Overview: Another cult classic from the Shaw Brothers Studio, The Flag of Iron is a quintessential Hong Kong tale of rivals, betrayal and family feuds.

When the master of the Iron Flag clan is killed by a mysterious assassin known only as Spearman, it sets off an explosive chain of events which pits two brothers against each other in an action-packed adventure of fist flying fury.

Directed by Cheh Chang (The One-Armed Swordsman, Five Venoms), this kinetic and highly influential Kung Fu picture, mixes traditional storytelling with more modern presentation techniques, layering acrobatics, the use exotic weaponry and quick as lightening fight sequences to produce a sure fire entertaining hit, which no serious collector of martial arts movies can be without.

Blu-ray Verdict: The Flag of Iron (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 (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 The Flag of Iron and all the Venoms films.

The fight choreography is swift and precise with acrobatics, fists and feet with a variety of weapons that often ends up with a good amount of blood shed.

For me, The Flag of Iron is a well-mounted production with lots of exciting fighting action shot amidst sprawling Shaw Bros. studio sets. It is not as intricate as other Venoms films and suffers from the absence of one key Venom, Lo Meng, but it is a worthy entry nonetheless. This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
2.0 DTS-HD MA English Soundtrack
2.0 DTS-HD MA Mandarin Soundtrack with newly translated English Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema