Iron Monkey is a 1995 martial arts action movie by director Woo-Ping Yuen who came into his own with his involvement in The Matrix (1999). Iron Monkey stars Yu Rongguang who plays sort of a Robin Hood-type character stealing from the rich to help the poor and Donnie Yen who is a martial arts expert and father to Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-Hung.

Shout Factory released Iron Monkey on Blu-ray which includes the original Hong Kong edit of the film with new supplementary materials and some legacy content. The image quality is probably as best as this movie is ever going to look. You can tell that while being visually stunning – it wasn’t the highest-budget film at the time. Regardless the story is fun and the action a treat with the movie only slowing down briefly in the middle for a pointless comedy scene where Yu Rongguang’s character impersonates a high official.

New to the Shout Factory Blu-ray release:

  • NEW Audio Commentary With Hong Kong Filmmaker And Academic Gilbert Po And Critic Sean Tierney
  • NEW Scoring A Fresh Take – Composer James L. Venable On His Soundtrack For The Original American Release
  • NEW International Iron – Writer Richard Epcar Reflects On Bringing Iron Monkey To The West
  • New From Monkey Business To The Big Time – Film Critic Ricky Baker Discusses The Rise To Stardom Of Donnie Yen

Legacy content included on the Blu-ray release:

  • Interview With Actor Donnie Yen
  • Interview With Producer Tsui Hark
  • Interview With Actor Yu Rong-Guang
  • Interview With Actor Li Fai
  • Interview With Actor Angie Tsang Sze-Man
  • Iron Fist: A Look Behind The Action Of Iron Monkey With Yuen Cheung-Yan
  • Shadow Boxing With Alex Yip
  • Footage Of Li Fai And Angie Tsang Sze-Man Competing At The 2003 Wushu Championships
  • Original Theatrical Trailer

Iron Monkey Blu-ray Review Shout Factory Final Thoughts:

Overall Iron Monkey on Blu-ray from Shout Factory is a great package with some nice new extras. The commentary track was interesting to watch but not as academic as most fans have gotten used to with some of the well-known speakers like Frank Djeng. This is a great release for martial arts fans as this movie stands the test of time alongside most other pre-CGI era kung fu movies and is one of the best showcases for Donnie Yen.