7 xiao fu

Seven kids, all martial arts masters, come into possession of a real diamond and defeat truckloads of bad guys who want it for themselves. The premise is obviously cheesy, but the movie does not pretend to be "realistic" (at one point, two of the bad guys fall from the window of a hotel's top floor all the way to the ground below and land safely on their two feet!), and amid all the exaggerated slapstick there are moments of prime 80's Hong Kong action choreography, fast-paced and hard-hitting. The kids are probably all talented martial arts students, and they're not spared from taking some bumps (especially at the end, when they go against the last two remaining henchmen). Fortunately for them, they are helped along by a terrific grown-up female fighter, played by a pretty actress whose name I wish I knew (she's not Elsa Yeung, is she?). As characters the 7 kids are largely indistinguishable, except for the one delightful girl who kicks just as much butt as the boys, if not more. Some comedic parts can be hard to sit through, but the action scenes are worth it. Besides, if you ever get bored you can occupy yourself by trying to count how many stolen pieces of music you can hear (from "Halloween" to "Spartacus"!). **1/2 out of 4.

Seven children, all martial arts experts, are running loose unsupervised in Hong Kong. They check into a hotel then go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. They all order steak and then act like they never saw a steak before. There is also a diamond transaction going on at this restaurant. Eventually one of the kids ends up in possession of the diamond and all the troubles associated with it.

This is a nonsense comedy for lack of a more precise category. Nonsense comedy can be defined by humor derived from situations that are unlikely, impossible or ridiculous. In this movie the most impossible situation is seven children running around without adult supervision. Yet, how times have changed, because in 1986 I doubt that was even out of the ordinary in that culture.

Whenever I review a comedy I am always careful to say "I found it funny" rather than something like "This movie is funny". What makes one person laugh can cause no reaction in the next person and be offensive to the following person. Only the transvestite scene made me laugh out loud and I am sure it also offended others.

I did like the action even though every fight was essentially the same. These kids had amazing martial arts and acrobatic skills. I was surprised to find they all had few other acting roles beyond this one movie.

I first bought this film on videocassette around 1990 for a couple of quid from a market stall. My friends and I were around 12 years old at the time and were already huge fans of the chop-socky genre. We'd already chalked up viewings of such Chan/Hung classics as 'Project A' (Parts I & II), 'Dragons Forever', 'Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars' and 'Wheels On Meals' (?! I know it's the wrong way round?!) in addition to lesser known cult classics as 'Mad Mission' AKA 'Aces Go Places' and 'Legend Of The Golden Pearl'.

The confused, muddled plots and badly translated dubbing were THE cornerstones of an enjoyable summer's afternoon back then - before we became more 'sophisticated' hoodlum teenagers. we used to re-wind sequences of dialogue. Again and again and again.

And again. And again until we almost wet ourselves with laughter.

This is no Kubrick classic. BUT it has a place in my heart simply because we used to laugh so hard over it. It's basically a kind of a pre-dated kung-fu 'Goonies'. But just SO much more ridiculous.

They have the most ridiculous names - Dum Dum, Pepper, Rocky, Fatty and, on my original VHS cover, one was even named Bulls**t (?!)

Their costume changes allow constant amusement. In one restaurant scene they are all decked out in some kind of bizarre cobalt coloured knickerbockers/beret combo.

Also they have a constant need to put their arms around each other's shoulders and chant "Seven Lucky Kids All For One!!! Yeaaaah!!" This is always filmed by an upward camera shot from the centre of their circle.

The other reviewer is right about the music. Like a lot of Hong Kong flicks it just fades in and out abruptly.

Check it out. If the idea of kids and adults, wearing ridiculous garments, knocking seven bells out of one another after saying things that do not make sense whilst wearing ridiculous costumes is your idea of fun - you will not be disappointed.

I remember renting this from my local video shop I use to rent all the king Fu movie's (Chinese Shaw Bros etc) and see this films cover and I was like wow Kung Fu kids.so I rented it the first of many many times all in all its just a corny Taiwan Kung Fu movie that is actually decent and funny even now I can still watch it (it's on YouTube ) but god knows how they got clearance for the soundtrack on the movie because it's got songs and music from some of the biggest and best know films of the 80s in it and then there's the wham (George Michael) song but all in all its still a fun movie especially if you have kids they will love it

I first saw this film in about 1986 and I thought it was great ( I was a big Bruce Lee fan at the time ) The lip sync in this film is awful, as was expected. The whole story is very thin ( which I wont go into though ). A few years ago I moved out of my parents house and my mother sold the video at a market. Horrified, I thought I would never see it again. I would love to know what other film's these child actors have been in. A few weeks ago I went to pick my 17 month old boy up from my mother's and Lucky Seven was sitting there and the dinning room table, she had found another copy. I went home, put my son to bed and relived my youth with this Funny, athletic if a bit lacking in story film. Check eBay, check your local market's and car boot sale's, if you get the chance to own this film then grab it with both hand's !!!