“Seaman. No 7” Theatrical Poster
Director: Lo Wei
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Maria Yi, James Tien Chun, Tien Feng, Han Ying Chieh, Kelly Lee Hoi Lee, Gam Saan, Chin Yuet Sang, Lo Wei, Lam Ching Ying, Ma Man-Chun
Running Time: 100 min.
By Ian Whittle
I think we’ve found a winner for the Most Underwhelming Kung Fu Movie Title…no wonder the UK VHS was re-named Wang Yu’s Magnificent Fights.
For some reason, after a winning streak of top-notch wu xia films at Shaw Brothers, and his blockbuster hits with Bruce Lee at rival studio Golden Harvest, director Lo Wei seemed to lose all momentum in 1973 and despite working with top talent Cheng Pei-pei and Jimmy Wang Yu (not to mention Chuck Norris!), his films became increasingly stodgy and over-reliant on dull dialogue passages. This would continue onto his independent productions, where he would try and fail (and then try again) to launch Jackie Chan as a star. Ironically, once Jackie became a star when loaned out to Seasonal Films, Lo would find his groove again in time for the above-average Dragon Fist.
Produced on location in Japan alongside A Man Called Tiger, Seaman No.7 involves a hot-headed sailor played by Jimmy Wang Yu, whose constant wolf-whistling here is presumably meant to stress he is a sailor (as if the gaudy t-shirts and cap weren’t a giveaway) but equally could be a case of “Well, Bruce Lee wolf-whistled in his last picture, and that grossed millions…” Wang Yu, being Wang Yu, hates the Japanese and leaps into a brawl with some Japanese sailors at a bar. During the frey, he accidentally kills a bystander, and escapes by stowing away on a ship bound for Kobe Dock in Japan. He is discovered by the crew and suddenly finds himself in demand with a local Yakuza clan. Having beaten the living daylights out of them, he meets up with a Chinese family living nearby (who don’t seem to mind too much that he is on the run for murder!)
Although there is plentiful action on display, the pace is sluggish, and the lack of music in many places doesn’t help. Wang Yu’s character is so thoroughly unlikeable (despite the half dozen girls in the cast cooing over him) that they might as well have gone the whole hog and had him become a crime boss. Speaking of which, the Yakuza boss here is a doozy. He is played by James Tien, in a thick blond wig and bright pink wardrobe, looking not the slightest bit Japanese but looking outrageously fabulous, already a long way from being taken seriously as a leading man again. Adding to the hilarity, he is followed about by one of the scrawniest looking sumo wrestlers on record. A shot of Tien ranting at his henchmen can only produce giggles when he is sharing said shot with a man in a large diaper.
As with A Man Called Tige, an effort is made to spice up the action with set-pieces less reliant on martial arts then on props and location. There is a speedboat chase, and a fight on the back of a moving truck that feels like a precursor to what Jackie Chan would do in the 80s, though it is hampered by the slack editing that does not make the scene as exciting as it could have been. Less successful is a lengthy underwater fight, which reminds up of Jimmy Wang Yu’s background as a champion swimmer, and even more so of how boring underwater sequences are without John Barry music or sharks to spice them up!
What does redeem Seaman No.7 is this. During the course of the story, Wang Yu becomes a cleaner at a karate school, and, at first covertly then directly, learns Karate from the sensei, played by Suzuki Masafumi, who would best Sonny Chiba the following year in The Street Fighter. And Wang gets a Japanese girlfriend! After depicting the Japanese several times as savage ghouls resembling vampires, seeing Wang Yu absorbing the culture and heritage of the country is a much appreciated breath of fresh air!
Ian Whittle’s Rating: 5/10
