Qi bu mi zong

Shaolin Raiders of Death (1979) is a movie that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows a general and his gang as they march on a city and plan to take it over. A martial arts master and his head disciple will face the gang and try to save the city.

This movie is codirected by Chung Ting (Golden Mask) and Chung-Kuang Wang (The Vampire Dominator) and stars Tien-Chi Cheng (The Fearless Hyena), Kai Chia (10 Brothers of Shaolin), Shan Charng (Shaolin vs Lama) and Eva Lin (The Silver Spear).

This is a fun addition to the martial arts genre. The storyline is a bit cliche but still fun to watch unfold. The training scenes are great. I also enjoyed the fight choreography and the infusion of comedy into the action sequences. The attire, props and sound effects were all good and the villains were excellent.

Overall, this is a solid addition to the martial arts genre that's worth watching once. I would score this a 7/10.

An evil general and his ruthless 'Five Hands Gang' are planning to take over a small town. Tiger, a local kid whose uncle is a kung fu master (and sworn enemy of the gang), uncovers their plot and informs his uncle, who instructs him in the art of seven-steps kung fu. Together they challenge the general's supremacy.

Passable Kung-fu mayhem that has an interesting idea, however it isn't utilised properly. A little mystery would have suited the story. But the Kung-fu is outstanding. The younger hero is really great with the acrobatics and the actor who plays his master is no slouch in fighting. The finale has a lengthy fight with the general - white-haired one, of course! - and is quite complex and intense.

There were a lot of Spaghetti Easterns churned out in the 70s and 80s, and this particular movie is good, but not great. This is product, nothing move, with the obvious intention to fill 90+ minutes of screen time and get the product into the theaters as part of a double or triple feature. Then go crank out some more, rinse, repeat....

Still "7 Steps" feels to me as if someone(s) on a tight budget and schedule went to the effort to make something solid and enjoyable for their audience.

The camera and photography spend enough time on the scenery and the sets that you get a nice sense of atmosphere; the costumes are fun and interesting; and the endless plethora of fight scenes have a lot of energy and flow in fun and surprising ways (there are a few moves and stunts here that I don't recall seeing anywhere else). The cast is especially solid; these guys are mostly stunt men and fighters, not "actors", but you can see the fighters going through various emotional changes and states of mind during the fights (my criteria for a well made kung fu movie).

Even the plot even has a slightly fresher approach; instead of the "single hero revenges his fallen master/fights the evil dynasty" trope, the hero and his teacher team up in each major fight scene to beat (and mostly kill) each individual member of the gang of bad guys who want to take over their village. In fact, they are fairly ruthless and sneaky about it!

Bonus: the sound track,while muffled in spots,has some dynamic range and textures instead of the usual flute and trumpets motifs.

In short, if you like this kind of thing, you'll probably enjoy "Seven Steps". If not, this probably won't convert you.

Classic Kung Fu, fairly fast paced choreography, great Kung Fu action throughout, especially the ending scene is a fan-honored fight of the 70s.

A ruthless white-haired general intends to take over a small town with the help of his posse, "The Five Hands Gang". A local tearaway and kung fu kid, Tiger, learns of their plot and informs his uncle Lee San Pai, master of the seven steps style of kung fu and sworn enemy of the Five Hands Gang. The old master instructs Tiger in the art of seven steps kung fu and together they tackle the white-haired general and the Five Hands Gang. A true classic that shook late night!

A ton of long fight scenes and some very creative choreography make this old-schooler a clear stand-out from the crowd.

Absolutely recommended to any Kung Fu fan! The top villain is marvelous, 8 out of 10.

Seven Steps of Kung Fu - Wong Chong Kwan & Ting Chung.

Another martially manic, blazingly fight-packed gem from the frequently awesome Vengeance Video. With zesty, light-hearted interludes, a righteously arduous training montage, walking on hands, destroying eggs with power, no quarters spared retribution, and thrillingly acrobatic combat, Seven Steps of Kung Fu remains a dynamic martial arts spectacular! I'm not absolutely clear about the plot, but the expert, wholly honourable kung fu good guys ultimately prevail over this cabal of traitorously scheming villainy in an exhausting, tremendously exhilarating climactic battle!