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In the years following the passing of Bruce Lee, the flame of Hong Kong action cinema was being kept alive via the masterful choreography of Sammo Hung in a multitude of films, typically under the direction of Huang Feng (Hapkido, The Shaolin Plot). However, in 1977, Hung would finally get his chance to fully take the directing reins, with his former director by his side as co-writer, paving the way for The Iron-Fisted Monk! Rice Miller Luk (Hung) is just a simple man trying to live a quiet life, until one day the Manchu Bannermen bully their way through town, killing his uncle in the process. When a nearby Shaolin monk, San De (Chan Sing, The Shaolin Plot), easily defeats them and sees the fallen Luk, he offers him a chance to learn martial arts at the Shaolin Temple. However, Luk's impatience with his training sees him return to his town to witness an even more ruthless organization of Manchus, led by a depraved official (Fung Hak-An, Warriors Two) who has a nasty and violent habit of taking whatever (and whoever) he wants. Will Luk's incomplete Shaolin teachings, combined with the skill set of San De, be enough to put an end to the Manchu stronghold plaguing their people? Predating The 36th Chamber of Shaolin's variation of the story of San De and Miller Luk by a year, and notorious for its uncensored version receiving a retroactive Category III rating in Hong Kong (the equivalent of the American NC-17), The Iron-Fisted Monk pulls no punches, literally or figuratively, explosively marking the beginning for one of the greatest martial arts film directors of all time!

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

2K restoration from original film elements by Fortune Star
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the original uncensored version
Original lossless Cantonese and Mandarin mono audio, plus lossless English dub mono option
Two choices of English dubbed audio: the original export dub mono (first time ever in the US) and the newer 5.1 dub created for international DVD presentations
Optional English subtitles
Audio commentary by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng
Two archival interviews with Sammo Hung
Archival interview with Casanova Wong
Original theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Mills
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Mills
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Brandon Bentley

This was released in the U.K. by Eureka in a 3-pack with The Magnificent Butcher and Eastern Condors, and Arrow has been cloning the Eureka releases for the U.S. releases, so this likely means that the rights to the other 2 films are with other labels. It's been said by a user here that Janus/Criterion hold the rights to Eastern Condors, so I wonder if Arrow will be releasing a standalone edition for The Magnificent Butcher later on.

Anyone know what earned the film a retrospective Category III rating?

Having seen multiple Sammo Hung films aside from this one, I wouldn't be surprised if it was for a rape scene.

This one actually has two.

Does anyone have some kind of master list of changes/upgrades between these UK and US Hong Kong releases? Sometimes it's added extras, others new or improved subtitles and audio vs a release from even just a year prior. I'm trying to figure out which might be as close to definitive as possible without wading through a billion pages at various forums

You can compare releases on this site. Here is a comparison of the Eureka and Arrow releases of Millionaires' Express. If Arrow is releasing a title that was already released by Eureka, then the chances are high that they are porting over the Eureka release to the U.S.

Unlike the others that are largely clones, this one is uncensored. The Eureka release has reframing and fogging of nudity.

The censoring of the rape scene for the UK DVD in 2001 is probably the only time I agreed with the BBFC. It's a horrid, vile scene...and about a reel later we're having Carry On hijinks at the brothel.