Line #8 Film/SevenManArmy


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7_man_army_4e3b84b7dbac200d086eefcdd50ce4a3.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:They fight like ''seven hundred''...]]
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4	''Seven Man Army'' is a 1976 Hong Kong war / action movie produced by Creator/ShawBrothers, directed by Chang Cheh, with an all-star cast.
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6	VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, the film is a dramatic adaptation of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Great_Wall Defense of the Great Wall]], a battle of the Sino-Japanese conflict at the start of World War II, where a key section of the Great Wall is recaptured by the Chinese forces from the Japanese invaders, but at the cost of all but seven members of the PRC army. When Japanese reinforcements, whose ranks includes Mongolian mercenaries as well as tanks and artillery, are on their way to recapture the fort, the seven Chinese defenders will put up one last defense until reinforcements can arrive.
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8	Most of the key players of Shaw Brothers are cast as the seven, including Creator/TiLung as Battalion Commander Wu Chan Zheng, Creator/DavidChiang as Private First Class Bai Zhang-xing, Creator/AlexanderFuSheng as Private He Hong-fa, Creator/ChenKuanTai (''Film/TheBoxerFromShantung'') as Private Jiang Ming Kun, Li Yi-min as Private Pan Bing Lin, Chi Kuan-chun as Private Chu Tiancheng and Pai Ying as Private First Class Jia Fu-sheng. Originally members of different platoons who doesn't know each other, being thrush into the same situation as the lone survivors of the PRC army against the invading Japanese, the seven of them will have to bond as brothers to survive.
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11	!!Seven Man Army provides examples of the following tropes:
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13	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: In between all the action and fight scenes, there are moments where the seven gets to bond over dinnertime, confess to each other their reasons for joining the army, and asking for their comrades to fulfill their wishes if they fail to survive the war. Notably:
14	** Bai confessing to Jiang about him being a gambler and neglectful husband who wants to make amends after his wife became pregnant.
15	** Chu admitting to He that his reason for joining the war is for revenge, and that it’s alright for men to crack under stress and pressure.
16	** Commander Wu, being the veteran of the group, narrating to the rest during lunch on his beliefs as a soldier and how he became more cynical after spending years on the battlefield.
17	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: This is a very, very heavily fictionalized account of an actual incident during the Sino-Japanese war, where seven remaining members of a Chinese platoon rips a bloody chunk out of a Japanese army of 20,000 units. It’s about as historically accurate as ''Film/{{Windtalkers}}''.
18	** The fact that each individual member of the Chinese platoon racks up a kill-tally that puts ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' to shame should indicate the movie isn’t really driving for accuracy.
19	** The Chinese army in real life are generally under-equipped, armed with pistols and traditional swords, with rather limited supplies of heavy machine-gun ammunition. No MoreDakka in reality…
20	** The defense in the Great Wall region is through a hilly terrain, instead of flat ground like depicted in the movie. This is due to the fact that the movie is filmed in the outskirts of Taiwan instead of the actual Great Wall region.
21	** Mongolians are depicted as savages and equally ruthless as the Japanese, even willing to commit in atrocities such as murdering innocent people and taking delight at the prospect of joining the war for the fun of slaughtering people. While the Japanese do employ Mongolians as mercenaries, they are merely soldiers doing their jobs, and PunchClockVillain at worst. (not that anyone really counts as heroes or villains when there’s a war going on…)
22	* TheAtoner: Private Bai, formerly a gambler; his wife is the only person who supports him, yet is always neglected until she reveals herself to be pregnant. He only realizes [[BelatedLoveEpiphany how much he misses her after being drafted into the frontlines]], and intends to return home a decorated soldier and honorable commander to make his wife and child proud. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen]].
23	* BackToBackBadasses: Whenever two of the seven ends up fighting alongside each other, this happens. Most of the time it’s Commander Wu and Private Bai, Private Jiang and Private He, or Private Chu and Private Pan.
24	* BayonetYa: Plenty of the close-range combat scenes involves bayonets being used, for the seven to slash their enemies apart into bits.
25	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Half of the seven ends up killing themselves instead of giving the Japanese army the pleasure of finishing them off. [[spoiler: Including Commander Wu (blowing himself up), Private Jiang (stabbing himself with his {{BFS}}, and Private Pan (using himself as an ActionBomb to take out a Japanese tank and several surrounding enemies)]].
26	* BigBadassBattleSequence: The Defense of the Great Wall, where the Japanese army invades a key section of the Great Wall during the Sino-Japanese war, which the movie opens with. The opening credits are literally superimposed over the battle scenes and cycles around the titular seven protagonists of the film.
