Shaolin Soccer (2001)

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 (as Tsang Kan Cheong)

Stars:

Stephen Chow, Wei Zhao, Yat-Fei Wong

12 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Chow	...	Mighty Steel Leg Sing
Man-Tat Ng	...	Golden Leg Fung (as Ng Mang Tat) (as Mang Tat Ng)
Wei Zhao	...	Mui (as Vicki Zhao)
Yin Tse	...	Team Evil Coach Hung (as Patrick Tse Yin)
Hui Li	...	Banana Peel Girl
Cecilia Cheung	...	Team Moustache Player 1
Karen Mok	...	Team Moustache Player 2
Vincent Kok	...	Team Puma Leader
Kai-Man Tin	...	Iron Shirt Tin (Third Brother)
Yat-Fei Wong	...	Iron Head (First Brother) (as Wong Kai Yue)
Tze-Chung Lam	...	Light Weight (Small Brother) (as Lam Tze Chung)
Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan	...	Lightning Hands (Fourth Brother) (as Chan Kwon Kwan)
Meilin Mo	...	Hooking Leg (Second Brother) (as Mei-Lin Mo)
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:

chinaman | chinawoman | almond eyes | thin attractive woman | football | 

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Taglines:

Kick some grass!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for martial arts action and some thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was referenced in Stephen Chow's next film, Kung Fu Hustle (2004). During his first appearance in that film, Chow encounters a few boys playing a game of soccer. He stomps on a soccer ball after doing a few tricks, deflating it, and yells, "No more soccer!"

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Goofs

In the English dub the team "mo gui dui" is translated into "Team Evil", even though that has nothing to do with the original name, a better translation is "Devils" or "Demons".

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Quotes

Golden Leg Fung: [examining Sing's leg] Brother, this is the real deal. It seems like a normal leg... like any other.
Sing: It's Shaolin Mighty Steel Leg. It's patented.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown before the credits.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD contains some additional scenes which can be viewed via integrated branching:

• a dancing number at the bakery with various pedestrians. This comes right after Sing meets Mui for the first time.
• when Sing gives Mui the shoes different lines are spoken and he introduces her to the team. Mui then has an argument and a fight with her boss.
• at the end a couple of outtakes.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Review: Episode #1.9 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Celebration
Written by Robert Kool Bell (as Robert Bell), Ronald Bell, George Funky Brown (as George Brown), Eumir Deodato, Robert Spike Mickens (as Robert Mickens), Claydes Smith, J.T. Taylor (as James Taylor), Dennis D.T. Thomas (as Dennis Thomas) and Earl Toon (as Earl Toon Jr.)
Performed by Tom Bowes

User Reviews

One Of The Dumbest - And Funniest - Movies Ever

This has to be one of the goofiest, dumbest, strangest - and funniest - films ever made! It made sound like a cliché, but you truly have to see this movie to believe it. It's that outrageous, far-out: a slapstick film containing martial arts, supernatural power and the sport of soccer.

We get the usual misfits-make good story, which is nothing new, but how it happens in unlike anything I've ever seen. I can't recall how man times I literally laughed out loud watching these ludicrous scenes. The climactic soccer game at the nd got carried away, of course, but it was still fun to watch.

Earlier in the story, the bizarre dialog, odd encounters with different characters and the humor is stupid many times.....but so stupid, it's comical! I just shook my head in amazement at what I was seeing and hearing. Be prepared, as I said, for some incredible dumb things, but also for much weird but definitely entertaining stuff.

Note: I watched the short "English theatrical version" which runs 89 minutes. You can also view the 112-minute Chinese version. From what I've heard, read, and witnessed, the 89- minute is sufficient. Any more of this insanity would be too much.

Details

Official Sites:

metrofilms.com [France] miramax.com [United States]

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin

Release Date:

5 July 2001 (China)

Also Known As:

Shaolin Soccer

Filming Locations:

Zhuhai city, China

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,167, 4 April 2004

Gross USA:

$489,600

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,776,760

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star Overseas, Universe Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 102 min (DVD) 85 min (original U.S. theatrical release)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1