Although this colorful, weapons-heavy Shaw Brothers martial arts extravaganza about warring clans in China has epic-style pretentions, ultimately it’s a film whose plot and action are too thin to merit the two-hour-plus running time. This new Blu-ray version does kick the film’s visual qualities up a notch, however, despite its broader failings. In Flag of Iron, directed by Chang Cheh, we have two rival clans at each others’ throats: the titular Iron Flag and Holy Eagle.
The Iron Flag faction, in addition to being snappy dressers, have taken it upon themselves to be the protectors of the local village and make no bones about their dedication to virtue and general upstanding behavior. Naturally, Holy Eagle are caricatured baddies, involved in everything the Iron Flag folks deem a scourge on society, including prostitution, gambling, and other assorted vices.
Whereas their rivals are protectors of the people, the Holy Eagle mob is happy to use and exploit the peasantry for their own ends. The rivalry really kicks into gear when a Holy Eagle assassin known as “the Spearman” kills the leader of Iron Flag. When Chao Feng steps in to fill the tragically vacated position of clan leader, everything seems back to normal again, until we learn that Chao Feng isn’t all he’s cracked up to be—that is, he betrays the trust of his comrades and begins working clandestinely with the amoral Eagle clan.
Of course, in the middle of all this is some reasonably well-choreographed martial arts swordplay (and some flag play, of course) and hand-to-hand combat, all in all, pretty average moves for a Shaw Brothers flick. If Flag of Iron had been cut, say, by 30 minutes or so, this could have been a top-of-the-line kung fu film to remember. Nevertheless, Shaw Brothers completists will be happy to get their hands on this flashy new Blu-ray reissue.
Would this film be suitable for an outdoor screening?
Yes, the colorful visuals and large-scale fight choreography make for a good outdoor screening, especially for martial arts-themed library programming or as a fundraiser for a karate classroom.