroom like that in any camper I've ever been in, you?

Oh I see what you are saying. Yeah it is fairly similar. That's true the camper seem to gotten bigger during the fight. Good point!

did you laugh, too, at "Once upon a time....in China...."??

I saw that movie once, and while I am a kung fu movie aficianado I found this movie to be the very worse...It may have been written by B. Lee, but the core story and philosophy may have been taken out of content of what he may have intended it to be, or not.

As for the choreographed fight scene, I've seen students as young as 10 with little if any training fight better. I did not expect it to be on par as today's fight scene, but the kung fu movies out at the time were better compared to that. A classic yes, for those who appreciate it. The actor who played Cord was in my opinion miscast not for the character portrayed, but for the fact he did not belong within the setting of the movie.

He looked more like a hippy traversing the land in search of something...

Watching D. Carradine as the blind man was too reminescent of his show Kung Fu, no deviation from either character...If it weren't for the fact he played a blind man, it may as well have been the movie version of that now defunct show...

Even for its time, the movie in my estimate rank somewhere between "Attack of the Killer tomatos" and "Phantom of Paradise"...

Moni: That movie was called "The Silent Flute" over here in the UK and I recall being super excited about it when we first saw it - being huge Carradine fans and it being Co written by James Coburn no less.

I agree with the other poster that Jeff Cooper wasn't exactly perfect as the lead: but I can't help but have have a real soft spot for this film.

Mr. Zero, my hero...it wasn't this movie's merit as an outstanding martial arts flick that I remember so fondly....it was mmore the whole fantastical fantabulous way it just has this way of this way of grabbing me....plus it does delve DEEPLY into the whole Zen precepts thing.....

And, just as a refresher: I actually posted about this movie originally because I wanted to know if anyone else who's seen Circle of Iron and Kill Bill Vol 2 noticed the obvious correlation between these two movies....as I said, in the scenes where Bill sits by the fire in the desert across from the Bride, playing his bamboo flute and sharing his little bits of wisdom with her.

So, what say you all?

Also, yes, I did know that it was originally released with a different title - I just figured I'd gone on for long enough about this movie....y'know?

i have just downloaded this film from Emule...

700MB... you could do it too... great image quality...
I have just one little problem... As I am gonna show it to my mom, who loves this film, and it's gonna be a great surprise for her, I NEED desperately the portuguese subtitles for it.. if ANYONE could help me out here, I would be completely happy and forever greatful...

If you cannot find it or help me, the subtitles in english would be perfect to, because i can (and will if necessary) translate it...

Ah.. answering someones question above, it has already been transferred to DVD... because i have a great DivX with it.. and for its quality, it's quite impossible to have taken it from VHS...

tks in advance for any help ANYONE could give me...

Fernando Krazy

Fernando - this movie has been released on DVD - I don't remember whether or not it had Portugese subtitltes on it or not, but the DVD I rented from my video store definitely had the English subtitles on it; next time I go there, I'll take a look at who distributed the title on DVD; that way you can check with them about where to find it in your neighborhood, ok?

Oh... it's impossible to find it here in my neighbourhood... This film (because of its rareness) is the hardest thing to find here in Brazil, And believe me, I have searched for it in MANY PLACES.. and i found only in one video store, but it was a bad old VHS copy... alomst impossible to watch...
The day I wrote to this forum, I kept searching for subtitle on the net.. I found them, but in four languages... Dannish, Finnish, Norwish and swedish(Str)... Eheheh And I started translating one of them... It's been a hard work you know ?!?
eehhehe
If you have the chance of renting it again, would you take the english subtitltes ?!?!
the you could leave it here, or the link so that I can download it...
As I've seen at Amazon.Com, there's no subtitles in portuguese on the DVD... 🙁
But, anyway, thanks a lot for your help... I don't have idea on how it's importante for me.. I would like to have by the Christmas, that's the reason of my desperate....

Tks

Fernando Kràzy