The Iron-Fisted Monk

The Iron-Fisted Monk is a Hong Kong martial arts film set during the Manchu occupation of southern China. Its central character, a young man known as Rice Pounder Six, trains at the Shaolin temple with thoughts of revenge, having lost a relative to the Manchu authorities. He grows impatient with his training and leaves the monastery before he is ready, determined to confront the occupiers. He teams up with Sam Tak, a martial arts monk, who has been teaching local people to defend themselves. When the Manchus inflict fresh violence on the community, the two join forces to settle the score.

The film was directed by Sammo Hung, who also stars in the lead role, with a screenplay he wrote alongside Huang Feng. It was produced by Raymond Chow Man-Wai for Golden Harvest. The cast includes Chan Sing, James Tien Chuen, Lo Hoi-pang, Wang Hsieh and Fung Hak-On, among a credited cast of 49. The Iron-Fisted Monk was Sammo Hung's first film as director, one of 16 he directed; his next was Warriors Two the following year.

Released in August 1977, the film runs 93 minutes and mixes action, comedy and drama. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.6 from over a thousand votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.9 from a much smaller number of votes. The gap between the two reflects how few users have rated it there compared with the larger IMDb sample.