Shaolin Soccer cover art

Shaolin Soccer Details

2001 Certificate 12
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 16,033 members

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 .. Read more

Starring Stephen Chow, Vicki Zhao, Man Tai Ng
Director Stephen Chow
Genres Action/Adventure, World Cinema

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Shaolin Soccer cover art

Shaolin Soccer

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.

Starring Stephen Chow, Vicki Zhao, Man Tai Ng
Director Stephen Chow
Studio OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 26 mins
Blu-ray: 1 hr 52 mins
Certificate Certificate 12
Genres Action/Adventure, World Cinema
Language DVD: Cantonese
Blu-ray: Cantonese
Dubbed English
Subtitles Blu-ray: English
Released DVD: 14 Mar 2005
Blu-ray: 21 Sep 2009
Production year: 2001
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (6) of Shaolin Soccer

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    After combining kung fu and cuisine in The God of Cookery, Stephen Chow turns to football in this cartoonish underdog comedy, which broke box-office records in his native Hong Kong. Opening with a monochrome flashback to a deliberately missed penalty, the action centres on the efforts of Ng Man Tat's disgraced, disabled ex-pro teaming with Chow's Shaolin monk to coach a side capable of defeating Patrick Tse's team of ruthless over-achievers. The action is everything here, although Chow also tosses in some ingenious effects, the odd movie parody and several throwaway in-jokes (notably Cecilia Cheung and Karen Mok cameoing as excessively hirsute blokes). The result is fast, furious fun.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006
  • 1 stars out of 4

    Enjoyable broad slapstick comedy that takes the usual sports movie cliché Ð of an over-the-hill coach training a team of no-hopers and turning them into winners Ð and treats it in an infectiously ridiculous manner.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
    • Posted 02 Mar 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Shaolin Soccer

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  • 37 out of 50 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Funniest film I've ever seen

    Me and my flatmate were crying with laughter at this, and still talk about some of the scenes to this day! The trick is not to take it too seriously. Even still, it has some amazing special effects, and is a film I could watch again and again. Wonderful stuff!

  • Most recent members' review of Shaolin Soccer

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    silly but fun - utpo a point

    It seems almost pointless to review this film. There's no real plot or characterisation; instead there's a series of amusing soccer based cgi antics. the dubbing is appalling but actually adds to the fun - although it did make me wonder if someone had done a Woody Allen - What's Up Tiger Lily? and in actual fact the real film was a deep and serious meditation on spirituality, indviduality and competitiveness in modern society. Unlikely!

      • SK from London
      • Posted 18 Apr 2005 10:59

  • News and features

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    CJ7

    CJ7

    • 04 Aug 2008

    I think it was the Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar who observed that ET is nothing but a boy-and-his-dog movie, Lassie with supernatural powers. Take that literally and you wind up with CJ7, the latest from Hong Kong comedy actor-director Stephen Chow – best known here for the brilliant Kung Fu Hustle and the patchier Shaolin Soccer. Jackie Chan is regularly compared to Buster Keaton, but Chow has more in common with the sentimental slapstick of Charlie Chaplin. Here he’s an... Read more

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Rating breakdown

16,033 Member ratings
  • 100
1,482
  • 90
1,357
  • 80
2,319
  • 70
2,460
  • 60
2,757
  • 50
1,835
  • 40
1,380
  • 30
1,047
  • 20
934
  • 10
462

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