Circle of Iron 4K UHD Review

Blue Underground

4K UHD Release: August 25, 2026 (limited edition steelbook)

Video: 1.66:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color 

Audio: English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono

Subtitles: English SDH, French, and Spanish

Run Time: 96:43

Director: Richard Moore

After breaking the rules during a fighting tournament, an oafish fighter named Cord (Jeff Cooper) embarks on a mission to find and challenge the wizard Zetan (Christopher Lee), who holds a mythical book of knowledge. Along the way, he meets a blind flutist with extraordinary martial arts skills (David Carradine) and is confronted with a series of physical, mental, and emotional challenges.

Richard Moore’s Circle of Iron (aka: The Silent Flute, 1978) is an interesting case of a genre-spanning film, tailor-made for midnight movie audiences that fails to deliver on almost every one of its conceptual promises, yet still manages to secure a loyal cult following. Initially a collaboration between superstar martial artist Bruce Lee and his friends/students/collaborators, Oscar-winning actor James Coburn and Oscar-winning screenwriter Sterling Silliphant, Circle of Iron was meant to introduce mainstream Western audiences to Eastern philosophies. The project stalled and the three had a falling out. After Lee passed away in 1973, Silliphant and Stanley Mann altered the original story to streamline Lee’s ideas, dial up the comedy, and dial back on the violence.

Usually, this brand of charming oddball cinema is the result of a singular auteurist vision – the unfiltered notions of a brilliant (or not so brilliant) lunatic – but Circle of Iron is the result of too many cooks working with too many ingredients over too long of a timeline. Still, despite its disappointing action, languid pace, fortune cookie platitudes (try not to think too hard about what it has to say about women), and lack of shock factor (violence or sex), Circle of Iron approaches its myriad of incompatibilities with a genuine sincerity that is undeniably likeable. Additionally, its episodic nature ensures that the audience need not worry if the current scene isn’t working, because the next reel will bring something completely different.

At the very least, this is a gorgeously shot film and that means a lot when you’re making a contemplative, deliberately-paced, pseudo-fantasy film about philosophy. Moore (who also worked as a cinematographer over the years) doesn’t match the surrealistic fury of someone like Alejandro Jodorowsky, but his formalistic, studied approach lends real credibility to a real silly movie. It helps that Circle of Iron was shot by cinematographer Ronnie Taylor, who shared an Academy Award with Billy Williams for their work on Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), was coming off of his own surrealistic masterclass in the form of Ken Russell’s Tommy (1975), and who ended up working with Jodorowsky himself on The Rainbow Thief (1990).

The casting of major cult personalities in largely cameo roles is part of the film’s gimmick. We’re meant to be excited when Roddy McDowall, Christopher Lee (no relation), and Eli Wallach pop up for a few minutes of screen time. The broader gimmick, however, is that David Carradine plays multiple parts, further enforcing the philosophical themes. Then there’s the meta reason for Carradine’s casting – he’d famously played Caine on the television series Kung Fu (1972). Varying reports claim that Bruce Lee had been behind the creation of the show and was passed over for the main role, because the studio preferred a white lead to an Asian one.

True or not, the rumor that Kung Fu was ‘stolen’ from Lee and given to Carradine has taken on a mythology all its own, making Circle of Iron’s recasting of Carradine in what would’ve been multiple roles for Lee a controversial part of the film’s legacy. I assume that this was done on purpose and that the filmmakers welcomed the controversy for the sake of attention, even if it would’ve been less of a mainstream discussion in 1978. Ultimately, the fact that zero Asian actors were cast in named roles in a martial arts fantasy about Eastern philosophy is tacky enough without the added context that, at some point in production, several roles were intended for Lee.

That said, by most accounts, Lee left the project on his own accord and, moreover, he had passed away by the time filming started. Carradine didn’t steal the parts and is (along with Wallach) a major highlight. Where Lee’s influence is really missed is the martial arts choreography. Moore shoots the action well (arguably overcutting it), but coordinator Terry Leonard’s stunts and martial arts coordinator Joe Lewis’ combat is stiff, lethargic, and not creative in a way that befits the film’s comedic and casually surrealistic vibe. Jeff Cooper is also stiff and lethargic as the lead, but the character is meant to be a sort of cipher, so it generally works for the film.

