Qi bu mi zong (1979) User Reviews

Above average movie with a rare lead actor

[ckormos1 · 6/10 · 22 October 2016]

Title-wise it is more correctly the seven step style of kung fu.

Master summons the gang. Another guy goes to see the silk factory. Ricky Chen enters as an acrobatic doofus. As Little Tiger, he defends a girl from a drunk. Two sinister looking guys discuss that white eyebrows has summoned the gang. Cut to our guy practicing. He gets into a dispute with another man over an apple and each end up with a large medallion. His master, Ga Hoi, knows the owner. They watch for strangers in town. One is a girl, Lam Yi-Wa. That's the bad guys for some reason. The girl ends up changing sides.

The last half hour of this movie is almost 100% fights. That can actually be a problem if all the fights look alike. It is not a problem here. The choreography is excellent and never becomes redundant.

Ricky Cheng has a Chinese opera background and uses acrobatics in his fights. After making a few movies at Shaw Brothers he took his skills to Taiwan. This movie is one of his very few lead roles. I rate this one above average for the year and genre and certainly recommend it for fans of the golden age of martial arts movies from 1967-1984.

Brisk, well made, old school kung fu potboiler

[lemon_magic · 7/10 · 4 September 2014]

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.

A solid addition to the martial arts genre that's worth watch

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 13 April 2023]

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.

Average 70's kung fu flick!

[Ash-89 · 15 July 2000]

Kung fu of seven steps is a standard martial arts movie from the seventies. There is a lot of action but the story is pretty weak( a young fighter joins the mayor to fight the bad guys who want his place). Worth a rent if you enjoy this kind of movies..................................................7,5/10

Seven steps of Kung fu

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 1 December 2022]

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.

Great Kung Fu flick

[iq214 · 8/10 · 28 August 2006]

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 step program...

[poe426 · 8/10 · 28 August 2014]

Tiger, who's sweet on Miss Chiao Lan (? The dubbing was bad on the copy I saw, so it was hard to understand just what some of the translators were saying from time to time...), defends her when she's put upon by a local gang. His master, Li, turns out to be an old enemy of The Five Hand Gang, so, when Tiger turns up with a medallion belonging to one of the Five Hand Gang members, he instructs his pupil to inform him immediately if he sees any strangers in town. Before young can count to five, Tiger sees a woman in a sedan chair he's never seen before, as well as a mysterious, "powerful man carrying a spear." The two are headed for Kung's house. Kung, it turns out, is working with a white-haired general, Kwong (? Again, the sound on my copy sucked.), whose intention is to take over the area. Tiger kills the spear-wielding man and the proverbial s--- hits the metaphorical fan. At one point, Kwong kills both Miss Lan and the woman in the sedan chair, although they profess their innocence. "What does innocence gotta do with it?" he counters. There are a lot of fight scenes throughout, which keeps the pace brisk and helps make SEVEN STEPS OF KUNG FU worth a look.

It's not Tantric (translated title old Buddhist not the modern sex meaning)

[evony-jwm · 8/10 · 4 April 2021]

In the style of the goofy funny kung fu. Deadbeat goofball Little Tiger unknowing son of one of gang of 5 works with his master (not father) to kill the criminal gang of 5 and it's evil leader.