Shaolin flop This movie wasn't as good as its label appeared. It was a poorly written movie, with unconvincing characters. The storyline was quite disappointing.
Down With The 5-Hand Gang I decided to purchase this based on a previous review. When I received the disc, I thought I was in for a low-budget waste o' ten bucks. (I rounded off). I must say that I enjoyed this movie immensely. As a major fan of old-school kung fu flicks, this one ranks up at the top. Specifically because it's consistently good from start to finish. In most martial arts movies of the late 70's, they start off dreadfully, in both humor and choreography, then get better as they go. The humor is kept to a minimum and the fights are consistently good and inventive.
The picture quality is very good. It does suffer if you compare it to remastered Shaw Bros. movies. If you like the old-school, I can't imagine that you won't enjoy this. The price is excellent. My only complaint with this one is that it is not in widescreen, though i don't recall it being a big deal while viewing.
1979. aka: 7 Steps of Kung Fu
One of the best Ricky Tien (Chinese Super Ninjas) plays the student of actor Chia Kai (War of the Shaolin Temple). When Kai learns that traitors of the country (the Five Hooks Gang) are in the area, he looks to take them down. There is no real focus on the story, other than Ricky Tien's love interest. There are a couple touching moments, but luckily there is no time wasted in moving on to the next fight. Ricky Tien and Chia Kai are 2 of the most athletic screen fighters you will ever see. It gets so crazy at times that Ricky Tien will just jump on a guy and do a flip off of him. You need good villains in kung fu movies, and it doesn't get better than this. Lung Fei stars along with Tommy Lee and Chang Shan. Chang Shan is in my opinion the greatest screen fighter of all time, and he has my favorite fight of his career in this movie. Lung Fei and Tommy Lee also give 2 of their better performances.
There are really too many fights to talk about. Wong Chi-sang has a great pole fight, and Ricky Tien gives a jaw-dropping acrobatic display against 2 fat lamas. All of the fights are very good, but the finale is an epic battle that you will never forget. Chang Shan never disappoints. He is so menacing that the director couldn't just have him killed with one punch all of a sudden. That wouldn't be believable. The 2 heroes keep on hitting him until Chang Shan can't even walk and he is still beating them down! Now that is how a great villain goes out!
4.5/5
Saturn DVD has good pic quality and is full screen. This movie is also known as Seven Steps of Kung Fu and the Videoasia DVD is widescreen with slightly inferior picture quality.
Dont let this low price fool you This is a quality martial arts film a lot better than movies that I've seen that were triple in price, theirs good fighting throughout believe me this is one of the best films you will ever get for this price.
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