27	* BloodKnight: Most of the seven as the movie progresses, but Jiang and Chu fits this even ''before'' they join the army, as shown in his flashback. Although it’s justified because the former is a rebel army leader of his own LaResistance unit who witnessed many deaths beforehand, while the latter is enraged at his wife’s death in the hands of the Japanese.
28	--> '''Chu''': (grabbing a friend by the collar, after killing the last Japanese punk in his flashback) "Tell me, where can I kill more Japs? [[SuddenlyShouting WHERE]]!!!!???"
29	* BraidsOfBarbarism: Notably on the Mongolian mercenary leaders.
30	* DavidVsGoliath: Seven Chinese soldiers taking on a Japanese army of 20,000 and their Mongolian allies.
31	* DiedStandingUp: [[spoiler: Private Chu Tiancheng, defending the fort from it’s highest point, in his last moments uses his body to prop the Chinese flag on its top, preventing it from collapsing in front of the Japanese]].
32	* DoNotGoGentle: The titular seven, who puts up a hell of a fight against an otherwise hopeless battle against a massive invading army. As the blurb of the movie states, they are "seven men who fights like 700".
33	* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler: At the end of the film, the Japanese invaders, having recaptured the fort, decides to put the titular seven soldiers in a marked grave and grant them a dignified send-off]].
34	* DyingCurse: Downplayed, but in the scene when [[spoiler: Private Jiang]] bites it, instead of letting himself be taken alive, he instead chooses to drive his {{BFS}} into his midsection.
35	--> '''[[spoiler: Jiang]]''': "Long Live the Chinese!"
36	* EnsembleCast: A Shaw Brothers-sponsored war movie with an all-star cast.
37	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The titular Seven Man Army is a team of seven soldiers who fights like an army.
38	* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: The Japanese may be the invaders, but they are at least respectful over enemies they consider as WorthyOpponent. Which is why upon recapturing the fort, the Japanese General orders his army to grant the titular seven a MeaningfulFuneral before retreating]].
39	* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Commander Wu had his eyes burned off from napalm launched by the Japanese, before the final stand]].
40	* FireForgedFriends: The platoon of seven, after spending days bonding over between trying to survive the Japanese assault, eventually becomes [[SwornBrothers blood brothers]] sworn to watch over each other no matter what.
41	* ForeignRemake: Of ''Film/CrossOfIron''. On streroids!
42	* HiredGuns: The Mongolian mercenaries employed by the Japanese definitely counts. Three of them serves as MookLieutenant enemies who puts up hell of a tough fight, but as soon as the three dies, [[DecapitatedArmy the Mongols quickly disappears from the movie altogether]].
43	* HoldTheLine: The entire premise of the movie, seven Chinese soldiers holding the line for two-hours of screentime against hordes and hordes of Japanese invaders.
44	* HumanPincushion: [[spoiler: Private Bai’s fate; having been crippled and surrounded, unarmed after throwing his bayonets into the Japanese Commanding officer, Bai ends up getting more than twelve Japanese bayonets shoved through his gut. But he managed to blurt a warning shout to Commander Wu to trigger their explosive booby trap before he expires]].
45	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler: Xiao Shun-zi, the token little boy, is the only named character still alive at the end of the movie. In fact when the Japanese army decides to give the titular seven a dignified funeral, Shun-zi approaches the fort with the intent of retrieving the Chinese flag on it, and the Japanese Commander orders his soldiers to let the boy leave unharmed]].
46	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted, plenty of the Japanese soldiers uses katanas, but they’re still outmatched by the seven’s bayonets. Or Private Jiang’s {{BFS}}.
47	* KilledMidSentence: The fate of a Japanese colonel, who is issuing orders for his army to charge, before Private Chu suddenly snipes him from a hidden corner.
48	* LastStand: Approaching the credits of the movie, the final 15 minutes is a lengthy last stand between the seven and the Japanese invading army. [[spoiler: The Japanese finally won, after suffering maybe two hundred casualties]].
49	* MenDontCry: Invoked in one of the team’s bonding moments, when Jiang realized that He had a HeroicRROD and is sobbing to himself.
50	--> '''Jiang''': "Control yourself! A real man sheds blood, instead of tears!"
51	* MoreDakka: The seven had access to heavy machine-guns, and put them to great use firing away and absolutely shredding the Japanese army into half.
