The Venom series directed by Chang Cheh are a cycle of martial action pictures that show his progression from one that crafted some of the masterpieces of the Shaw Brothers era to one that was seeing how far he could go in terms of pure entertainment. “Flag of Iron” whilst not as famous as “Five Deadly Venoms” or as politically incorrect (as it would be deemed now) as “Crippled Avengers” still sees the team at the height of their prowess and so, once again, I am letting that familiar logo play and see what lies in store.
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Lo (Phillip Kwok) and Iron Monkey defeat several members of the Flying Eagle Clan who are involved with a gambling den and other illegal activities. Their master, along with their big brother Chow Feng (Lu Feng) decide that they must deal with the Flying Eagle clan when they are invited to a gathering that is clearly a trap. Chow Feng brings the white robed wanderer (Lung Tien-Hsaing) as their back up. In the confrontation, their master is killed and Lo is convinced to go into hiding as the scapegoat as the Iron Flag clan elect Chow Feng as their new leader. Sometime later, Iron Monkey discovers Lo working at an inn. He informs him that Chow Feng has taken over the Flying Eagle clan as well and is involved deeply in their activities. Wanting to believe his friend but reluctant to accept his big brothers' betrayal, To investigates further. Friends become enemies and allies emerge from unexpected places as the truth emerges and a final confrontation must take place.
The character of the white robed wanderer is a much more interesting one than we would normally expect to see in a Chang Cheh movie of this era. Upon initial appearance, he may as well have a giant sign above his head going “villain” and so is not much of a surprise when he does turn out to be an assassin. However, there are actual layers here. Upon discovering he has been used, he supports our heroes in the quest for revenge but is fully aware that by killing their master they will seek to fight him once this is over. Even with his love interest he makes her aware he is not someone she should follow. It plays into the usual stereotypical wondering knight that we see so often, that of a man whose code of honour ultimately brings about his doom. The difference being this is essentially a villain with that same code.
We also get a more cerebral main villain with Chow Feng, who is superbly played by Lu Feng. He is a master politician who masks his deviousness with a veneer of civility, manipulating all of those around him. His initial corrupting of the police by offering them a solution to avoid difficulty after the master's death is just the tip of where he will head. It also gives the character of Lo a bit more depth as, despite wanting to believe Iron Monkey's words, he finds himself conflicted as he struggles to come to terms with that his own martial big brother can be behind it all. It gives a nicely cynical viewpoint to the world of martial cinema where the idea of righteousness is only surface gloss. Philip Kwok as per normal in the Venom movies gets to take the lead as Lo and brings his usual athleticism to the part. Chiang Sheng gets less to do but holds his own physically.
The fight chorography is a little different here, just to freshen things up. We get the standard and hidden weapons that frequent the latter Chang Cheh work, but we also get DIY weaponry too as chairs, plates etc. are adapted to deal with the situation in hand. The first assassin gets a particularly messy death (Chang Cheh definitely had some issues that he needed to work out via finding ever more violent ways to kill his antagonists). As we would find with the Venom series of films, the action makes the most of their attributes and when the confrontations come, they are fluid and well shot in a clear development from the earlier more stilted sequences that would be part of the director's earlier work. The trademark guy gets mortally wounded but wraps his shirt around his waste motif is here, as is the virtual lack of female presence. As with most, the plot is functional, it's the little extra additions that make it more intriguing. Chang Cheh's prodigious output meant sometimes it was clear when there was a lack of interest. This never occurs here mercifully and so get a bit more to work on.
Something that doesn't usually get talked about in these features is the use of formal language. Everyone knows each other and recognizes their rather flowery named aliases. To the uninitiated, this looks rather odd but is a staple of martial arts fiction. It can also make the dialogue feel rather stilted. It becomes slightly comical at one point as the 10 Assassins are sent to deal with Lo only for him to identify them. They exchange a brief conversation. Then he kills them with a various implements that comes to hand. They fail so spectacularly that you start to ask if there is a refund policy.
As with any Venom movie, you will either love the non-stop action and ignore the slight storyline or detest the movie if you need something more substantial. If you are in the latter category, then chances are you probably not really going to be watching these movies anyway. Check realism at the door, ignore the plot and just enjoy a series of well-crafted action sequences. Great fun.
