''7 Grandmasters'' is a 1977 Hong Kong

kung fu film Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...

directed by

Joseph Kuo Joseph Nan-Hong Kuo (; Kaohsiung, 20 July 1935) is a Taiwanese film director best known for his Hong Kong-based kung fu films of the 1970s and 1980s. His debut screenplay ''Ghost Lake'' was one of the earliest Taiwanese-language films. He later ...

, starring

Lee Yi Min Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

, Jack Long,

Alan Chui Chung-San Chui Chung-San (often known as Shu Zhong Xin, Tsui Chung-San, Hsu Zhong-Xin or Alan Hsu; 16 August 1954 – 2 November 2022) was a Hong Kong actor, director, choreographer, martial artist and stuntman. He was known for being an action director ...

, Mark Long,

Corey Yuen Corey Yuen Kwai (; 15 February 1951 – 2022) was a Hong Kong film director, film producer, action choreographer, and actor. Yuen attended the China Drama Academy and was one of the Seven Little Fortunes. In Hong Kong, he worked on several ...

and Nancy Yen. It was filmed in both

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

for the Taiwanese market, and dubbed in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

for the Hong Kong market.

Plot

The Story Began Since The Period Of

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

Before The Revolutionist Far, Sang Kuan Chun is an old kung fu master who is getting ready to retire from martial arts. But just as he is about to put up the king's signboard and call it quits, he receives a note alleging that he's not the best. Thus begins his journey for one last challenge with each of the Seven Grandmasters to prove his superiority. As Sang Kuan Chun and his three students travel from one challenge to the next, the foursome acquires a fifth—a young man named Siu Ying who wants desperately to train under master Sang Kuan Chun to avenge his father's death. So he tags along, despite the master's insistence that he will not accept any more students. Eventually, we learn more about the master's past. His own teacher, before he died, left him the secret book of The

Pai Mei Bak Mei () is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders—survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing dynasty (1644–1912)—who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government. He ...

Twelve Strikes. However, a masked man soon stole several pages of the book, leaving only nine strikes. So, somewhere out there, is this unknown man, and he has the final three strikes of Pai Mei, which are the most deadly and can beat even the other nine strikes. Sang Kuan Chun soon accepts the seemingly devout Siu Ying and teaches him the nine known strikes of Pai Mei. Siu Ying ends up learning from his “uncle” that Sang Kuan Chun (who was set up) killed his father during a friendly tournament. Siu Ying is taught the final 3 strikes by a mysterious figure and almost kills Sang Kuan Chun until he being a loyal good student couldn't break his teacher's rule of "Never kill anyone if it can be avoided". This all leads up to an exciting climax, where we learn the identity of the masked man who stole the Pai Mei final strikes and the identity of the man who killed Siu Ying's father.

Cast

* Li Yi Min as Siu Ying *

as Ku Yi Fung *Jack Long as Sang Kuan Chun *Mark Long as Yung Chang, Sang Kuan Chun's elder student *

Nancy Yen Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...

as Sang's daughter *

as Sun Hung *

Wong Fei-lung Wong Fei-lung (born 22 January 1943) is a Taiwanese actor, director, and action director. With a career spanning over 150 films, he was a prominent face during the golden age of Cinema of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cinema. He has been alternatively cre ...

as Sha, First Grandmaster (Guest) *Chin Yuet San as Monkey Liu (Guest) *Eagle Lee as Sang Kuan Chun's Student *Chiu Chung Hing as Sang Kuan Chun's Student *Ma Chin Ku as Nan Lin

Home media

The film was widely released in VHS, VCD, and DVD formats, both in common English and Mandarin dubbed versions. The film's distributor,

Mei Ah Entertainment Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd. () () is a media distribution company in Hong Kong. History The company was established in 1984 in Kowloon Bay by Mr. Li Kuo Hsing, Hong Kong. During the 1980s, the Group's principal activities were the di ...

later released a 4K remastered version of the film on streaming services in Asian countries such as

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, with both Mandarin and a rare Cantonese dubbed version.

External links

* 1977 films Kung fu films Films directed by Joseph Kuo Hong Kong martial arts films 1970s Hong Kong films 1970s Cantonese-language films 1970s Mandarin-language films {{1970s-HongKong-film-stub