Shaolin Soccer
Encyclopedia
Shaolin Soccer is a 2001
Hong Kong
comedy
film
co-written, directed by and starring Stephen Chow
. A former Shaolin monk
reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts
skills to play soccer
and bring Shaolin kung fu
to the masses.
In 2008 a sequel, produced by, but not starring Stephen Chow, was released entitled Shaolin Girl
. Very few of the cast from the original film made an appearance.
) is a master of Shaolin kung fu, whose goal in life is to promote the spiritual and practical benefits of the art to modern society. He experiments with various methods to inform the modern world about shaolin kung fu, some of which include comedic song and dance routines, but all bear no positive results. He then meets "Golden Leg" Fung (Ng Man Tat
), a legendary Hong Kong soccer
star in his day, who is now walking with a limp, following the treachery of a former teammate Hung, now a rich businessman.
Sing explains his desires to promote the modern uses of kung fu to Fung, who initially is unconvinced with Sing's idea and brushes off his pleas. When Fung realizes Sing has superior muscular power in his right foot, however, he offers his services to coach Sing in soccer. Sing is compelled by the idea of promoting kung fu through soccer and agrees to enlist his former Shaolin brothers to form a team under Fung's management.
Reuniting with his fellow Shaolin brothers, who have since led separate and busy lives, Sing and Fung attempt to put together an unbeatable soccer team, albeit after much persuasion and initial rejection by the other brothers. However, Fung is keen on proving his skills, and in order to turn Sing and his players into real soccer athletes, he invites a vicious team, consisting of local thugs (some of whom Sing had encountered previously) to play against them in an exhibition match; rather than score points, the thugs proceed to give the Shaolin team a brutal beating. When all seems lost, the Shaolin disciples reawaken and utilize their special powers, dismantling the other team's rough play easily. The thugs then give up, and ask to join Sing's team.
Before Sing plays soccer, he meets Mui (Vicki Zhao), a female baker with severe acne
who uses T'ai chi to make mantou
. Despite her appearance, Sing regularly visits her and even takes Mui to look at very expensive dresses at a high-end department store after hours. The theme from Stephen Chow
's earlier King of Comedy (1999 film) is also playing in the background as store music. She soon forms an attachment to Sing and even gets a makeover in an attempt to impress Sing. However, this backfires when the excessive amount of make-up used (reminiscent of Anita Mui
's 1980s image) gives her an almost ghoul-like appearance. When Mui reveals her feelings to Sing, he tells her he only wants to be her friend. This revelation, coupled with the constant bullying from her overbearing boss, leads Mui to disappear.
The newly formed Team Shaolin enters the open cup competition in Hong Kong, where they chalk up successive and often ridiculous one-sided victories. They end up meeting 'Team Evil in the final. Team Evil, helmed by none other than Fung's old nemesis, Hung, who assembled a squad of players who have been injected with an American drug, granting them superhuman strength
and speed, making them practically invincible. Team Shaolin, which had steamrolled their earlier opponents, are brought back to reality when Team Evil's amazing capabilities prove more than a match for them. At a critical moment, when Team Shaolin's Empty Hand and Iron Shirt are severely injured during the match, Mui reappears with her head shaven and her face free of acne to keep goal for Team Shaolin.
In preparation for his final and most powerful attack, Team Evil's striker leaps into the sky and summons dark demonic energy, turning the ball into a glowing orb. Mui slowly takes up the T'ai chi single whip
posture to guard against the threat and channels her qi
in the form of a Yin-yang symbol
. When he kicks the fiery ball, it explodes towards Mui, but she leaps back and redirects the attack by twirling around and spinning it on her finger. Mui and Sing combine their martial skills and rocket the ball down field with so much force that it creates a horizontal tornado, which tears the ground and sucks up everything in its path. The ball plows through Team Evil's goal post and destroys half of the stadium. The scene pans out with Sing being thrown into the air in celebration as the trophy is presented to him and his team.
