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46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bend it Like Golden Leg Fung, April 17, 2004
I had heard about Shaolin Soccer (2001) a couple of years ago from a friend, as he had recommended it to me, knowing the particular way some of my tastes ran, and I am glad he did, as it's a heady mix of the wacky, the absurd, and the just plain fun. The movie starts off with a flashback, showing an extremely popular Chinese soccer player named Golden Leg Fung accepting money to throw a game from a lackey, and the consequences of his actions, including a severely crippling beating by the crowd after purposely missing a rather easy goal scoring opportunity. Now, it's many years later, and Fung now works for the gangster organization that had originally paid him off, in a completely demeaning position. He dreams of coaching, but the once lackey who owns the current champion soccer team and is also chairman of the league, finds this notion completely humorous, and heap further degradations upon Fung. Despondent, Fung ends up meeting a vagabond/shaolin follower called Steel Leg, and formulates a plan to build a new soccer team around this exceptional martial artist. Fung also finds out Steel Leg has enough brothers, all once trained in martial arts, to make up a team. Each brother has their own, unique ability, and soon they begin to practice. During their first practice, the men suffer a fairly brutal beating (this whole pain, beating, and humiliation factor seems to be a constant theme throughout), but soon find their shaolin training coming back to them, and turn the tables on their opponents. They enter the tournament, sweeping through the ranks, until finally the meet with the current champions, the Evil Team (I'm not kidding, that's their name), and meet the ultimate challenge, as the chairman gives his team a decidedly unfair advantage. Will the shaolin players be victorious, or will they suffer the crushing defeat at the hands of the chairman and his evil team?
The special effects here are truly amazing and inventive, making for the most insane soccer playing I've ever seen. Imagine someone being able to kick a soccer ball with the same force of shooting it out of a cannon, and with pinpoint accuracy. There is not really a lot of actual soccer playing, in the traditional sense, as with the abilities of the players, the ball mainly zooms around in a very cartoonish manner. Mixing kung fu and soccer is certainly and interesting concept, and provides some really spectacular visuals. The English captioning is really bad, but certainly gave me much to laugh about, along with the seriously outlandish overacting.
Special features include an option to watch the film with the deleted scenes, the deleted scenes by themselves, a trailer, biographies, a featurette on the making of the film, a photo gallery, and behind the scenes featurette on how the special effects were made. All in all, Shaolin Soccer is an unsane, over the top comedy steeped in outrageous action and definitely worth a look if you care to expand your horizons.
Cookieman108
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant blend of martial arts, comedy, SFX, mysticism, April 25, 2003
Stephen Chow has proven himself to be one of the world's finest directors with "Shaolin Soccer" (aka "Kung-Fu Soccer"), which was Hong Kong's biggest-ever box-office success when released in 2001. The simple story of a family of brothers who use Shaolin kung-fu to win the national China soccer tournament against The Evil Team (who use "American medicines" to win their games) is bolstered by some hilarious comedy, spirited performances and very creative special effects. Outside of the comedic scenes-- which are among the funniest I've seen in a foreign film in a long time--the film's mystical element comes through most uniquely, as during the fabled hypnotic scene involving Mui's steamed bread making. The part where the brothers are getting beaten to death on the field and then suddenly "freeze" revert to ancient kung-fu forms was also startling and wonderful. Although banned in mainland China because it was released in Hong Kong before given official certification, this film also works as a glimpse into what the modern-day country looked like in 2001. "Shaolin Soccer" was primarily filmed not in Hong Kong but in Shanghai, and uses that city's futuristic-looking new skyscrapers and hip, youthful citizens as a slick, glittery backdrop to its story. Never before has communist China looked this modern, confident and vibrant in a movie. The special effects, too, are very cutting-edge, and work particularly well during the final soccer match where flying soccer balls become ferocious black tigers, and some kicks are so powerful as to rip the skin right off of the players. At no point is this movie ever dull or uninteresting, and most of the time it moves at a roaring pace. The director's cut on the foreign DVD is even better, as it features two lengthy scenes that were cut out of the original, but add to the subplot between Sing and Mui. Whether you are a fan of martial arts, comedy, China, or just
plain good old fashioned filmmaking, this film is for you, and when it is released here in the US this August I hope it becomes
a phenomenon. Very highly recommended--I have seen it three times now and it continues to grow on me.
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63 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious!!, July 20, 2003
I was first introduced to this movie when my girlfriend demanded that we watch it. I've never been a fan of martial arts movies, so I was extremely iffy about it. I also am not a fan of subtitles, so this movie was in the trash as far as I was concerned, but being the good boyfriend I am, I decided I could tough through a two hour movie and maybe catch a couple of z's while I was at it. But after the movie started, my opinion almost immedietely changed. From the opening scene this movie grabs you and doesn't let go. It is easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It is creative and the effects aren't as cheesy as you might think. I sat with my jaw dropped for two hours, thinking to myself "How many other movies have I blown off that might be great?" I can't wait for the theatrical release where it will be dubbed in English. I hope they come out with a DVD with an English dub too.
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