Sombra do Tigre

I'm not one for martial art films, yes the fight scenes can be impressive but they tend to lack substance.

The reason I watched this is that it's supposedly a remake of the outstanding Seven Samurai (1954) and to an extent I can see how but very loosely.

Long story short it tells the story of an evil dojo master and the attempts at stopping him. In order to do so seven martial artists are recruited for the final battle against a guy whose name I wouldn't even begin to try to pronounce.

The fight scenes are well above par, but in that comedic over the top way. In fact everything is over the top and the fight scenes aren't where the comedy ends. The film isn't advertised as such so I was a bit taken back how funny it was (Both intentional and unintentional).

It's well constructed, frantic lengthy action and a few laughs so credit where credit is due. It's not exactly a loyal adaptation of Seven Samurai but at least it resembles it to some extent.

For a movie from a genre I dislike this is passable stuff.

The Good:

Incredible choreography

Quite funny in places

The Bad:

Silly sound effects

Unintentionally hilarious

Baffling sudden ending

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

A kick to the hip can make your mouth bleed

7 good guys against 1 bad isn't a great dynamic

This is a really entertaining Kung Fu movie. It has 7 masters each of a different style and it is about their trip to fight a single master of many different Kung Fu styles. There are a lot of jokes in the movie and it never takes it's self too serious which was a good way to do the film. Although the plot may not have too many unexpected twists (or be very unique from other "dream team" type Kung Fu Movies) it is entertaining through out. There are so many amazing fight scenes that are done very well that it is good for the Kung Fu movie fan that may have a little ADD. With all that being said I enjoyed the movie but for a non-kung fu fan they will find it horrible. I give it a 7/10 and I bought it on DVD.

Philip Ko plays screen villain yet again, this time as an Okinawan Tang So Dao Karate master who travels to China engaging kungfu masters in death duels. Remaining masters put together a team of 7 kungfu experts ( Cliff Lok, Pomson Shi, Chiu Chi Ling, Han Ying Git, Yuen Pan Pan, Charlie Chan, Lam Man Wei and 1 other person) to stop Karate man Philip Ko. All end up badly wounded except Cliff Lok to whom they impart their most effective or deadly techniques and Cliff has a showdown with Philip one on one.

Starts with an interesting segment with martial artists showcasing their different styles. The story is an interesting idea - however, I felt it could have been better. For most part, it can too leisurely, that mainly when they isn't fighting: speaking of which, the fight choreography is really good. There are energetic and inventive. It's entertaining enough Kung fu film that ends well on a cliff top.

The movie starts with a long introduction of real martial artists doing their moves. The story starts with a challenge to determine the next head abbot. The loser leaves Shaolin Temple and starts a new style called "karate". Of course there is no historical accuracy. Cut to a stage where the karate master challenges all kung fu practitioners. He defeats them all and his students go off to tear down all the kung fu school sign boards. The school leaders pool their money to hire a master to defeat the karate teacher.

Martial arts movies from the 1970s are known for having little or no story or plot. Ironically the best of these movies have minimal plots when the story is just about the martial arts. This movie is just about the martial arts and nothing else. It had the potential for greatness at one point but it didn't happen. Seven guys are trying to defeat the stereotypical evil Japanese karateka. Han Ying- Chieh, the original big boss from the Bruce Lee movie of the same title, tells them with his death breath that they need to combine their strengths to overcome him. If the movie had just shown instead of told, if instead of the expository dialog the fights were choreographed to show exactly that then this movie could have been a great one.

Overall I still rate it above average for the year and genre. The final fight is done on treacherous ground and has plenty of falls.

This movie is so cool because you have seven kung fu masters, each with a unique fighting style, duking it out with a Japanese karate master. The coolest part is that each style--Hun Gar, Wing Chun, Monkey Fist, Choy Lee Fut, and others--gets its own part of the spotlight and a neat description to accompany it. The opening credits provide an impressive display of masters and these styles that I still love to this day.

Ok, it's not the best movie, but it's fun...and fun to laugh at.