Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The Venoms films are well regarded amongst Shaw Brothers fans as some of the best of the studio's output. THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS and RETURN OF THE DEADLY VENOMS (aka CRIPPLED AVENGERS) are two of their classic films which most fans will have seen, but they also made loads of other movies along the way, pretty much all of them stand alone titles, and THE FLAG OF IRON is such a film.And the good news is that this is an exceptional bit of entertainment and one of Chang Cheh's very best movies. It's a vibrant and colourful film with a complex yet easily understandable storyline full of intrigue, betrayal, and double crossing. There's mystery and suspense in spades, and of course the narrative is bolstered by a series of madly exciting fight scenes which help to tell and develop the storyline instead of just being added in for the sake of having some action.Nearly all of the Venoms are present in this one, and they're at the top of their game. Phillip Kwok is the best I've seen him, playing the loyal warrior who ends up being exiled and working undercover as a waiter. The segment of the film in which he's attacked by a series of outlandish assassins is my favourite and great, imaginative stuff. Watch out for the guy with the killer abacus, of all things! Chiang Sheng lends solid support as Kwok's buddy while Lu Feng takes a typical role and yet adds layers to it.Lung Tien Hsiang is a little weak as the white robed rambler, a non-Venom added to the story, but he's certainly adequate enough all things considered. As usual, Chang Cheh is the real star of the show, bringing to life the gorgeous sets and costumes in a special way and shooting the action with his usual verve and dynamism. Yes, there is some 'flag fu' in this film, particularly towards the end of the picture, although it's not overdone. There is plenty of violence and bloodshed in the best Shaw tradition, however. Having loved every minute of FLAG OF IRON, I can only describe this as a masterpiece.

The arrogant but righteous members of the Iron Flag Clan aren't above getting in the face of members of the rival Eagle Hall Clan (who wear headbands with- what else- eagle feathers thrust through them). (And, while I'm on the subject of costumes: I happen to like the Iron Flag uniforms- black, with red trim, and black capes with red inner lining worthy of Hammer's Dracula. The costumes in most of these period pieces are excellent, and are worthy of the comic book superheroes whose exploits I loved as a child.) (And everybody in this one sports sideburns that would make Elvis envious.) The idea of using spears as flags was neat (as if, in being merely flags, they were somehow harmless and NOT weapons). When our hero, Luo Xin (Phillip Kwok), nicknamed The Iron Panther, gets tricked into leaving the Iron Flag Clan, he's hunted down and attacked by nearly a dozen assassins. One of the more interesting is an accountant, whose collapsible ABACUS is his weapon of choice. When Luo confronts the man, the assassin asks Luo what he thinks the assassin is up to. Luo's response is classic: "Calculating a dead man's debt." This, naturally, triggers an attack. One of Chang Cheh's best.

Talky and moderately convoluted, this lesser "Venom" film has moments that will make a Shaw fan reasonably happy.Phillip Kuo once again carries another Chang Cheh production with his charm and remarkable acrobatic expertise. This time he plays a cocky martial art clan member, Iron Panther who along with his training brother Iron Monkey (Sheng Chiang) delights in tormenting members of the rival clan who indulge in immoral things like running a gambling parlor and brothel. His trouble making leads to an ambush where his clan master is killed. To protect the clan his elder brother, played by Lu Feng, bribes the police and sends Iron Panther far away until the furor dies down. In the middle of this is a mysterious stranger, the White Robed Rambler (say that fast), who wields a curious set of short spears. This being a rather typical kung fu drama, there are a number of betrayals that lead to the final showdown with flags.Very talky at times but unfortunately without a really interesting set of characters. The White Robed Rambler is very blandly played. Someone like David Chiang would have been perfect in the part. The betrayals are unsurprising and if you have seen this type of film before, very predictable. The fights are well done and the finale is unusual but really a way to show off the Venoms acrobatic training. Flag stunts are typical in Chinese acrobatic troupes.OK but too long at 2 hours.

FLAG OF IRON (1980, aka SPEARMAN OF DEATH) is a historical kung fu adventure starring three of the five actors-martial artists collectively known as the Five Venoms. The most versatile of the Venoms, Kuo Chui (aka Philip Kwok), plays a clan member who volunteers to go into exile to take the heat off his group after a fight with a rival gang. When he returns he finds that his old boss (played by Lu Feng, another Venom), for whom he took the rap, has merged with the rival gang and sent a group of ten killers after Kuo, who outfights all of them, sometimes with the help of another Venom, Chiang Sheng. He also finds an ally in the notorious Spearman, who had originally been hired by the corrupt gang boss. Eventually the three heroes take on their old boss in an extended battle involving flag-draped spears which the combatants twirl about in virtuoso displays of skill.The plot is basically a variation on the old gangster plot about a gangster sent into hiding or to prison as a scapegoat for his gang who finds, upon returning, that things have either fallen apart or his old boss has turned on him. In kung fu films, we saw this before in DUEL OF THE SHAOLIN FIST (1971, aka DUEL OF THE IRON FIST), an excellent early kung fu work by director Chang Cheh, who also directed FLAG OF IRON and all the Venoms films.FLAG OF IRON is a well-mounted production with lots of exciting fighting action shot amidst sprawling Shaw Bros. studio sets. It's not as intricate as other Venoms films and suffers from the absence of one key Venom, Lo Meng, but it's a worthy entry nonetheless. Beware the 85-minute cut version currently in distribution. The original running time is 113 minutes.