Seven Man Army Reviews

Many fans associate the Shaw Brothers name with kung-fu and swordplay films but this effort is an intriguing venture into the war film. The well-constructed script takes a pretty gripping "few against many" war movie premise and plays it out with skill, using some old-fashioned flashbacks to add dimension to the soldier heroes. Director Chang Cheh brings a crisp pace to the film's two-hour running time, punctuating it with an array of action scenes that mix conventional war movie gunplay and explosions with displays of martial arts and swordfighting that give it a unique, exotic edge. The budget's seams show up in some hasty effects work (the grenade explosions tend to produce much smoke and very little fire) but the film's solid storytelling and high level of action carry it through. Seven Man Army further benefits from a strong cast of Shaw Brothers stars: Ti Lung provides a square-jawed, heroic presence as the squadron's leader, Alexander Fu Sheng adds some charm as the most childlike of the soldiers and Johnny Wang Lung-Wei does reliably nasty work as a cruel Manchurian villain. All in all, Seven Man Army is an interesting change of pace for Shaw Brothers fans and war movie buffs alike.