When I first learned about Master of Thunder (aka Legend of Seven Monks), the one piece of info that quickly caught my attention is that Sonny Chiba and Yasuaki Kurata, two of the biggest names in Japanese martial arts cinema will finally clash in a movie together. The casting of these talents was what got me sold on this movie. While the teaser was short and uneventful, a trailer that is now online at the official site features a footage of Sonny and Kurata engaging in a sword vs staff duel which I'm sure these two old timer can still deliver a kick ass fight scene.
Master of Thunder is due out in Japan on August 19th.
Master of Thunder Trailer (downloadable Quicktime)
Master of Thunder Trailer (downloadable Windows Media)
Master of Thunder Trailer (downloadable Real Player)
Official Master of Thunder site
Kurata Promotion's Master of Thunder (aka Legend of Seven Monks) subsite
I saw this last night, and will be writing a brief review of it soon.
Looks like cheap straight-to-video garbage to me.
It looked good up to the point when the teenagers started coming in and the peppy rock kicked in.
Sonny Chiba and Yasuaki Kurata were in The Executioner together, so this isn't a first.
Natzo: you've basically just summed up the whole movie. The opening sequence is amazing (that's the fight with the crowd of acolytes and the glowing eyed demon) with a very old school supernatural kung fu feel, then it kind of degenerates into weak teen comedy. Final fight between the two old masters is fun but Chiba's hardly in the film, really, and there's just waaaaay too much fluff in the middle ...
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