Bibliography:

• Circle of Iron: Bruce Lee’s Lost Movie 

Video

Circle of Iron was not a hit and didn’t make it to US home video until 1985, when Embassy Home Video released a VHS tape. It then continued languishing in relative obscurity until Blue Underground put out a DVD in 2004. They followed that up with a special edition Blu-ray debut in 2009 and, now, a new 4K UHD disc, which utilizes a brand new 4K, 16-bit scan of the original camera negative. I’ve included screencaps from the Blu-ray copy, which illustrate the color timing and clarity, minus the extra resolution and Dolby Vision boost. I would’ve included comparison caps from the 2009 Blu-ray, but I don’t have that disc on hand and couldn’t find caps from my old DVDActive.com archive.

The overall palette seems accurate – skin tones and neutral hues don’t skew too orange or yellow, and shadows don’t carry a blue tint – but the colors are definitely more vivid than they were on the older Blu-ray. The HDR upgrade helps in this regard, of course, and also helps dark sequences appear less muddy. The negatives are in good shape and grain is even and mostly natural, though it is more pronounced in wide-angle and composite/matte shots. Artifacts are limited to little white flecks, a handful of vertical lines, and an occasionally noisy quality to edges of the frame.

Do note that the death-panther dream is supposed to look weird and overprocessed.

Audio

Circle of Iron is presented with Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono English audio options. Blue Underground prepared the multi-channel remixes themselves for the DVD and Blu-ray releases, though the Atmos track is a bit more directionally-enhanced than the previous TrueHD mix. Personally, outside of maybe Bruce Smeaton’s score, I’m not usually a fan of multi-channel remixes of single channel tracks, so I stuck with the mono track for the majority of my watch time. Aside from minor inconsistencies in the dialogue quality, which are almost certainly due to the original mixing (using too much noise reduction, ADR issues, too much on-location echo, et cetera), the mix is crisp and neatly separated, emphasizing clarity, eclectic sound design, and Smeaton’s baroque music.

For the record, the included Blu-ray copy is also an upgrade over the previous disc, which only included the original mono as a lossy Dolby Digital track.

Extras

Disc 1 (4K UHD)

• Commentary with Richard Moore – This is the original 2004 DVD’s director’s commentary, moderated by David Gregory. Gregory essentially interviews Moore on the making of the film, its long production, the locations, the cast & crew, and more.

• Commentary with Frank Djeng and Chris Poggiali – A new track with everyone’s favorite Hong Kong cinema expert, Djeng, and the co-author of These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World (with Grady Hendrix, Mondo Books, 2022), Poggiali. The duo explores the overall production and careers of the cast & crew, but this track stands apart from the earlier one with its focus on Bruce Lee, his influence on Hollywood, connections to Kung Fu, and the various versions of the screenplay.

• Alternate opening (3:06, HD) – This includes a title card explaining Bruce Lee’s involvement and the Circle of Iron title, rather than the Silent Flute title used for the final transfer.

• US and international trailers

Disc 2 (Blu-ray)

• Commentary with Richard Moore

• Commentary with Frank Djeng and Chris Poggiali 

• Circle Of Success (18:06, HD) – Our first and only new interview is with actor Anthony De Longis, who plays rival fighter Morthond (and an unnamed thug). He discusses his career, shooting in Israel, working with Carradine, Moore, and the rest of the cast, his understanding of the Kung Fu controversy, and opinion of the final film.

• Playing The Silent Flute (13:58, SD) – This interview with Carradine was originally recorded for the 2004 DVD and gives us his perspective on the film’s production.

• The Producer (28:47, SD) – An extensive, career-spanning interview with co-producer Paul Maslansky, recorded for the 2009 Blu-ray.

• Karate Master (31:04) – In another holdover from the 2009 Blu-ray, martial arts coordinator Joe Lewis talks about his training and career, and shares a pretty juicy behind-the-scenes anecdote about Carradine (very similar to a longer interview seen on MVD’s Force Five Blu-ray).

• 1980 interview with Stirling Silliphant (25:26, SD, audio only) – This discussion was conducted by John Corcoran for Kick magazine.

• Alternate opening (3:06, HD)

• US and international trailers

• Three TV spots

• Promotional and still gallery

The images on this page are taken from the remastered Blu-ray – NOT the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.