A newspaper article then shows, Hung being stripped of his title of soccer chairman and sent to jail for five years, while Team Evil players are permanently banned from playing soccer professionally. With people all over the world becoming aware of and practicing kung fu in their daily lives, Sing's dream is finally fulfilled.
magazine that he cast several people in his entourage who had no prior acting experience before Shaolin Soccer. For example, Lam Chi Chung
(Light Weight) had worked as Chow’s screenwriter and Danny Chan Kwok Kwan (Empty Hand) was the dance choreographer
hired to design the "Michael Jackson
dance number" that followed Sing and Mui’s first meeting early in the film. Chow comments he made Chan wear Bruce Lee
’s yellow-and-black tracksuit because only the goalkeeper
"can wear a special uniform." Tin Kai Man (Iron Shirt) had been Chow’s production manager on several movies, but had acted in numerous minor roles in previous films.
For instance, he played a young wanna-be Triad member in Chow’s preceding movie, King of Comedy. Cecilia Cheung
and Karen Mok
, who briefly appear
as Team Dragon Players 7 & 11 in Shaolin Soccer, had major roles in King of Comedy. Chow defends his decision to hire non-actors, saying, "In terms of finding talent, I try to bring out the funniest thing I notice about them during casting, if it made us laugh at the casting, it will also do on the big screen."
Vicki Zhao, who played the Mandarin-speaking Mui, said it was a different step for her to star in a Hong Kong production. However, Zhao admitted that she was not impressed with her look with less makeup because she is easily recognizable for her beauty appearance.
Three of the principal cast members appeared in Chow's Kung Fu Hustle
: Danny Chan Kwok Kwan (Empty Hand) portrayed Brother Sum, boss of the "Axe Gang"; Tin Kai Man (Iron Shirt) portrayed the loud-mouthed advisor of Brother Sum; and Lam Chi Chung
(Light Weight) portrayed Bone, Chow’s sidekick and partner in petty crime. Fung Min Hun (Team Rebellion Captain) briefly appeared as Cecilia Cheung's abusive boyfriend in King of Comedy and the Four Eyes Clerk who beats up both Sing and Bone when they make fun of him on the bus in Kung Fu Hustle
.
Hong Kong Film Awards
7th Golden Bauhinia Awards
and solidifying Stephen Chow as the undisputed box office king of Hong Kong.
Shaolin Soccer received highly positive reviews from film critics, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 91% of critics had given the film positive reviews based on 86 reviews. And 100% from top critics.
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and TV rejected Shaolin Soccer from theatrical and DVD/VCD release, because of the possibility of insulting Buddhists by putting "soccer" alongside "Shaolin" in the title. Stephen Chow refused to change the title; as a result, Shaolin Soccer's producers were banned from shooting films in mainland China for one year.
was published in Hong Kong roughly nine months after the film originally premiered in 2001. The characters where drawn with large manga
-like eyes and cartoonish bodies, but the artists were careful to retain the likenesses of each actor who portrayed them.
approached noted comic book artist Andy Seto
with the idea of creating a two volume manhua
-style graphic novel
adaptation of the feature film. Seto attached himself to the project because the film was very popular and, therefore, had "a certain level of marketing value". The project was officially announced on June 30, 2003 and the release of vol. 1 was scheduled to coincide with the film’s US premiere in August, but the film was pushed back. The Miramax film corporation bought the American film rights to Shaolin Soccer before its release in China, so they helped publish the comic book along with two Chinese film companies who originally produced the film. Volumes 1 (ISBN 1-58899-318-3) and 2 (ISBN ISBN 1-58899-319-1) were released in August and November 2003 and sold for US$
13.95 each. Their suggested reading level was age 13 and above.
Seto worked to make the novel as faithful to the film as possible but he admits that Stephen Chow's brand of Mo lei tau
comedy does not translate well into illustrations. He stated in an interview that "the Shaolin Soccer comic is 80% movie adaptation with 20% new content." This new content includes a backstory about Steel Leg's training in Shaolin before the death of his master, as well as completely rewriting entire sections of the movie. For example, in the film a group of bar thugs beat up Sing and Iron Head after listening to their lounge
-style tribute to Shaolin kung fu
. The following day, Sing seeks out the group and uses his Shaolin skills to beat the thugs using a soccer ball. Fung sees the brawl and comes up with the idea of fusing kung fu and soccer. However, in the comic book, Sing is meditating in the park when he gets hit in the head with a soccer ball. The cocky players mock him and destroy a stone statue of his deceased master. Sing proceeds to use the soccer ball as a weapon.
