The Seven Commandments of Kung Fu (1979) DVD

A student's new skills come with a dangerous obligation

A young fighter gains the attention of a formidable master and the chance to learn his methods. The lessons bring power, but they also bring expectations about how that power should be used. A teacher who sees his pupil as a successor may not welcome the discovery that the student has a will of his own.

Lee Yi-min and Chang Yi face a question of loyalty

Lee Yi-min and Chang Yi lead this old-school kung fu story, which places an assassin's training at the center of its conflict. Martial instruction is more than preparation for the next opponent: it is a way for the master to extend his influence. The student's growing ability makes obedience an increasingly important question.

Choose this when you want the training relationship itself to generate the action. Watch the shift from dependence to confidence, and how that changes the meaning of the master's demands. The appeal is seeing a fighter acquire both technique and reasons to question the man teaching it. Collectors who enjoy pupil-and-master stories can follow that conflict without needing a connection to any larger series or a historical account of a particular school.

Before you settle in

What drives the central conflict? A young disciple must decide what loyalty to his dangerous teacher requires.

Who are the principal performers? Lee Yi-min and Chang Yi lead the film.

For RCF’s supplied edition, check the playback information beside the purchase button and More DVD details.

More for your movie shelf

For a Western with a dangerous mentor and an increasingly independent pupil, try Day of Anger (1967).