Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7887 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-14
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: Cantonese Chinese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Special Features
Two versions of the film: i) Fully Uncut Hong Kong Version (Cantonese with English Subtitles) ii) English dubbed version Making-of Documentary Outtakes Special Effects Featurette A Guide to the Shaolin Moves

Synopsis
Hong Kong satirist Stephen Chow wrote, directed, and stars in this hilarious spoof of sports and kung fu movie cliches. Chow plays 'Mighty Steel Leg' Sing, who can kick soda cans through walls, and is a natural soccer star in the eyes of crippled coach Fung (Patrick Se Yin), who is looking to challenge his arch rival Hung, the captain of the aptly named Evil Team. Recruiting Sing and his goofy brothers who all have names like Steel Head, Hook Kick Leg, and Weight Vest (with qualities to match), Hung's team soon rises through the ranks via their supernatural Kung Fu soccer skills. There's also a love interest in the form of a shy girl (Vicki Zhao Wei) who uses martial arts magic in making steamed bread. MATRIX-style digital effects elevate the actor's martial arts skills to ludicrous heights, giving the clichéd story such a giddy, high-octane boost it soars into a comic class by itself. Soccer balls ripple through the air like slo-mo bullets, smashing through walls, and flying thousands of feet in the air. A box office smash in the East, SHAOLIN SOCCER should prove irresistible to open-minded Westerners looking for a laugh-out-loud experience.

Customer Reviews

The best comedy from Asia and one of the best of all time!
Nice! The west have finally caught on.
But Ignore the promo quote.. "The Matrix meets Match of the day" Very insulting to any film goer, casual or not. This came before The Matrix way back in 98. Watchowskis "borrowed" the special effect ideas and thats it! And MOTD... yeah so they kick a ball....
The title says it all... you don't need a quote like that!
It's about a group of disbanded Shaolin Monks forced into drab everyday jobs in our commercial times. One day though.. a crippled ex soccer star who after decades of being bullied by a git soccer promoter/manager decides to form the best soccer team ever after seeing what the Shaolin dudes can do! In combo we get "SHAOLIN SOCCER!" Now if only that were true!!

This is like no film you have ever seen.. throw away reality, forget about "midiclorians" And just watch it. It's pure comical genius! wrapped around the best use of CG imagination.
Remember some factoids before watching though...

1. Being chinese myself I need to tell you that Stephen Chow uses OTT expressions and gestures in most of his films which adds to the comedy effect.
2. The Karaoke scene is stupidly funny if you know that even in Chinese it does not ryme and is embarrassing to hear. This is why Stephen Chow and 1st brother are laughing for real.
3. The big boned monk's martial art is "sui seung piu" which when he used to be thin.. the art was "to walk on water"
Ironic comedy..
4. "Ah Miu" the love interest. You are meant to believe that she has been to some womens Shoalin school or class..
5. The singing scene where Stephen meets Ah Miu... he starts singing, that used to be the chinese way or courting... very ancient, try it. Also used in Hakka opera... in this it's serious taking the wee wee.
6. The pain and violence in this is normal in oriental comedy.
7. There are also serious acting in this just to be even more ridculous!
8. Watch it uncut! Like milk in tea!!You must!

This is Stephen Chows best flim to date.. until I get to watch Kung Fu Hustle which has just finished in Asia.

Now watch this muvver and dance!

Combine kung fu and soccer, and you get a very funny film
Shaolin Soccer makes for perfectly ridiculous fun when a team of down and out kung fu masters coalesce around a degraded legend turned coach to take the sport of Chinese soccer to new heights (literally). For twenty years, Golden Leg Fung (Man Tat Ng) has limped around in the service of Team Evil Coach Hung (Yin Tse) waiting for his chance to be a coach, only to be ridiculed and driven away. Then he meets a poor kung fu master out on the streets and, after seeing what incredible leg power the fellow has, comes up with the crazy idea of forming a soccer team of kung fu masters. Mighty Steel Leg Sing (Stephen Chow), who had been looking for a way to spread kung fu teachings among more of the populace, quickly seeks out his former Shaolin brothers, none of whom are interested - at first. Eventually, the new dream team is assembled. There's Iron Shirt Tin, Iron Head, a very hefty Light Weight, Lightning Hands, and Hooking Leg (each of them named after his particular kung fu specialty). They don't know the first thing about soccer, and Golden Leg has a time trying to coach them up in time to enter the big, upcoming soccer tournament. Just when everything appears lost, the guys' kung fu powers are reawakened, and it's Game On from that point on. They aren't exactly intimidating when they come out in their yellow bathrobes, each one of them less athletic-looking than the next, but it's immediately obvious that these guys, with their high-flying, ball-screeching skills, are a force to be reckoned with. They are most definitely a sight to see.

There's one more kung fu master in town, a shy young woman named Mui (Zhao Wei) who has no self-confidence and works making sticky buns (using kung fu, of course). Might Steel Leg Sing befriends her, and there's a weird kind of romance between the two, but their weird relationship is sort of a weak spot in the story - although Mui herself is certainly a character of great importance. The film is really just about absurdly unreal kung fu soccer moves on (and above) the field and their culmination in the championship game between Team Evil and our beloved Shaolin Soccer Team. Hung, never above cheating, manages to put a team on the field that can actually outmatch the seemingly invincible kung fu soccer team, making it a contest unlike any you've ever seen before. CGI effects aplenty accompany each and every move on the field, serious injuries abound, and the enthusiastic crowd loves every minute of it. You'll see soccer play that even Pele could not have dreamed of (largely because it's all physically impossible) in this ultimate battle of good and evil. There's never really much doubt about how things will end, but that doesn't take away from any of the zany super-soccer special effects that make this the most exciting soccer game in history.

Shaolin Soccer is funny by design, and the key to making such a film is to go all out with the special effects. That's exactly what Stephen Chow does in this hilarious blend of soccer, kung fu, and comedy. Even when it takes on a distinctly cartoonish air, Shaolin Soccer proves more entertaining by the moment. With its constant humor and spectacular special effects, the film all but guarantees that a good time will be had by all.

Very quirky, but a lot of fun.
This film is not for you if you want a simple pop-corn rom-com. It is very funny, very much worth while, but will not appeal to all by a long way.
If you like early Jackie Chan, then that's a good indicator that you will laugh yourself silly with this one.