Director: Stephen
Chow Sing-Chi
Starring: Stephen
Chow Sing-Chi, Vicky Zhao Wei, Ng Man Tat
Awards: Best Film, Best Director,
2002 Hong Kong Film Critics Association; Best Film, Best Director, Best
Young Director, Best Actor (Chow), Best Supporting Actor (Wong Yut Fei),
Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Design, 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards
In a fight against the gangster, Sing
who is watched by a previous soccer star Fung fights his way out showing
his powerful martial arts kicking skills. Sing is persuaded to
form a soccer team together with his Shaolin comrades for the National
Soccer and his teammates talents for kung fu are unleashed in the soccer
field ....
Utterly, would have to be his
funniest movie-to-date in my book. Even more so than God Of Cookery. Not
much to say except: watch and laugh.
More of the story ....
In the wicked game of "Shaolin Soccer," players
will stop at nothing to score a laugh. It fuses ancient martial arts
with hard-hitting physical comedy and the high-flying energy of
competitive sports. Champion player Fung (Ng Man-tat) is so good that
they call him "Golden Leg." However, when he loses the Chinese national
championship game by missing a goal, enraged fans break his legs. Twenty
years later, Fung is hauling equipment for his former teammate Hung's
(Patrick Tse) "Team Evil." When Fung is fired, he comes across Sing
(Stephen Chow), a monk from the legendary Shaolin Temple with
superlative martial arts skills and a "Mighty Iron Leg."
Unfortunately,
in modern-day China, there is little money to be made as a monk, so Sing
ekes out a meager living collecting garbage. Sing dreams of "a world
gone Shaolin," where Kung Fu is used to solve even the smallest
problems. When Fung sees Sing take on a bunch of thugs with nothing but
a soccer ball, he hatches the brilliant idea of forming a Shaolin soccer
team. They set out to recruit Sing's former Shaolin classmates‹all are
down and out‹but each has a special power adding to the team's limitless
potential. One has a head of iron, another bears stomach muscles able to
propel the ball at warp speed, a third weighs 300 pounds but possesses
the ability to walk on air, and finally the goalie who can stop any
shot. Well, almost any shot.
"Shaolin Soccer" shows the game of soccer in "bullet time", so the eye
follows the action at the velocity of the ball itself. A kicked ball
morphs into a fiery comet and then a flaming tiger as it races across
the field. Another ball creates a vortex as it flies through the air,
chewing up the field and everything in its path. Players constantly defy
the laws of physics by leaping several stories and doing impossible
back-flips. At one point, the impact of supersonic soccer balls blows
the unlucky goalie away.
On his climb to the top, Sing meets Mui (Vicki Zhao), a homely martial
arts mistress who has been reduced to making sweet buns. Her skin is so
bad that flies buzz around her but her Kung Fu skills exert a powerful
pull on Sing. Sing, however, is too focused on his team's success to
properly return Mui's affection. When the Shaolin team makes it to the
finals, they must battle the ferocious Team Evil. The showdown proves to
be much more than the team expected. One by one, the Shaolin players
fall to Team Evil's deceitful tactics. Just when all seems lost, the
Shaolin players even the score.
DVD:
List Price: US $22.95
Sale
Price: US$12.95
Language:
Cantonese / Mandarin
Subtitle:
English / Traditional Chinese
/ Simplified Chinese
All Regions
(can be played on any DVD players in the
world)
Wide Screen, DTS, Dolby
Digital 5.1 surround
Publisher: Universe Laser
Rating:
IIB -
"Adult Material; Parental Guidance Recommended"
(roughly equal to an MPPA rating of "R") Films
rated Category IIB contain large amounts of violence
and/or nudity and sexual situations in addition to
possible explicit language and adult situations.
Extended DTS Version
112 Minutes - Original uncut version
Order Online Now while supply lasts!
Sale
Price: US$12.95