Iron Fist Pillage (2001)
Film:
DVD:

Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Rent It.

Wu-Tang Master Cappadonna, after getting appropriately roasted thanks to a little bit of weed, nods off. And what a dream he has. He suddenly finds himself as a kung fu master in a badly dubbed kung fu movie, trying to unravel a conspiracy that has put him behind bars for an entire year. When his producer Smitty (GTO) is killed, it's all part of a plot to take over the Clan and have everyone singing show tunes! Can Cap get his girl Butterfly (Summers) back? And what's up with the constantly smoking Doc Holliday-ish Stays-High (Seaver)?

This film is an absolute trip from the word jump. As funny as a bad kung fu movie is just by itself, it's the "remixed" story and redubbed voices that make this an excellent choice for late night viewing with a bunch of friends and some alcohol. One of the characters is somehow now an android. No, I don't get it either. Another character is haunted by the flaws in the filmstock the movie's printed on. Sick stuff like that.

On first take, a redubbed kung fu flick that now includes many references to pot smoking and epithets sounds like it could get tired--but the thing's nicely over the top enough to where it's hard to fall asleep. Although Cappadonna's performance is well enough given that he's our erstwhile protagonist, the stand-out among the vocal talents would have to be Hideo Seaver's Stays-High, the constantly coughing, constantly smoking-up somewhat ally of Cappadonna. His simple voice-over of "Ten years at the Actor's Studio and I'm in a goddamn kung fu movie" line made the film.

Unfortunately, there's nothing in the way of features. A short making-of would have been nice, maybe with some comments on those members of the cast who had never done dubbing work before on what the process was like. Or maybe a split screen that showed the process itself. What the disc does have is a bit botched, unfortunately: the chapter selection screen has no numbers to go along with it--so if you want to select Chapter 14, you're stuck either counting or guessing as to which scene you actually want.

For what it is, though, it's funny. The film itself makes the disc worth picking up for hardcore fans of the genre, but everyone else should at least give it a rental.