Another example is the fact the characters are visually different from the film. All of their comic book personas look to be in their twenties to thirties, with highly toned athletic physiques (with the exception of Light Weight); even Iron Head, who was the eldest of the six brothers, appears younger than he should.
According to an interview with Premiere Magazine
, Chow stated,
Michael Dante DiMartino
and Bryan Konietzko
, co-creators of the Avatar: The Last Airbender
animated television series, stated in an interview that "Shaolin Soccer is one of our favorite movies. It has tons of fantastic action and lots of funny moments. Some of the effects provided inspiration for how bending[ the art of controlling the elements] might look on the show."
The Chinese website xiaoyouxi.com has eight flash animations devoted to Shaolin Soccer. They range from non-playable 16 bit video game
s where the characters reenact the soccer games from the film to animations highlighting Sing and Mui’s strained relationship (one of which is accompanied by the song "Hazard
" by Richard Marx
).
One episode of Keroro Gunso had a soccer theme which parodied this movie.
The music video for the American R&B singer-songwriter and rapper Lumidee song "Dance" launched for the 2006 FIFA World Cup album soundtrack has scenes of the movie.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_K05AdivC8&feature=related
Hong Kong films of 2001
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 2001:.-2001:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 2001 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
co-written, directed by and starring Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
. A former Shaolin monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
skills to play soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and bring Shaolin kung fu
Shaolin kung fu
Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery.Of the multitude styles of kung fu and wushu, only some are actually related to Shaolin...
to the masses.
In 2008 a sequel, produced by, but not starring Stephen Chow, was released entitled Shaolin Girl
Shaolin Girl
a 2008 Japanese film inspired by the 2001 Hong Kong film Shaolin Soccer. Unlike the original film, the movie focuses on women's lacrosse. It starred Japanese actress Kou Shibasaki and Hong Kong actors Lam Chi Chung and Tin Kai Man return from the original film. The film was released in Japan on...
. Very few of the cast from the original film made an appearance.
Plot
Sing (Stephen ChowStephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
) is a master of Shaolin kung fu, whose goal in life is to promote the spiritual and practical benefits of the art to modern society. He experiments with various methods to inform the modern world about shaolin kung fu, some of which include comedic song and dance routines, but all bear no positive results. He then meets "Golden Leg" Fung (Ng Man Tat
Ng Man Tat
Ng Man Tat was born on 2 January 1952. He is a veteran actor in the Hong Kong film industry, with dozens of awards under his belt, including Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in A Moment of Romance.-Biography:...
), a legendary Hong Kong soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
star in his day, who is now walking with a limp, following the treachery of a former teammate Hung, now a rich businessman.
Sing explains his desires to promote the modern uses of kung fu to Fung, who initially is unconvinced with Sing's idea and brushes off his pleas. When Fung realizes Sing has superior muscular power in his right foot, however, he offers his services to coach Sing in soccer. Sing is compelled by the idea of promoting kung fu through soccer and agrees to enlist his former Shaolin brothers to form a team under Fung's management.
Reuniting with his fellow Shaolin brothers, who have since led separate and busy lives, Sing and Fung attempt to put together an unbeatable soccer team, albeit after much persuasion and initial rejection by the other brothers. However, Fung is keen on proving his skills, and in order to turn Sing and his players into real soccer athletes, he invites a vicious team, consisting of local thugs (some of whom Sing had encountered previously) to play against them in an exhibition match; rather than score points, the thugs proceed to give the Shaolin team a brutal beating. When all seems lost, the Shaolin disciples reawaken and utilize their special powers, dismantling the other team's rough play easily. The thugs then give up, and ask to join Sing's team.
Acne vulgaris
Acne vulgaris is a common human skin disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhea , comedones , papules , pustules , Nodules and possibly scarring...
who uses T'ai chi to make mantou
Mantou
Mantou, often referred to as Chinese steamed bun/bread, is a kind of steamed bun originating in China. They are typically eaten as a staple in northern parts of China where wheat, rather than rice, is grown. They are made with milled wheat flour, water and leavening agents...
