In “The Man with the Iron Fists,” rival clans clash in a bloody, violent battle for gold in Jungle Village, an imaginary universe set in China, where The Blacksmith (RZA) is contaminated by the thirst for blood of the assassins he has forged weapons for.

“The Man with the Iron Fists” was born from a passion for martial arts and an extremely creative mind. Wu-Tang Clan's leader, RZA, a man of many faces, embarks on a journey as a director, screenwriter, and leading man. With Quentin Tarantino's blessing and Eli Roth's (co-writer/ producer) close collaboration, this neo-exploitation, action-adventure film comes to life, sculpted by RZA’s life-long fascination with Kung-Fu movies, horror movies, and comic books.

As a director, RZA gathers all the references from Kung-Fu that have inspired him, and he projects his own artistic vision, and transforms it to match the world he has created. He speaks of the directing process as a great experience that he took hands on. “I took the time to study it. I practiced. I saw movies, I learned about cameras, lenses, ISO’s. After 12hrs of work, I went and trained with Kung-Fu instructors, I practiced with my camera. To great input you get great output; Eli is a witness of me being very determined and delivering this project first but also letting it be the foundation for bringing more movies to the silver screen,” he explains.

He also recognizes the importance of having Tarantino and Roth as his mentors, “A good thing about having Quentin and Eli on my side through this journey is that I can just say that they let me do my own thing but having a companion letting me know that there’s a landmark you have to go around or jump over. Eli was that person cause he’s been through it before. That was important for me.”

As a producer/screenwriter, Roth is a key element in “The Man with the Iron Fists.” Roth and RZA invested a lot of time to create the mythology contained in this film. “We spent a year working on the script and the mythology of it, knowing every weapon, every character, every clan, the whole world, what’s outside Jungle Village, what else is in this world,” says Roth.

For the portrayal of the complex and dynamic characters of this movie, RZA put together a really diverse cast. As RZA himself says, “The Man with the Iron Fists is not only about one character; it's based on many different characters coming together at this one location.” The first-time director pays particular attention to character development, working out every detail and complex storyline.

Russell Crowe steps away from his usual serious, dramatic characters, and commits to the wild ways of Jack Knife, a hedonistic British soldier with a violent temper. Lucy Liu plays Madame Blossom, the owner of the local brothel, and Jamie Chung plays lady Silk, both exude elegance and powerful female energy. Zen Yi portrayed by Rick Yune, is a young warrior who wants to avenge his father's death and is one of the Blacksmith's most valuable allies. Together and for different reasons, Zen Yi, Jack Knife and The Blacksmith will gather strengths to fight against the vicious ways of the clearly defined antagonists of the film: Silver Lion, Bronze Lion, Poison Dagger and Brass Body portrayed by Byron Mann, Cung Le, Daniel Wu, and Dave Bautista, respectively. RZA also took a huge risk casting himself as the leading role for his filmmaking debut.

In “The Man with the Iron Fists”, RZA delivers classic Kung-Fu action with a modern attitude, and his grand ambition as a director is palpable in every aspect of the film. This visually stunning blood-fest is a mixture of humor, violence, and romance, and he manage to bring the audience an action-packed homage to classic martial arts action movies laced with hip-hop, to create a very unique style.

The Man with the Iron Fists in theaters now! You can't spell Kung Fu without F and U.