Pssst, want to check out Da jue dou in our new look?
Information
- A.k.a.
- Duel of the Iron Fist
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 113 min.
- Director
- Cheh Chang
- Genres
- Action, Drama
- Rating *
- 7.1
- Votes *
- 329
- Checks
- 40
- Favs
- 4
- Dislikes
- 0
- Favs/checks
- 10.0% (1:10)
- Favs/dislikes
- 4:0
Top comments
-
Siskoid
In the Shaw Brothers pic The Duel, Chang Cheh outdoes himself as far as violence and bloodshed go, and your enjoyment of the film may be tempered by the number of knife fights and the amount of torture you can stomach. It's really a crime drama of the kind Scorsese excels in (with 1000% more knife fights), which brews to a duel between uneasy allies who first must topple a (more corrupt than most) criminal empire. The music is distracting - I don't think director Chang can sell me on his use of Also Spake Zarathustra unless the monolith imparts the heroes with knife skills - but you can otherwise see why Chang Cheh is considered Shaw Brothers' premiere director. Dynamic camera work, moody lighting, a real sense of atmosphere, together with a 30s or 40s setting that allows for exploration of scenes not possible in most of the Shaw Brothers' output, give the film a unique look. I was actually surprised to discover it was released in 1971 because much of Chang's later work is a lot less inventive. Not as iconic as Five Deadly Venoms or One-Armed Swordsman, but one of of his more interesting efforts, in my opinion. 8 years 9 months ago