Cheung Gong 7 hou (2008)

Director:

Stephen Chow

Writers:

Stephen Chow (written by) &
Vincent Kok (written by) ...

Release Date:

30 January 2008 (China)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's out of this world.

Plot:

A poor Chinese laborer learns important lessons after his son gets a strange new toy. |

Plot Keywords:

Cartoon Reality Crossover | Construction Worker | Fall From Height | Brought Back To Life | School

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Stephen Chow	...	Ti
Jiao Xu	...	Dicky
Lei Huang	...	Johnny
Kitty Zhang Yuqi	...	Miss Yuen (as Kitty Zhang)
Chi Chung Lam	...	Boss (as Tze Chung Lam)
Shing-Cheung Lee	...	Mr. Cao (as Sheung Ching Lee)
Wen Xue Yao	...	Storm Dragon
Min Hun Fung	...	P. E. Teacher
Yong Hua Han	...	Maggie
Yu Lei	...	Johnny's Entourage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cole Barba	...	Johnny (voice: English version)
Qing Dong	...	Classmate
Hang-Sang Poon	...	Reporter (as Hang Sang Poon)
Tristan Price	...	Dicky (voice: English version)
Qian Shen	...	Classmate
Shun-Yee Yuen	...	Farmer (as Shun Yi Yuen)

Also Known As:

A Hope (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
CJ7 (International: English title)
Chang Jiang 7 hao (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Long River 7 (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, thematic material, some rude humor and brief smoking.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:PG | Malaysia:U | UK:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:6 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia

Trivia:

Xu Jiao, who plays Stephen Chow's son in this movie, is actually a girl.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the Dad is cutting the rotten part of the apple, he is cutting with the wrong side of the knife.

Movie Connections:

References E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Soundtrack:

I Like Chopin

It's kid movie, but a pretty good one

Stephen Chow has brought many good films and never let die hard fans down for once. Yet I find it pretty hard to comment on this new work from Chow esp. after 3 year long waiting. There was plenty of joy while watching it, but it's not what I expected. If I have to summarize , then probably tiny bit slapstick + kiddish scenes + Chinese ET + family theme = CJ7

If you love shaolin soccer and kungfu hustle, you may feel very different about CJ7, even disappointed, because it feels almost nothing like a Chow movie, except for some very funny jokes. Sure you will still laugh at few scenes where dark humor or hard jokes fly around. The story is no longer serious or ambitious, it's simply about a kid who discovered a new alien cute friend and learned the meaning of life.

After many years, I think Stephen Chow finally can sit down and build a story of his own without worrying about film market or what other people may think.This time he is not even the leading actor in this film. No Kungfu, no strange costumes, no play-like-a-fool jokes, it's pure imagination for kids, maybe one of Chow's dream when he was a child.

I don't plan to spoil any more details , but I have to warn those who haven't seen this movie but very looked forward to seeing it. It's a movie that aims for young audience and it's not any movie like shaolin soccer or kungfu hustle(well, some part still yes, same enjoyable maybe). If you don't mind watching a family/feel good movie, or specially you have children to go with, don't hesitate to see it. It will be worth the one and half hour of your life.

You will not laugh like an idiot, but I am sure you will still smile like a fool.