. Despite her appearance, Sing regularly visits her and even takes Mui to look at very expensive dresses at a high-end department store after hours. The theme from Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
's earlier King of Comedy (1999 film) is also playing in the background as store music. She soon forms an attachment to Sing and even gets a makeover in an attempt to impress Sing. However, this backfires when the excessive amount of make-up used (reminiscent of Anita Mui
Anita Mui
Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva...
's 1980s image) gives her an almost ghoul-like appearance. When Mui reveals her feelings to Sing, he tells her he only wants to be her friend. This revelation, coupled with the constant bullying from her overbearing boss, leads Mui to disappear.
Superhuman strength
Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...
and speed, making them practically invincible. Team Shaolin, which had steamrolled their earlier opponents, are brought back to reality when Team Evil's amazing capabilities prove more than a match for them. At a critical moment, when Team Shaolin's Empty Hand and Iron Shirt are severely injured during the match, Mui reappears with her head shaven and her face free of acne to keep goal for Team Shaolin.
In preparation for his final and most powerful attack, Team Evil's striker leaps into the sky and summons dark demonic energy, turning the ball into a glowing orb. Mui slowly takes up the T'ai chi single whip
Single Whip
Single Whip is a common posture found in most forms of t'ai chi ch'uan. Typically at the end of the posture the left hand is in a palm outward push and the right hand held most commonly in the form of a hook or closed fist...
posture to guard against the threat and channels her qi
Qi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
in the form of a Yin-yang symbol
Taijitu
Taijitu is a term which refers to a Chinese symbol for the concept of yin and yang...
. When he kicks the fiery ball, it explodes towards Mui, but she leaps back and redirects the attack by twirling around and spinning it on her finger. Mui and Sing combine their martial skills and rocket the ball down field with so much force that it creates a horizontal tornado, which tears the ground and sucks up everything in its path. The ball plows through Team Evil's goal post and destroys half of the stadium. The scene pans out with Sing being thrown into the air in celebration as the trophy is presented to him and his team.
A newspaper article then shows, Hung being stripped of his title of soccer chairman and sent to jail for five years, while Team Evil players are permanently banned from playing soccer professionally. With people all over the world becoming aware of and practicing kung fu in their daily lives, Sing's dream is finally fulfilled.
Major
- Iron Head (Wong Yut Fei): The oldest of the six Shaolin brothers, "Iron Head" spent much effort gaining the kung fu style that makes his head as tough as iron, which helps a lot against beer bottleBeer bottleA beer bottle is a bottle made to contain beer, usually made of glass.Bottled beer has been in use since as early as the 16th century. Beer bottles come in various sizes, shapes and colours....
abuses from his violent boss. After the death of his master and the subsequent split of the brothers, he drifted, becoming a janitor at a night club. After an absurd plan of Sing's involving kung fu and a humiliating music performance, Iron Head gets demoted. However, through a bit more difficulties along the way, he becomes a valuable player in Team Shaolin, with his powerful headerHeaderHeader may refer to: Computers and engineering* Header , supplemental data at the beginning of a data block** E-mail header** HTTP header* Header file, a text file used in computer programming...
. - Hooking Leg (Lam Chi-Sing): The second-oldest brother, "Hooking Leg" has Shaolin skills resembling ground tumbling boxingDitangquanDitangquan, is a category of martial art that originated in the Shandong Province of China during the Song Dynasty .-Style:The major characteristic of ditangquan is the ability to perform tumbles, falls, turns, somersaults and aerial acrobatics using those techniques for both offense and...
. Because his family was poor and could not afford school, his father sent him to Shaolin to learn kung fu. Following his training, he couldn't find any other work besides transporting excrement and urineUrineUrine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
and washing dishes. When Sing and Fung approach him to join the soccer league, he reacts violently, even threatening to kill them with a meat cleaver, all because they still have full heads of hair, whereas his has fallen outAndrogenetic alopeciaAndrogenic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss and thinning in humans. Variants appear in both men and women. Androgenic alopecia also occurs in chimpanzees, and orangutans. In humans, this condition is also commonly known as male pattern baldness...
