Shaolin Soccer (2001)
"Siu lam juk kau" (original title)

A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.

Director:

Stephen Chow

Writers:

Stephen Chow, Kan-Cheung Tsang,

Stars:

Stephen Chow, Wei Zhao, Man Tat Ng

13 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Chow	...	Mighty Steel Leg Sing
Wei Zhao	...	Mui (as Zhou Wei)
Man Tat Ng	...	Golden Leg Fung (as Ng Mang Tat)
Yin Tse	...	Team Evil Coach Hung (as Patrick Tse Yin)
Cecilia Cheung	...	Team Dragon Player #7
Karen Mok	...	Team Dragon Player #11
Vincent Kok	...	Team Puma Leader
Hui Li	...	Banana Peel Girl
Yat-fei Wong	...	Iron Head (First Brother)
Kai Man Tin	...	Iron Shirt (Third Brother)
Chi Chung Lam	...	Light Weight Vest (Small Brother)
Kwok-Kwan Chan	...	Lightning Hands (Fourth Brother)
Mei Lin Mo	...	Hooking Leg (Second Brother)
Ming Ming Zhang	...	Little Hung
Pu Ye Dong	...	Little Fung

Storyline

After a fateful mistake costing his career, an ex-soccer player bum meets a shaolin kung fu student trying to spread the word of kung fu. The ex-soccer player helps reconcile with his five brothers, and teaches them soccer, adding shaolin kung fu as a twist.

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Plot Keywords:

shaolin | kung fu | soccer | team | martial arts | 

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Taglines:

Kick some grass!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

metrofilms.com [fr] miramax.com [us]

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin

Release Date:

12 July 2001 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Shaolin Soccer

Filming Locations:

Shanghai, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$39,167 (USA) (2 April 2004)

Gross:

$488,872 (USA) (20 August 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star Overseas, Universe Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 102 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (US version) DTS (US version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the most successful Hong Kong-made movie ever in Hong Kong, making HK$60 million (about US$4.7 million) at the local box office.

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Quotes

Sing: Phone home like ET, Mui. You don't belong on Earth.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown before the credits.

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Connections

Spoofs Jurassic Park (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Wei do du zun"
Arranged by Ying-Wah Wong
Lyrics by Albert Leung
Performed by Wei Zhao

User Reviews

Great entertainment

Stephen Chow writes, directs and stars in probably his funniest and most accessible (to Western audiences, at least) film to date.

Sing (Chow) is trying to find a way to encourage his countrymen to re-embrace their Shaolin kung fu heritage. When he meets down-at-heel ex-soccer coach Fung (Ng), the pair hatch a plan to form a soccer team with Sing's Shaolin brothers. Unfortunately, these guys have lost their kung fu skills. Sing resolves to help his brothers regain their dignity, then lead them into a championship showdown with the seemingly unstoppable Evil Team. He also finds time to fall in love with Tai-Chi baker Mui (the usually lovely Vicki Zhao), who gets some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

As a non-Chinese speaker, my experience with Chow's previous films is patchy, his wordplay humour rarely making a decent transition to subtitles. The comedy here though is mostly physical, possibly even deliberately geared more towards a Western market. The plot - however clichéd - is a pleasing tale of underdogs made good, and the movie has a definite feelgood feel and uplifting ending. Even the CG is impressive and well used. It's the most entertaining movie I've seen in ages.

I was watching the Universe DVD. Subs are decent enough, without too many typos, and the 'making of' and other extras have English subs also.