Starring: Cecilia Cheung, Lam Tze Chung, Pu Ye Dong, Li Bin Hong, Cao Hua Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Miramax Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 24, 2004 Running Time: 89 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Description: With tons of action, eye-popping special effects, and nonstop laughs, here's a hilarious martial arts comedy about a team of misfits who take their best shot at winning a championship! Sing is a skilled Shaolin kung fu devotee whose amazing "leg of steel" catches the eye of a soccer coach! Together they assemble a squad of Sing's former Shaolin brothers inspired by the big-money prize in a national soccer competition! Using an unlikely mix of martial arts and newfound soccer skills, it seems an unbeatable combination ... until they must face the dreaded Team Evil in the ultimate battle for the title!
Amazon.com: Computer generated special effects have seldom been so giddy as in Shaolin Soccer, a gleeful fusion of kung fu and a classic Bad News Bears sports story. A former soccer star--whose "golden leg" was broken by a hired mob--assembles a team of former students of Shaolin martial arts, whose assorted skills (indicated by their nicknames, like Mighty Steel Leg and Iron Head) lend themselves to the swift interplay of the world's most popular game. Along the way, the team's leader (Hong Kong comic superstar Stephen Chow) meets a sticky bun baker (Vicki Zhao) whose kung fu is the equal of any of his teammates. Shaolin Soccer is supremely silly--in the final match, their opponents are called Team Evil--but that's part of the fun. American movies rarely achieve this perfect balance of the absurd and the sincere. A delight. --Bret Fetzer
Funny Foriegn film Saw part of this on TV, and wanted to watch the other half. The special FX are corny as all get out, but that makes it funnier. It's a typical HEA storyline, but a good one worth watching at least once or twice.
Whacked out crazy fun I was living in China when this hit the theatres, and wow was it popular. Now I know why. We start with some absurd Chinese slapstick and move into an excellent shows of special effects, stunts, and martial artistry. This is fun, thrilling, funny, crazy as all get-out, and just damn good. I'll be watching it again.
Soccer Even though this movie reminds me a little of the old Sunday afternoon "Kung Fu Theater" B movies, the antics are histerical, and the special effects are really good. The movie even has a pretty good plot and message about overcoming obstacles and striving to rise above one's circumstances. I happen to be a soccer fan, and rented it on a whim knowing it was a comedy. Once I had watched it, I knew that I had to own it. My kids and I watch it three or four times a year.
Stephen Chow is remarkable! This is a hilarious and heart-warming tale of a group of downtrodden kung fu brothers who find new life in the world of football (soccer). It features the dynamic and hugely entertaining Stephen Chow, a man who makes his comrades in Western success Jackie Chan and Jet Li pale in comparison. Where Li is wooden and dull and Chan tries far too hard, Chow has an indifference that is refreshing. In some ways similar to his later offering, "Kung Fu (Hustle)," although less dark and violent, this movie is suitable for the whole family, particularly when you factor in the poignant lesson of avoiding prejudice. The action is over-the-top CGI magic and makes for many of the belly laughs, but the romantic subplot between Chow's dreamer and the ugly duckling bun maker is a sweet and unique concept. The mere fact that Chow creates a character that sees beauty beneath the scarred exterior of the skilled yet self-doubting street vendor is a testament to all that Hollywood fails to understand about their audience. I could watch this movie over and over and always get a laugh, get a warm feeling in my heart, and get a thrill out of the effortless kung fu magic of the extraordinarily gifted Stephen Chow.
funny very funny martial arts movie. Funny in the sarcastic sense. good to watch to lighten your day.
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