''7 Pasiklab sa Army'' () is a 1988 Filipino erotic war comedy film written and directed by Bill Baldridge, and stars

Redford White Cipriano "Dodoy" M. Cermeño II (December 5, 1955 – July 25, 2010), better known by his screen name Redford White, was a Filipino actor and comedian. He was best known on his role as Sol in the television sitcom ''Buddy and Sol'' opposite Eric Q ...

, Cachupoy, Don Pepot, the "Tatlong Itlog" (), and Janice Jurado. Set during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, the film is about seven Filipino

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

recruits who are tasked with retrieving a captured general in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and bringing him to the Philippines so that he can help find the lost gold of Yamashita. Produced by Arte Films, the film was released on July 6, 1988. Critic

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on recor ...

gave the film a mixed review, criticizing its uneven comedic quality while giving high praise to Cachupoy's hilarious performance.

Plot

General Livingstone is the only person who knows where

Yamashita's gold Yamashita's gold, also referred to as the Yamashita treasure, is the name given to the alleged war loot stolen in Southeast Asia by Imperial Japanese forces during World War II and supposedly hidden in caves, tunnels, or underground complexes in ...

is located, and he is currently held captive in Vietnam during the

. Seven Filipino soldiers are thus recruited by the military with the task of retrieving General Livingstone and bringing him to the Philippines to find the lost gold, which can potentially bolster the Philippine economy.

Cast

* Cachupoy * Don Pepot *Tatlong Itlog *Janice Jurado *Joseph de Cordova *Woodrow Serafin *Gina Keiser *Graziella

Release

''7 Pasiklab sa Army'' was graded "C" by the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board ( fil, Lupon sa Rebyu at Klasipikasyon ng Pelikula at Telebisyon; abbreviated as MTRCB) is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is respon ...

(MTRCB), indicating a "Fair" quality; though the board described it as " naughty sex-comedy movie," it only gave the film a "P" rating, which stands for "Parental Guidance Recommended." The film was released on July 6, 1988.

Critical response

, writing for the ''

Manila Standard The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. , it is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid p ...

'', gave the film a mixed review. He criticized the uneven quality of its comedy, stating that "sometimes you will laugh so hard and at other times you would be annoyed at the corniness." Diaz also criticized the film's depiction of the Vietnamese people as stupid and childish, which he thought was outdated. However, Diaz gave high praise to Cachupoy's comedic performance, which he thought had bested his co-stars' own efforts at being funny, even through just simple gestures. Diaz also expressed surprise at the film's erotic camerawork and good lighting, which he noted as being rare in Filipino comedies.

References

External links

* 1988 films 1980s sex comedy films 1980s war comedy films 1988 comedy films Filipino-language films Films about the military Films set in Vietnam Philippine sex comedy films Philippine war comedy films Vietnam War films {{Philippines-film-stub