Plot: A kickboxer (Michael Worth) vows revenge on the fighter(Matthias Hues) responsible for the death of his best friend.
Fists of Iron is a fun straight to video fight flick from the 90’s and around this period these movies came out practically weekly. I’ve always found them so easy to watch as you know exactly what to expect from them with fight scenes every few minutes and a cast of familiar faces like Michael Worth and the always fantastic Matthias Hues and Marshall Teague. This movie boasts a small role from Art Camacho who also worked on the fight scenes which still hold up today.
Michael Worth plays our lead Dale Hartwell who has some fighting skills, but they aren’t quite as good as he thinks they are. He and his friend Matt (Nicholas Hill) manage to get into a party hosted by Peter Gallagher (Teague); there is a fighting tournament happening at the party with Gallagher’s favourite fighter Victor ‘The Destroyer’ Bragg (Hues) taking on challengers.
Matt foolishly thinks he can take him but ends up getting badly beaten and eventually succumbs to his injuries. Dale vows revenge, but after a humiliating defeat he goes to Eric Lee (Daniel Lee) and Tyler Green (Sam Jones) to train him so he can stand a chance at taking down Bragg.
Fists of Iron may not be anything we haven’t seen before, but I like how the lead character actually has a proper arc and has to learn humility in order to win. Worth has the moves for the fight scenes too and Matthias Hues always does the best with what he’s given. I would have loved to see him play more heroes, but he was mostly typecast as villains in these movies. Bragg is pretty one note and there isn’t anything to him other than he’s the bad guy that needs to be taken down, and that’s all he needs to be.
It makes for a quick 90 minutes, rarely going more then a few seconds before a fight breaks out and we get the added bonus of nudity too which is never a bad thing.
Marshall Teague is perfectly cast as Gallagher bringing the right amount of swagger and intimidation to the character where we can’t wait to see him get his deserved comeuppance.
I read on IMDb that this was filmed at an actual mansion owned by the Executive Producer Aron Schifman; I bet it’s not as nice as my apartment next to a noisy train station…
Overall, Fists of Iron delivers everything you’d want from a 90’s fight flick with regular action, a great cast and a fast pace making for an easy watch on a Saturday night.