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 & 14 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)
Kwok-Kwan Chan	...	Lightning Hands (Fourth Brother) (as Chan Kwon Kwan)
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 | soccer | kung fu | martial arts | cult film | 

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Taglines:

You've never seen football like this

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for martial arts action and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

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

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

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,167, 4 April 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$488,872, 22 August 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,776,760, 22 August 2004

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:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The line, "It's only an illusion, you can't scare me!" said by the Team Puma Leader (Vincent Kok) is in reference to Stephen Chow's earlier film, Sik san (1996), in which Kok also says this line to Chow.

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Quotes

[talking to a TV camera]
Sing: I want to say hello to my parents and my Kung Fu master, but they're all dead.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown before the credits.

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Alternate Versions

For the US theatrical version, Chinese text that appears on objects in the film has been digitally altered so that it is in English, (examples: the "Shaolin Forever" sign, the Time Magazine ad.)

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Connections

Referenced in Weakest link: Hitori gachi no hôsoku: Episode dated 8 July 2002 (2002)

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Soundtracks

Celebration-RMX
Remixed and Produced by Chris "The Greek" Panaghi

User Reviews

Hilarious

After watching the deadly dull and self important road to perdition, my friend and I needed a movie to cleanse our system. Shoalin Soccer is the perfect movie for that purpose. I dare anyone to actually hate this movie. The special effects are great, all the performances are great, and the movie doesn't take itself at all seriously. I think the horrible translated subtitles actually improved the experience. GO EVIL TEAM!!! Stephen Chow is definitely a talent to watch.

Miramax, please don't mess with this movie too much if you ever release this in america.