Blue Underground has announced the upcoming digitally remastered release of Circle of Iron for 29th May. Based on a story called The Silent Flute - itself, co-written by: Bruce Lee, James Coburn & Stirling Silliphant - this cult fantasy follows a martial artists' quest to find an important book. The film, which stars: David Carradine, Christopher Lee, Roddy McDowall and Eli Wallach, has been sourced from a remastered HD transfer, and will be presented aurally in remixed DTS-ES 6.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX.
In terms of special features, this new two-disc release will come with a load of extras that include: an audio commentary with the director, an interview with star David Carradine, an interview with co-producer Paul Maslansky, an interview with martial arts coordinator Joe Lewis, an audio interview with co-writer Stirling Silliphant, a featurette (Bruce Lee’s The Silent Flute: A History By Davis Miller & Klae Moore), theatrical trailers, TV spots, poster/still gallery and the first draft of the script accessible via DVD-ROM.
Sure, as a martial arts film, this is no thrill ride. But, for those who actually understand the underlying philosophies in it which derived from Bruce Lee's own theories (the journey to enlightenment leads to the hidden spirit within), this is worth a watch. Sure it's dated (Jeff Cooper's hair), sure the fights are slow (like an episode of Kung Fu with slower and "lankier" choreography), but there's still something about this film that I can't get over. Dunno, guess it's just nostalgia from my dad watching an old recorded-off-of-broadcast-TV (which actually had a TV spot for Cannibal Holocaust during one of the commercial breaks... no joke) over and over again when I was little. Never did I imagine Blue Underground would create an HD master with a new 5.1 and DTS track.
Expect a DVD comparison when it comes out... yes, I have the original 1-disc edition from 3 years ago.
