Member CrazyFrog Posted February 21, 2008 Member Share Posted February 21, 2008 7 Grandmasters (1978) Remarkable for the amount of kung-fu action contained within. Mark's review pretty much nailed on the head with his description of a no-filler kind of action movie. My first introduction to Lee Yi Min and my second Joseph Kuo Taiwanese martial arts film. Jack Long plays the master who is seeking to confirm his status as a grandmaster of the province by fighting seven other masters in a mostly congenial travelling tournament. Jack Long is just a supremely masterful martial artist and athlete; his combination of kung fu and agility is deceptively smooth and polished. I just enjoyed watching him on the screen as he fought. I am definitely paying more attention to his other films from this point! Jack Long brings his students and daughter, Mark Long being the eldest and most memorable. Lee Yi Min is introduced as a young man seeking to avenge his father's death; after seeing Jack Long handily defeat one of the masters, Lee Yi Min's character begs the master to take him as a student. The funny dichotomy of this movie is that while the master Sang is portrayed as honorable and good (or is he...?) the students are generally rude, abusive, and short-tempered with Lee Yi Min and his constant attempts to become a student. I found it odd that such a reputable master would have students like that but I suppose Joseph Kuo felt the movie needed some tension to make it believable. In the end, secrets are revealed and Lee Yi Min has become a masterful apprentice, capable of taking on his own master. I'll stop there for those who haven't seen this movie yet. It's a decent if typical revenge plot that coincides with the travelling tournament angle well enough. The main focus of this movie are the fights and they are set up very well. The intensity and frequency of action is high and I would find it hard to believe that any true kung fu fan would not immensely enjoy this movie. Lee Yi Min is quite good as the upstart student, and the several grandmasters have distinctive styles but perhaps the most distinctive is Corey Yuen as the weapons master, whose fight with Jack Long is intense. That fight had me very impressed with both combatants and the AC. 7 Grandmasters is like a big slab of T-bone steak: nothin' fancy dressing it up but purely top notch action that can satisfy the biggest appetite! Its minor flaws are overshadowed by the talent in front of and behind the camera. 5 out of 5 strikes of Pai Mei 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted February 21, 2008 Member Share Posted February 21, 2008 Great movie, to me, this is the epitome of a Kung Fu movie. Because even though there truly are better Kung Fu classics, none covers all nine yards like this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted February 21, 2008 Member Share Posted February 21, 2008 7 Grandmasters (1978) the students are generally rude, abusive, and short-tempered with Lee Yi Min and his constant attempts to become a student. I found it odd that such a reputable master would have students like that but I suppose Joseph Kuo felt the movie needed some tension to make it believable. I never really paid much attention to that, but that does make sense CrazyFrog! I guess that was the only way for Kuo to show Li's determination to become a student of the teacher. I've been neglecting the indy flicks for a looooong time now. I have the MB disc of this but have never watched it save for the first few minutes. I used to have that Wu Tang EP tape of this though. Didn't Chen Yue Sheng (Chin Yuet Sang) play the monkey fighter here? Nice review, BTW. Makes me wanna go watch this one now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jstn Posted February 21, 2008 Member Share Posted February 21, 2008 I'm a fan of the movie, agree with the review, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Righteous Master Posted February 21, 2008 Member Share Posted February 21, 2008 I agree with your assessment CrazyFrog. This is a no frills, no thrills kung fu film. Great kung fu and not much else. Had this film had a great story along with great MA action, then we would have an all time great. This is still one of my favorites though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member nectarsis Posted November 20, 2012 Member Share Posted November 20, 2012 More story, and better editing (scenes, and music) would have made this great movie even better....solid fun with some great fights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member nectarsis Posted November 21, 2012 Member Share Posted November 21, 2012 Some of the music was actually Quincy Jones "Roots Mural Theme". Juelz Santana used a sample of it too. I thought it fit the film. Oh music choices were fine, but there were times when a scene shifted the music cut off badly...jarringly so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted November 21, 2012 Member Share Posted November 21, 2012 Some of the music was actually Quincy Jones "Roots Mural Theme". Juelz Santana used a sample of it too. I thought it fit the film. THANK YOU!!!! I've been wondering for 10 years what the Snake & Crane theme was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SunChien Posted December 4, 2012 Member Share Posted December 4, 2012 I was dying to know where that theme came from and finally got it, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KumaKlaw Posted June 10, 2013 Member Share Posted June 10, 2013 This is one of my favorite kung fu films if not simply because it shows many of the different animal styles. I also really like the weapon master scene with all the disarms. I like the protagonist Lee Yi Min a lot too. He's very friendly and innocent and naive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member FrankBolte Posted June 11, 2013 Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 I love this too,I wonder which is the best DVD for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted June 11, 2013 Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 I love this too,I wonder which is the best DVD for this? I believe this remastered region one is the best… http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Masters-Li-Yi-Min/dp/B0001610QQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1370950365&sr=1-1&keywords=seven+grandmasters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted June 11, 2013 Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 I believe this remastered region one is the best… http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Masters-Li-Yi-Min/dp/B0001610QQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1370950365&sr=1-1&keywords=seven+grandmasters Agreed. The liner notes are excellent as well, authored by Linn Hayes, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member FrankBolte Posted June 11, 2013 Member Share Posted June 11, 2013 Great,thank you guys! I just bought it on ebay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Django Posted November 20, 2021 Member Share Posted November 20, 2021 This is cool! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Majin Android Posted December 11, 2021 Member Share Posted December 11, 2021 (edited) old vhs tape not mine Edited December 11, 2021 by Majin Android 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Django Posted December 11, 2021 Member Share Posted December 11, 2021 Would love to see the sleeve aswell! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Super Ninja Posted September 10, 2022 Member Share Posted September 10, 2022 In the commentary for the movie, Michael Worth mentioned Jack Long is using Snake style?! I must admit, I never even questioned that the style used by Jack Long in the movie is really the Pai Mei fist, regardless of whether it's authentic at all or not, but I never thought of Snake style watching Jack Long fighting here. Now, Frank and Michael didn't recognize the Eagle claw that was used by one of the 7th grandmaster's students and they weren't sure if the 4th grandmaster's Tiger style was indeed Tiger or Dragon, so it's possible Michael could have been wrong. Did anyone notice Snake style elements in Jack's fights or is he mixing Snake in with other styles, perhaps the real Pai Mei fist? Also, Frank translated the title of the movie as Tiger, Leopard, Dragon, Snake, Eagle as those are the styles used in the movie, but next to the Snake style in question, I also didn't notice Dragon style being used by any of the fighters. Perhaps someone who's better than me in this could verify if the style was really used in the movie? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.