In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
The most renowned and feared chef in the world loses his title of God of Cookery because of his pompous attitude. Humbled, he sets out to reclaim his title.
A bar girl hires a struggling actor to give her acting lessons so that she can feign a greater interest in her customers. The longer they work together, the more they find they have in common.
A scholar in search of true love. Disguising himself as a houseboy, he indentures himself to a rich family in order to pursue the ravishing servant girl who has stolen his heart.
Tang Sanzang, an aspiring Buddhist hero tries to protect a village from three demons. He develops complex feelings for Miss Duan, the demon hunter who repeatedly helps him, and finally quests to meet the legendary Monkey King.
Pao Lung-Sing, a descendant of the famous Judge Pao Ching Tient, is a 9th degree corrupt judge (lowest degree) who changes his tune when he tries to champion a woman Chi Siu-Lin, who was ... See full summary »
A wild and hilariously anachronistic tale of an imperial guard of the Forbidden City who has no martial arts abilities but a talent for making futuristic machines and must save the kidnapped emperor.
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.Written by
ravedragon
All of the "bullet time"-like effects in this film were done by only two motion picture cameras, and all the "still" frames were generated with a computer. See more »
Quotes
Team Gangster Player:
My wife needs me. She's about to have a baby.
Sing:
Can't she wait till the game's over?
See more »
Some of the changes to "Shaolin Soccer" found in the new Miramax U.S. cut:
The film has been shortened from 102 minutes to just over 80
The opening titles have been deleted. Replaced by main title over generic "Asian" background.
The opening B&W bribery scene between Golden Leg and Hung has been deleted.
A musical sequence with Sing and the gang outside of Mui's sweet roll shop has been reinstated.
Dialog has been removed between Sing and Iron Head during the club scenes, and the song they perform is in a major key, rather than the original minor key.
Also gone are some of the bottle-to-head smashes on Iron Head.
The vomit and fart gags have been deleted from Sing's first soccer attack in the streets.
All the initial meetings with the Brothers have been shortened.
The film is dubbed into English, thus not allowing time for the true translation of the screenplay. Dialog is often without the meaning the original version contained.
Sing's apartment scene is deleted.
The first of the two iterations of the "egg" joke with Little Brother and Iron Short during soccer training remains in the Miramax cut.
Golf course scene between Hung and Golden Leg has been cut out.
The final soccer match has a variety of cuts in it, mostly to take out the more extreme visuals featuring blood and violence.
A cover version of "Kung Fu Fighting" is used over the last scene of the film and the end credits, removing the score entirely.
References to Team Evil's use of illegal American drugs have been replaced with references to "training."
This is a ride, more than a movie. And well, if it is a movie, it could be many more movies also. It has a story about a soccer tournament, like in a sports movie. It has a story about love, a really good one, like in a romantic movie; and it has a story about friendship, like in many kinds of movies. It surely has some other stories which I won't tell. Here, Stephen Chow took the amazing work of creating a story involving real characters in not so real, but agreeable situations. He has given each character a personality of its own; just to create comedy, with a humor that is sometimes honest and others rough. It has some great comedy moments although, coming from the characters, very peculiar ones.
It basically all comes from the characters. You have different persons, united by one thing: Shaolin Kung-Fu. And then you have one man, with one passion: Soccer. This premise helps to create human emotions in the characters. They all have a past that, for some reason, want to forget. Except one of them, who could be living in the past, and still thinks in the goodness of Shaolin Kung-Fu. He believes in it so much, that he gives speeches to people about the qualities of his culture, and the improvement it could do in society. He is right, and sooner or later, she will remind these things to some people, and they will all remember. They will all be prepared to get together again.
What a good-hearted film this is, and how it is filmed, it's beyond imagination. You will find special effects from other world. In occasions, these will seem slow for you, and you will think they are not well managed or handled; but then you will watch. Watching will make you connect all the elements of the story, to make it one. In elements I include special effects, and say again: they couldn't be done better, especially in a movie like this one.
The actors do a great job, the entire cast. They give their characters, the personal development they need. They are not playing the most complex people in the world, but they still know what characters they're playing.
You will probably find something you've seen before, I can't deny that. You will find the ending you expect, the situations you imagine, the resolutions you anticipate, or not. You'll have the old coach, the person with the dreams and the heart, the girl; it's just that you'll have them differently (you'll realize what I mean).
The truth is, that in a world full of clichés, this is another type of cliché. A very different one. So different that I would say it is not a cliché at all.
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This is a ride, more than a movie. And well, if it is a movie, it could be many more movies also. It has a story about a soccer tournament, like in a sports movie. It has a story about love, a really good one, like in a romantic movie; and it has a story about friendship, like in many kinds of movies. It surely has some other stories which I won't tell. Here, Stephen Chow took the amazing work of creating a story involving real characters in not so real, but agreeable situations. He has given each character a personality of its own; just to create comedy, with a humor that is sometimes honest and others rough. It has some great comedy moments although, coming from the characters, very peculiar ones.
It basically all comes from the characters. You have different persons, united by one thing: Shaolin Kung-Fu. And then you have one man, with one passion: Soccer. This premise helps to create human emotions in the characters. They all have a past that, for some reason, want to forget. Except one of them, who could be living in the past, and still thinks in the goodness of Shaolin Kung-Fu. He believes in it so much, that he gives speeches to people about the qualities of his culture, and the improvement it could do in society. He is right, and sooner or later, she will remind these things to some people, and they will all remember. They will all be prepared to get together again.
What a good-hearted film this is, and how it is filmed, it's beyond imagination. You will find special effects from other world. In occasions, these will seem slow for you, and you will think they are not well managed or handled; but then you will watch. Watching will make you connect all the elements of the story, to make it one. In elements I include special effects, and say again: they couldn't be done better, especially in a movie like this one.
The actors do a great job, the entire cast. They give their characters, the personal development they need. They are not playing the most complex people in the world, but they still know what characters they're playing.
You will probably find something you've seen before, I can't deny that. You will find the ending you expect, the situations you imagine, the resolutions you anticipate, or not. You'll have the old coach, the person with the dreams and the heart, the girl; it's just that you'll have them differently (you'll realize what I mean).
The truth is, that in a world full of clichés, this is another type of cliché. A very different one. So different that I would say it is not a cliché at all.