. He finally joins after the idea of being part of family again sinks in. - Iron ShirtIron ShirtIron Shirt is a form of hard style martial art exercise for protecting the human body from impacts in a fight. This is one of the 72 arts of the Shaolin Temple. Some martial arts are based on the idea that a correctly trained body can withstand more damage than one that is untrained...
(Tin Kai-Man): Third brother "Iron Shirt" can absorb all kinds of blunt force attacks with little to no injuries, as well as siphoning and shooting the ball with his abdomen. When his master died, he went on to become a businessman. The thought of reuniting with his brothers overshadows his busy schedule, and he leaves to be a part of Team Shaolin. During the final game against Team Evil, he bravely volunteers to be Empty Hand's replacement goalkeeper, only to end up heavily injured by a vortex shotVortexA vortex is a spinning, often turbulent,flow of fluid. Any spiral motion with closed streamlines is vortex flow. The motion of the fluid swirling rapidly around a center is called a vortex...
from the Team Evil striker. - Empty Hand,(lightning hand) (Danny Chan Kwok Kwan): Fourth brother "Empty Hand",lightning hand, bears much resemblance to Bruce LeeBruce LeeBruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
and his bullet-fast hands makes him the first goalkeeper for Team Shaolin. He was unemployed for a stretch of time following the master's death. Instead of wearing the yellow robe uniforms like the rest of Team Shaolin, he wears the yellow-and-black tracksuit Lee made famous in Game of DeathGame of DeathThe Game of Death is a 1972 film starring Bruce Lee. It was almost the last film Bruce Lee had planned to be the demonstration piece of his martial art Jeet Kune Do. Over 100 minutes of footage was shot before his death, some of which was later misplaced in the Golden Harvest archives...
. During the final game against Team Evil, he is severely injured when he is hit at the face at point-blank rangePoint-blank rangeIn external ballistics, point-blank range is the distance between a firearm and a target of a given size such that the bullet in flight is expected to strike the target without adjusting the elevation of the firearm. The point-blank range will vary with the firearm and its particular ballistic...
and sent flying through the net, crashing into the stands. - "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing (Stephen ChowStephen ChowStephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
): The movie's main protagonist, he is the striker for Team Shaolin, fifth brother "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing is a master of the "Shaolin Orthodox School Mighty Steel Leg" kicking technique. His leg is powerful enough to accurately kick an old refrigerator onto a pile of other junk five to six meters tall or to send a soccer ball into the upper atmosphere. Sing remains dedicated to Shaolin kung fu, and despite various setbacks, he adamantly believes in Shaolin spirit and his dream. His schemes to promote Shaolin kung fu inevitably fail, until he meets Fung and leads him to the idea of combining martial arts with soccer. - Light Weight (Lam Chi ChungLam Chi ChungLam Chi-chung is a Hong Kong actor.-Actor:* The Haunting Lover * Flirting Scholar 2 * All's Well, Ends Wel 2010 * Just Another Pandora's Box * Here Comes Fortune * Chinese Paladin 3...
): The youngest of the six brothers, "Light Weight" is obese and gluttonous, due to a viral pituitary infection resulting in his uncontrollable appetite. However, he is empowered to lighten his weight and soar through the sky for short periods. Unfortunately, since his master died, he lost faith and motivation, working at a grocery store, but spends most of the time gorging himself with junk foodJunk foodJunk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...
. He refuses the offer from Sing and Fung to play soccer at first, but hears out Sing's words of encouragement. - "Golden Leg" Fung (Ng Man TatNg Man TatNg Man Tat was born on 2 January 1952. He is a veteran actor in the Hong Kong film industry, with dozens of awards under his belt, including Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in A Moment of Romance.-Biography:...
