He doesn't need an Iron Man suit to kick ass.
Man of Iron is a 1972 Shaw Brothers gangster film starring Chen Kuan-tai, fresh off his success from The Boxer From Shantung. Released just a year later, once more Chen is a gangster who made it big in the triad underworld of 1930s Shanghai, and once again he's a killing machine seeking revenge.
Chou Lien-wan (Chen) is a gambler, fighter and mob enforcer who was once a low-life before making it big in the Shanghainese underworld. After falling for Chu-Feng, the mistress of a powerful mob boss, Chou ends up being targeted by every mobster in Shanghai who wants him dead, and will slaughter his way out of the mess he got into.
Do not confuse this with a Polish Film with the same name. Or the Marvel Superhero.
Man of Iron contains examples of:
- Badass in a Nice Suit: One of Chou's fights has him beating up a dozen of Boss Yu's mooks while wearing a nice business suit. He emerged victorious without a single tear on that suit, where he then tidies himself and struts into Boss Yu's mansion as if nothing had happened.
- Expy: Chou, to Chen Kuan-tai's previous role, the titular hero from The Boxer From Shantung. See the similarities of both men; formerly a nobody who joins the Shanghai mob, rise in their ranks as a mob enforcer, becoming increasingly skilled in taking names as the film progresses, suffering an Agonizing Stomach Wound that contributes to their deaths, and all that.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Chou in the final battle. Knowing he won't likely survive the fight, he keeps on battling, killing dozens and dozens of enemies, and even the Big Bad Boss Chang before he succumbs.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Much of Chou's fight scenes consists of bare-knuckled beat-downs and fistfights, against hordes and hordes of mooks.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Chou Lien-wan spends several fight scene kicking ass claid in his cool black leather jacket. Curiously enough, nobody else in this film wears any leather.
- The Hero Dies: Not unlike The Boxer From Shantung. Starring the same actor, no less!
- Illegal Gambling Den: Much of the film is set in Boss Chang's casino, not unlike The Casino released in the same year.
- Improbable Weapon User: One of Chou's fight scenes have him kicking ass using his bicycle like a club. One unfortunate mook actually gets his head ensnared when Chou brings the wheels upon his skull. It gets even better as Chou rips out the chains attached to the bicycle's spokes and use it as a swinging weapon.
- One-Man Army: Chou can take down dozens and dozens of mooks in big fight scenes, all by himself, and killed at least thirty mooks with his bare hands.
- Playing Possum: In the final battle, it seems like Chou had succumbed to being stabbed in the stomach. Boss Chang immediately steps closer to take a look, at which point Chou suddenly reveals himself to be still alive, at least long enough to fatally stab his opponent before he expires.
- Romantic Rain: Chou's last meeting with Chu-Feng, in the middle of heavy rain at the steps of her house.
- Unexpectedly Abandoned: Downtown Shanghai turns out to be surprisingly empty of traffic or pedestrians as Chou marches up to confront Boss Chang. Until Chang and a whole legion of his mooks comes out from alleyways intending to kill Chou.
