Stars: Stephen Chow, Vicki Zhao, Man Tai Ng

Director: Stephen Chow

Summary: A Shaolin Kung-Fu practitioner is looking for a way to spread the word about his art. He meets up with an ex-soccer player who trains him and his five brothers to play football. They form a team, and combining the two disciplines, are soon entered into a major competition.

Hong Kong satirist Stephen Chow wrote, directed, and stars in this hilarious spoof of sports and kung fu movie cliches. Chow plays 'Mighty Steel Leg' Sing, who can kick soda cans through walls, and is a natural soccer star in the eyes of crippled coach Fung (Patrick Se Yin), who is looking to challenge his arch rival Hung, the captain of the aptly named Evil Team. Recruiting Sing and his goofy brothers who all have names like Steel Head, Hook Kick Leg, and Weight Vest (with qualities to match), Hung's team soon rises through the ranks via their supernatural Kung Fu soccer skills. There's also a love interest in the form of a shy girl (Vicki Zhao Wei) who uses martial arts magic in making steamed bread. MATRIX-style digital effects elevate the actor's martial arts skills to ludicrous heights, giving the clichéd story such a giddy, high-octane boost it soars into a comic class by itself. Soccer balls ripple through the air like slo-mo bullets, smashing through walls, and flying thousands of feet in the air. A box office smash in the East, SHAOLIN SOCCER should prove irresistible to open-minded Westerners looking for a laugh-out-loud experience.

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Computer generated special effects have seldom been so giddy as in Shaolin Soccer, a gleeful fusion of kung fu and a classic Bad News Bearssports story. A former soccer star--whose "golden leg" was broken by a hired mob--assembles a team of former students of Shaolin martial arts, whose assorted skills (indicated by their nicknames, like Mighty Steel Leg and Iron Head) lend themselves to the swift interplay of the world's most popular game. Along the way, the team's leader (Hong Kong comic superstar Stephen Chow) meets a sticky bun baker (Vicki Zhao) whose kung fu is the equal of any of his teammates. Shaolin Socceris supremely silly--in the final match, their opponents are called Team Evil--but that's part of the fun. American movies rarely achieve this perfect balance of the absurd and the sincere. A delight. --Bret Fetzer

Main Language:	Cantonese
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Making Of Documentary, Out Takes, Special Effects Featurette, Guide To Shaolin Moves
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2001
Release Date:	March 14, 2005
Runtime:	86 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	O P T D 0143
Keywords:	Shaolin, Martial, Subtitled, Comedy, General, Soccer, Dubbed, Cantonese, Arts
Genre:	Martial Arts