52	* NobleDemon: The Japanese General, who respects heroes and patriots, considers the seven as WorthyOpponent and even [[spoiler: orders his troops to give them a proper funeral after the battle is over]].
53	* OneManArmy: ''Seven'' Man Army. Although even if they’re fighting alone against a whole platoon of Japanese soldiers or Mongolian mercenaries, they can still hold their own pretty impressively.
54	* PatrioticFervor:
55	** Commander Wu, who stays on the battlefield over his loyalty to his country.
56	** Private Jiang, whose [[spoiler: DyingWords are actually to praise China while facing a hundred or so Japanese soldiers]].
57	** Private Chu’s [[spoiler: last act before he succumbs is to prevent the Chinese flag on top of the fort from collapsing, and he uses his body to hold the flag in position]].
58	* PyrrhicVictory: The opening battle eventually results into this, when the Chinese army have successfully repelled the Japanese… with all except seven of them surviving. And the seven will have to bond with each other as a tight-knit platoon and defend the fortress from an incoming wave of Japanese reinforcements.
59	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Commander Wu, being the leader and most experienced of the seven, is quickly proven to be the best fighter and marksman, [[spoiler: as well as lasting longer than all the other six before he blows himself up with a whole Japanese platoon]].
60	* {{Revenge}}:
61	** Part of Private Chu’s motivations for joining the army, which is to avenge his wife who died at the hands of the Japs.
62	** Private Jia is determined to battle the Japanese to avenge his Regimental Commander, Wang, who was his instructor during basic training and a father figure to him.
63	** Private He, the youngest of the seven, has made his vengeance [[ItsPersonal personal]] because his family is killed by the Mongolian mercenaries working for the Japs.
64	* ShootingGallery: Shows up in Commander Wu’s flashback scene as part of a TrainingMontage. There is another gallery outside the fort where the seven are holed up in.
65	* TagalongKid: Xiao Shun-zi, an orphan from a neighboring farm who lost his parents in the cross-fire, and ends up bunking with the titular platoon of seven where the boy gets to be a scout. [[spoiler: He is also the last survivor of the named characters]].
66	* TakingYouWithMe: Most of the seven, being DefiantToTheEnd, deliberately:
67	** [[spoiler: Pan, in his last moments, loads a bandoleer of grenades on his belt and triggers it as he leaps upon a Japanese tank, blowing up himself and a whole platoon of Japs]].
68	** [[spoiler: Private Bai, realizing he’s surrounded by Japanese soldiers while crippled in both legs, leaps out of his cover, slashing away and throwing bayonet knives, killing the Japanese Commanding Officer before he gets overwhelmed by the soldiers]].
69	** [[spoiler: Commander Wu, who is now blind and the SoleSurvivor of the seven, upon hearing Bai’s death from a platform above, immediately triggers the dynamites his team had booby-trapped the entire room with before revealing himself to the enemy. The ensuing explosion blows up the entire place, killing Wu himself and around twenty Japs]].
70	* TanksButNoTanks: For some reason, the Japanese army are using American Sherman tanks instead of Type 97 Chi-Ha tank, probably because they couldn’t afford to recreate WWII-era vehicles with the movie’s budget.
71	* TheTeam: Battalion Commander Wu Chan Zheng (Ti Lung) is TheLeader, a veteran of war who spent more time fighting in the frontline than any of the other six. Private First-Class Bai Zhang Xing (David Chiang) is TheLancer, who gets second most character development and interactions with Commander Wu. Private Jiang Ming Kun (Chen Kuan-tai) is TheBigGuy, a BoisterousBruiser and physically largest member of the seven, who wields a {{BFS}} as a backup weapon. Private First-Class Jia Fu-sheng (Pai Ying) is TheSmartGuy, who is the strategist and part of a regimental commanding unit before his former platoon gets killed. Private He Hong Fa (Alexander Fu Sheng) is TheHeart, the youngest and emotional center of the squad. Finally, there are Private Chu Tiancheng (Chi Kuan-chun) who joins the army to avenge his wife’s death, and Private Pan Bing Lin (Li Yi-min), who joins the army after beating up pro-Japanese sympathizers before joining the army.
72	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Featured in Private Jiang’s flashback, when he kills a Japanese sergeant pointing a gun at him with a flung sword.
73	* ThisIsGonnaSuck: When the seven realize an incoming wave of Japanese reinforcements heading for the fortress. Including tanks.
74	* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: All of the seven have their own flashbacks depicting their pasts and how they ended up in this war, and inevitably not all of these are pleasant.
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Context Film / SevenManArmy