): The movie's main deuteragonist, he is an ace player in the 1980s. However, after accepting a bribe to throw a penalty shot, resulting in a tragic end to his career, his leg is brutally broken by a mob of "disgruntled" supporters, who were in fact hired by Hung, the man who gave Fung the bribe. He later leaves Hung's care to become a street wanderer, with all hopes gone, until he meets Sing. Subsequently, he becomes the coach/manager of Team Shaolin. - Mui (Vicki Zhao): A self-conscious, lonely girl who makes mantou [steam bread] at a local food stand owned by a dominating woman. Her secret to making them tasty is using her T'ai chi ch'uan techniques to prepare the dough. Despite her bad complexion, Sing seems to admire Mui, and she eventually falls in love with him. Sing does not return her feelings, and while making mantou, her tears make the dough salty and bitter, forcing the owner to fire her. During the championship game against Team Evil, she shaves her head to pose as both a male player and a Shaolin acolyteAcolyteIn many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.-Etymology:...
, and volunteers to be the new goalkeeper, after both Empty Hand and Iron Shirt are severely injured. She is the only character in the original version of the film who speaks Mandarin, whereas everyone else speaks CantoneseStandard CantoneseCantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
. - Hung (Patrick Tse): The movie's main antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, he paid Fung to throw an important game many years in the past and also paid angry fans to break his leg to ensure his bleak future. Now the coach of Team Evil, he had led his team to five consecutive national championships, but they face Fung's Team Shaolin in defense of the title.
Minor
- Team Evil's striker (Sik Chi Wan): His drug-enhanced body makes him more than a match for Sing's kicking skills. He severely injures both Empty Hand and Iron Shirt, overpowering the brothers' own unique Shaolin skills. This involves him doing a back flipFlip (acrobatic)An acrobatic flip is a sequence of body movements in which a person leaps into the air and then rotates one or more times while airborne. Acrobatic flips are performed in acro dance, free running, gymnastics, tricking, and various other activities...
, then bounding into the sky to kick the fiery ball at its target. - Team Evil's GoalkeeperGoalkeeperIn many team sports which involve scoring goals, a goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal...
(Cao Hua): He is the only person who is able to guard against Sing’s powerful shots and can do so with one hand in his pocket. His incredibly strong hands are capable of crushing the thick metal crossbar on the soccer goalGoal (sport)Goal refers to a method of scoring in many sports. It can also refer to the physical structure or area of the playing surface where scoring occurs....
, and after easily catching three of Sing's most explosive kicks, he throws the ball clear across the field to the opposing goal, knocking Empty Hand to the ground. - Team Dragon Players 7 & 11 (cameo appearances by Cecilia CheungCecilia CheungCecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse...
and Karen MokKaren MokKaren Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :...
): Two women who play in the men's league and disguise themselves by talking in deep voices and wearing a fake mustache and goateeGoateeGoatee refers to a style of facial hair incorporating hair on a man’s chin. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.Traditionally, goatee refers solely to a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin...
. They work as a team and can run so fast it appears as if they are flying inches above the ground. In the American comic adaptation, they do not hide their gender and Weight Vest even develops a crush on one of them. - Team Rebellion Captain (Fung Min Hun): While he appears to be a polite, soft-spoken young man, in reality he is a vicious mobster who wields a crescent wrench and steel malletMalletA mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...
as weapons, which he hides in his shorts. Most of the players on his team make up the body of thugs who beat up Sing and Iron Head in the night club, days prior. Fung arranges a game between the two teams under false pretense of settling past disputes; in reality, Fung did this to give the Shaolin brothers their first taste of a real soccer game. - Team Tofu Captain (Vincent KokVincent KokVincent Kok Tak-Chiu is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director.Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing with him the films Forbidden City Cop, From Beijing with Love and The God of Cookery in addition to producing and co-writing Chow's...
) Captain of the team that Team Shaolin faces in preliminaries. Annoyed when Team Shaolin begins to run up the score, his team eventually loses by 60-0.
Casting
Apart from several veteran actors, Chow stated in an interview with PremierePremiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
magazine that he cast several people in his entourage who had no prior acting experience before Shaolin Soccer. For example, Lam Chi Chung
Lam Chi Chung
Lam Chi-chung is a Hong Kong actor.-Actor:* The Haunting Lover * Flirting Scholar 2 * All's Well, Ends Wel 2010 * Just Another Pandora's Box * Here Comes Fortune * Chinese Paladin 3...
