Quentin Tarantino presents The Man With the Iron Fists, an action-adventure inspired by kung-fu classics as interpreted by his longtime collaborators RZA , a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and Eli Roth.
The first cut of the film was 4 hours long and RZA suggested splitting it into two films, but Roth disagreed and it was ultimately cut down to approximately 90 minutes. RZA described the film as an homage to the martial art films of the Hong Kong based Shaw Brothers.
Making his debut as a big-screen director, co-writer and leading man, RZA—alongside an exciting international cast led by Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu—tells the epic story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero who all descend on one fabled village in China for a winner-takes-all battle for a fortune in gold. Blending astonishing martial-arts sequences from some of the masters of this world with the signature vision he brings as the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan and as one of hip-hop’s most dominant figures of the past two decades, RZA embarks upon his most ambitious, stylized and thrilling project to date.
Joining Russell Crowe, RZA and Lucy Liu in the cast are Rick Yune, Jamie Chung, Cung Le, Dave Bautista, Byron Mann, Daniel Wu and Pam Grier.
Principal photography began in China in December 2010 on an estimated $20 million budget, and had wrapped by March 2011. Filming locations included the city of Shanghai and the world’s largest film studio, Hengdian World Studios. Corey Yuen acted as the film’s action choreographer.
The film features music from a variety of artists including The Black Keys, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, My Chemical Romance, John Frusciante and Chinese singer Sally Yeh. RZA also developed new tracks based on excerpts from Wu-Tang Clan master tracks provided by Sony Music, and songs from artists including William Bell, Isaac Hayes and Mable John provided by Stax Records. Composer Howard Drossin provides original musical cues for the film.
The first cut of the film was 4 hours long and RZA suggested splitting it into two films, but Roth disagreed and it was ultimately cut down to approximately 90 minutes.RZA described the film as an homage to the martial art films of the Hong Kong based Shaw Brothers.