Synopsis: A young man walks out on his uncle and a job in a pharmacy to follow Lu Zu Hai, a wanderer with superb kung fu. Lu Zu teaches him the Seven Commandments. (84 Mins)

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Views: A typical late seventies, run-of-the-mill, kung-fu comedy, 7 Commandments Of Kung-Fu stars Lee Yi Min as a hapless young man who helps kung-fu master Chang Yi, after an attack. In return for saving his life, Lee opts to follow Yi and learn from him, leaving behind his beggar uncle and pharmacy job. Opening with a training montage and credit sequence lasting over 4 minutes, the film fast becomes a case of 'having-seen-it-all-before', with the added bonus of lots of laxative jokes. It follows the typical story of a naive student learning that their master is the bad-guy and, in turn, must learn a new style to defeat him – similar in story to Lee's role in the awesome 7 Grandmasters from 2 years previous. It also seems to be a loose remake of the classic Spaghetti Western, Days Of Wrath starring Lee Van Cleef...

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While sub-standard in terms of most classic kung-fu flicks (for me), it's always good to see both stars in action and 7 Commandments Of Kung-Fu certainly has plenty of that – although it does take some time in coming about. The first 25 minutes are filled with a few training scenes that allow Lee Yi Min to impress on the rings and plenty of daft humour that involve him taking or handing out wrong medicines (leading to the aforementioned laxative jokes). Only when the great Chang Yi shows up, do we get to enjoy our first real kung-fu battle when a group of men attack him. They are led by popular villain, Lung Fei, the star of many Jimmy Wang Yu classics such as Beach Of The War Gods, and One-Armed Boxer, as well as having a filmography that most modern stars today could only dream of achieving. Overpowered and injured, Chang is soon saved by Lee Yi Min, who is able to provide him with the right medicine. After recovering, it doesn't take long for them to team up and head off on their journey. Of course, Lee hasn't a clue who Chang really is, and can't understand why everyone and anyone is desperate to poison or attack the pair. Regardless, Chang seems happy to have a companion and begins training Lee whenever he can. They soon rest at a teahouse and inn, with a gang of Lung Fei's men hot-on-their-heels, that leads to a fun fight scene just before the halfway mark. Thankfully, from here, the fights become a lot more frequent as attack-after-attack follows and Chang puts Lee through his training – which includes learning the titular commandments (or rules) of kung-fu. The big turn-around comes at the 1-hour mark when Chang Yi turns up (alone) at Lee's home to go toe-to-toe with his uncle – an old adversary, which leads to a pretty sweet fight. Having found out that his uncle has been killed, Lee races home and soon learns the truth about his teacher, the death of his father, and the murder of his uncle. Promising to get revenge, Lee Yi Min goes into hiding for some serious training and shape-throwing, before he delivers his 10 minutes of vengeance in a fantastic and well-choreographed end battle, against the murderous Chang Yi.

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Directed by Ko Pao, who was behind the fun 5 Fighters From Shaolin and Ninja Kids: Kiss Of Death (aka Ninja Tiger), the Taiwanese director is joined in the chair by star Lee Yi Min - who also presented the film. Shaw Brothers actor Suen Shu Pau, who starred in classics such as The Brave Archer, Five Venoms, and Chinatown Kid, looks after the fight-action and delivers plenty of fast and fun choreography, some of which are pretty neatly choreographed. He is joined by Shiao De, who seems to have only had a brief stint in the film world. For me, the film was reminiscent of early Jackie Chan flicks and although it proved to be much lower in production values, 7 Commandments Of Kung-Fu still had its moments with the end battle being the highlight of course. Perhaps seeing a restored version on shiny-blu someday may change my mind!

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Overall: While there's nothing new to see here, 7 Commandments Of Kung Fu still offers some nice kung-fu action if you've nothing else to watch!