(Light Weight) had worked as Chow’s screenwriter and Danny Chan Kwok Kwan (Empty Hand) was the dance choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
hired to design the "Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
dance number" that followed Sing and Mui’s first meeting early in the film. Chow comments he made Chan wear Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
’s yellow-and-black tracksuit because only the goalkeeper
Goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, a goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal...
"can wear a special uniform." Tin Kai Man (Iron Shirt) had been Chow’s production manager on several movies, but had acted in numerous minor roles in previous films.
For instance, he played a young wanna-be Triad member in Chow’s preceding movie, King of Comedy. Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse...
and Karen Mok
Karen Mok
Karen Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :...
, who briefly appear
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as Team Dragon Players 7 & 11 in Shaolin Soccer, had major roles in King of Comedy. Chow defends his decision to hire non-actors, saying, "In terms of finding talent, I try to bring out the funniest thing I notice about them during casting, if it made us laugh at the casting, it will also do on the big screen."
Vicki Zhao, who played the Mandarin-speaking Mui, said it was a different step for her to star in a Hong Kong production. However, Zhao admitted that she was not impressed with her look with less makeup because she is easily recognizable for her beauty appearance.
Three of the principal cast members appeared in Chow's Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 action comedy film directed and produced by, and starring Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Chui Po-chu and Jeffrey Lau, while the screenplay was written by Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung...
: Danny Chan Kwok Kwan (Empty Hand) portrayed Brother Sum, boss of the "Axe Gang"; Tin Kai Man (Iron Shirt) portrayed the loud-mouthed advisor of Brother Sum; and Lam Chi Chung
Lam Chi Chung
Lam Chi-chung is a Hong Kong actor.-Actor:* The Haunting Lover * Flirting Scholar 2 * All's Well, Ends Wel 2010 * Just Another Pandora's Box * Here Comes Fortune * Chinese Paladin 3...
(Light Weight) portrayed Bone, Chow’s sidekick and partner in petty crime. Fung Min Hun (Team Rebellion Captain) briefly appeared as Cecilia Cheung's abusive boyfriend in King of Comedy and the Four Eyes Clerk who beats up both Sing and Bone when they make fun of him on the bus in Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 action comedy film directed and produced by, and starring Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Chui Po-chu and Jeffrey Lau, while the screenplay was written by Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung...
.
Awards
21st Annual21st Hong Kong Film Awards
Ceremony for the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 21 April 2002 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Eric Tsang, Cecilia Yip, Jacqueline Pang and Cheung Tat-Ming. Twenty-three winners in eighteen categories were unveiled. The year's biggest winner was Shaolin Soccer, bagging six...
Hong Kong Film Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...
- Winner: Best Picture
- Winner: Best Director (Stephen Chow)
- Winner: Best Actor (Stephen Chow)
- Winner: Best Supporting Actor (Wong Yat-Fei)
- Winner: Best Sound Effect
- Winner: Best Visual Effect
- Winner: Outstanding Young Director (Stephen Chow)
- Nomination: Best Action Choreography
- Nomination: Best Cinematography
- Nomination: Best Costume Design
- Nomination: Best Editing
- Nomination: Best Screenplay
- Nomination: Best Original Film Score
- Nomination: Best Original Song
7th Golden Bauhinia Awards
Golden Bauhinia Awards
Golden Bauhinia Awards is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996....
- Winner: Best Picture
- Winner: Best Actor (Stephen Chow)
- Winner: Best Supporting Actor (Wong Yat-Fei)
Reception
Shaolin Soccer did well at Hong Kong box office eventually grossing HK$60,739,847, making it the highest grossing film in Hong Kong history at the time. It held the record until 2004 when it was topped by Stephen Chow's next feature Kung Fu HustleKung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 action comedy film directed and produced by, and starring Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Chui Po-chu and Jeffrey Lau, while the screenplay was written by Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung...
and solidifying Stephen Chow as the undisputed box office king of Hong Kong.
Shaolin Soccer received highly positive reviews from film critics, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 91% of critics had given the film positive reviews based on 86 reviews. And 100% from top critics.
