CrazyFrog
02-21-2008, 01:35 AM
7 Grandmasters (1978)
Remarkable for the amount of kung-fu action contained within. Mark's review pretty much nailed on the head with his description of a no-filler kind of action movie. My first introduction to Lee Yi Min and my second Joseph Kuo Taiwanese martial arts film.
Jack Long plays the master who is seeking to confirm his status as a grandmaster of the province by fighting seven other masters in a mostly congenial travelling tournament. Jack Long is just a supremely masterful martial artist and athlete; his combination of kung fu and agility is deceptively smooth and polished. I just enjoyed watching him on the screen as he fought. I am definitely paying more attention to his other films from this point!
Jack Long brings his students and daughter, Mark Long being the eldest and most memorable. Lee Yi Min is introduced as a young man seeking to avenge his father's death; after seeing Jack Long handily defeat one of the masters, Lee Yi Min's character begs the master to take him as a student. The funny dichotomy of this movie is that while the master Sang is portrayed as honorable and good (or is he...?) the students are generally rude, abusive, and short-tempered with Lee Yi Min and his constant attempts to become a student. I found it odd that such a reputable master would have students like that but I suppose Joseph Kuo felt the movie needed some tension to make it believable.
In the end, secrets are revealed and Lee Yi Min has become a masterful apprentice, capable of taking on his own master. I'll stop there for those who haven't seen this movie yet. It's a decent if typical revenge plot that coincides with the travelling tournament angle well enough. The main focus of this movie are the fights and they are set up very well. The intensity and frequency of action is high and I would find it hard to believe that any true kung fu fan would not immensely enjoy this movie. Lee Yi Min is quite good as the upstart student, and the several grandmasters have distinctive styles but perhaps the most distinctive is Corey Yuen as the weapons master, whose fight with Jack Long is intense. That fight had me very impressed with both combatants and the AC.
7 Grandmasters is like a big slab of T-bone steak: nothin' fancy dressing it up but purely top notch action that can satisfy the biggest appetite! Its minor flaws are overshadowed by the talent in front of and behind the camera.
5 out of 5 strikes of Pai Mei
Remarkable for the amount of kung-fu action contained within. Mark's review pretty much nailed on the head with his description of a no-filler kind of action movie. My first introduction to Lee Yi Min and my second Joseph Kuo Taiwanese martial arts film.
Jack Long plays the master who is seeking to confirm his status as a grandmaster of the province by fighting seven other masters in a mostly congenial travelling tournament. Jack Long is just a supremely masterful martial artist and athlete; his combination of kung fu and agility is deceptively smooth and polished. I just enjoyed watching him on the screen as he fought. I am definitely paying more attention to his other films from this point!
Jack Long brings his students and daughter, Mark Long being the eldest and most memorable. Lee Yi Min is introduced as a young man seeking to avenge his father's death; after seeing Jack Long handily defeat one of the masters, Lee Yi Min's character begs the master to take him as a student. The funny dichotomy of this movie is that while the master Sang is portrayed as honorable and good (or is he...?) the students are generally rude, abusive, and short-tempered with Lee Yi Min and his constant attempts to become a student. I found it odd that such a reputable master would have students like that but I suppose Joseph Kuo felt the movie needed some tension to make it believable.
In the end, secrets are revealed and Lee Yi Min has become a masterful apprentice, capable of taking on his own master. I'll stop there for those who haven't seen this movie yet. It's a decent if typical revenge plot that coincides with the travelling tournament angle well enough. The main focus of this movie are the fights and they are set up very well. The intensity and frequency of action is high and I would find it hard to believe that any true kung fu fan would not immensely enjoy this movie. Lee Yi Min is quite good as the upstart student, and the several grandmasters have distinctive styles but perhaps the most distinctive is Corey Yuen as the weapons master, whose fight with Jack Long is intense. That fight had me very impressed with both combatants and the AC.
7 Grandmasters is like a big slab of T-bone steak: nothin' fancy dressing it up but purely top notch action that can satisfy the biggest appetite! Its minor flaws are overshadowed by the talent in front of and behind the camera.
5 out of 5 strikes of Pai Mei