 | Shaolin Soccer |
Rating: |  out of |
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Directed by: | Stephen Chiau |
| Derek Lee |
Cast: | Stephen Chiau | Sing |
| Vicky Zhao | Mui |
| Ng Man Tat | Golden Leg Fung |
Writing Credits: | Stephen Chiau |
| Derek Lee |
Action Director: | Tony Ching Siu-Tung |
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DVD: | From Poker Industries |
Zone: | All |
Video Signal: | NTSC |
Screen Shots: | Making bao and the first game (~125K for 3 pics) |
| This is a plain vanilla sports movie about an underdog soccer team comprised of ex-Shaolin kung fu students and some local Joes going up against the Evil (yes, according to the subtitles, that is really its name) Team. You know how it is going to turn out, the question is whether there will be enough twists to keep you interested along the way. |
| There are six students; each with his own specialty. There is Iron Head, Mighty Steel Leg (Chiau) and so on. Initially, the team is the usual bunch of mopes but after being roundly thumped by a local amateur team that play rough, they regain their Kung Fu. Now able to hover in air, not to mention control the ball with supernatural prescision, they make short work of all the teams between them and the big match up with the Evil Team. |
| Fortunately, the Evil Team is all pumped up from American medications and their owner also owns the referees so the final game is a knock down, drag out (literally). |
| I would rank this as one of Chiau's best (God of Cookery, King of Comedy, Forbidden City Cop) and it is definitely a must-see. I think a lot of gags made references to Hong Kong popular culture and went pretty much by me in the sense I would see it was supposed to be funny but not really why. I would have liked to see more Tai Chi bun making. Aside from Vicky Zhao, the cast contains the usual line up of Stephen Chiau movie faces (I don't know all their names). Ng Man Tat does a fine job as the now crippled and dishonored former champion who coaches the team. |
| This is one of the nicest Hong Kong DVDs, I've seen. The movie is presented in an anamorphic transfer with both DTS and Dolby 5.1 Surround tracks available. There is a deleted dance scene, also and subtitled, that can be seen in sequence. There are also several sequences outling some of the digital effects. |
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