{"id":60187,"date":"2026-06-12T17:37:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=60187"},"modified":"2026-06-12T17:37:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:37:59","slug":"how-rza-channelled-shaw-brothers-for-his-flawed-kung-fu-epic-the-man-with-the-iron-fists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=60187","title":{"rendered":"How RZA channelled Shaw Brothers for his flawed kung fu epic The Man with the Iron Fists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/06\/05\/8606036a-483d-4d78-ace4-b46f6d8c1599_f034afbe.jpg?itok=cRbEg2an&amp;v=1780639512\" \/><\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.<\/em><\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">When Brooklyn-born rapper\/producer <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">RZA<\/span> (real name Robert Diggs) made his 2012 kung fu opus <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Man with the Iron Fists<\/em>, he had been in training ever since he was a child. \u201cI saw my first martial arts film at nine years old,\u201d he told the news website HuffPost.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Having found fame as the leader of the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Wu-Tang Clan<\/span> and as an actor in the likes of <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">American Gangster<\/em> (2007), he saw his chance to pay homage to the Shaw Brothers movies he loved so much.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Like any good martial arts filmmaker, he learned from the best, studying at <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Quentin Tarantino<\/span>\u2019s side during the filming of 2003\u2019s <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Kill Bill: Volume 1<\/em>, for which he produced the soundtrack.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Originally, he intended to remake <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Chang Cheh<\/span>\u2019s <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Savage Five<\/em> (1974), but Tarantino told him to write a film himself, Diggs explained to entertainment news outlet The A.V. Club. \u201cSo I took his advice, and I started writing my own s***, from my own imagination.\u201d<\/div>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"methode-html-wrapper oembed-wrapper e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"e2gky7d0 e1drg7e30 e1ciypty0 ehdmpxk0 css-1avyp1d e1hpd36k0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<div class=\"e1hpd36k3 css-79hwxn e1x11wau0\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-VideoTitleContainer\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"25\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 25\" fill=\"none\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-StyledVideoRecorder\" class=\"css-1nnwg93 e1x11wau1\"><default:path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M22 6.22926V18.4315L17.5463 13.9868V17.8655C17.5463 18.1618 17.4383 18.4248 17.2228 18.6531C17.0067 18.8829 16.7498 18.9967 16.4537 18.9967H3.13414C2.80989 18.9967 2.53968 18.8829 2.32425 18.6531C2.10808 18.4248 2 18.1618 2 17.8655V6.79519C2 6.49893 2.10808 6.23665 2.32425 6.00688C2.53968 5.77858 2.80989 5.66333 3.13414 5.66333H16.4537C16.7498 5.66333 17.0067 5.77858 17.2228 6.00688C17.4383 6.23665 17.5463 6.49893 17.5463 6.79519V10.674L22 6.22926Z\" fill=\"#001246\"\/><\/default:svg><\/p>\n<p>The Man With The Iron Fists &#8211; Trailer (HD)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">After making a short film called <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Wu-Tang vs. the Golden Phoenix<\/em> as a proof of concept, he joined forces with writer-director <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Eli Roth<\/span> (<em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Hostel<\/em>) and then fought to bring <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Man with the Iron Fists<\/em> to the screen as authentically as possible.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3356057\/how-rza-channelled-shaw-brothers-his-flawed-kung-fu-epic-man-iron-fists?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. When Brooklyn-born rapper\/producer&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[3636,24635,320,18024,22746,7830,4783,140,24634,7587],"class_list":["post-60187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-brothers","tag-channelled","tag-epic","tag-fists","tag-flawed","tag-iron","tag-kung","tag-man","tag-rza","tag-shaw","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}