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and TV rejected Shaolin Soccer from theatrical and DVD/VCD release, because of the possibility of insulting Buddhists by putting "soccer" alongside "Shaolin" in the title. Stephen Chow refused to change the title; as a result, Shaolin Soccer
Chinese
The first of a four volume Shaolin Soccer manhuaManhua
Manhua are Chinese comics originally produced in China. Possibly due to their greater degree of artistic freedom of expression and closer international ties with Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been the places of publication of most manhua thus far, often including Chinese translations of...
was published in Hong Kong roughly nine months after the film originally premiered in 2001. The characters where drawn with large manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
-like eyes and cartoonish bodies, but the artists were careful to retain the likenesses of each actor who portrayed them.
American
ComicsOneComicsOne
Comics One was an American distributor of Asian Comics , established in 1999. ComicsOne was based in Fremont, California...
approached noted comic book artist Andy Seto
Andy Seto
Andy Seto is a comic artist who specializes in martial-arts based stories.-Biography:Seto's works include his main series, "Cyber Weapon Z." He has also drawn a graphic novel adaptation of the earlier Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon novels, the King of Fighters series, and also created a graphic...
with the idea of creating a two volume manhua
Manhua
Manhua are Chinese comics originally produced in China. Possibly due to their greater degree of artistic freedom of expression and closer international ties with Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been the places of publication of most manhua thus far, often including Chinese translations of...
-style graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation of the feature film. Seto attached himself to the project because the film was very popular and, therefore, had "a certain level of marketing value". The project was officially announced on June 30, 2003 and the release of vol. 1 was scheduled to coincide with the film’s US premiere in August, but the film was pushed back. The Miramax film corporation bought the American film rights to Shaolin Soccer before its release in China, so they helped publish the comic book along with two Chinese film companies who originally produced the film. Volumes 1 (ISBN 1-58899-318-3) and 2 (ISBN ISBN 1-58899-319-1) were released in August and November 2003 and sold for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
13.95 each. Their suggested reading level was age 13 and above.
Seto worked to make the novel as faithful to the film as possible but he admits that Stephen Chow's brand of Mo lei tau
Mo lei tau
Mo lei tau is a name given to a type of humour originating from Hong Kong during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the complex interplay of cultural subtleties significant in Hong Kong...
comedy does not translate well into illustrations. He stated in an interview that "the Shaolin Soccer comic is 80% movie adaptation with 20% new content." This new content includes a backstory about Steel Leg's training in Shaolin before the death of his master, as well as completely rewriting entire sections of the movie. For example, in the film a group of bar thugs beat up Sing and Iron Head after listening to their lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
-style tribute to Shaolin kung fu
Shaolin kung fu
Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery.Of the multitude styles of kung fu and wushu, only some are actually related to Shaolin...
. The following day, Sing seeks out the group and uses his Shaolin skills to beat the thugs using a soccer ball. Fung sees the brawl and comes up with the idea of fusing kung fu and soccer. However, in the comic book, Sing is meditating in the park when he gets hit in the head with a soccer ball. The cocky players mock him and destroy a stone statue of his deceased master. Sing proceeds to use the soccer ball as a weapon.
Another example is the fact the characters are visually different from the film. All of their comic book personas look to be in their twenties to thirties, with highly toned athletic physiques (with the exception of Light Weight); even Iron Head, who was the eldest of the six brothers, appears younger than he should.
Reception
Several online reviews have criticized the American adaptation for its apparent lack of story line coherence, mixture of realistic and cartoonish drawing styles, and bad Chinese-to-English translation, among other issues. In regards to the translation, one reviewer stated, "It's almost as if the book was translated with a first-year English student referencing a Chinese-to-English dictionary, with strangely-assembled sentences and strange bursts of dialogue peppering the pages." Another common complaint was that the comics seemed to be geared towards those people who had previously seen the movie. Without this familiarity, a newcomer would lose track of the storyline because of the overcrowded pages and rapidly shifting plot.Animation
Premiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
, Chow stated,
Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animation director, best known as the co-creator, executive producer and story editor of the hit TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon...
and Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko is the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has also worked as a character designer at Film Roman for Family Guy and as Assistant Director for Mission Hill and King of the Hill. He was a Storyboard Artist and Art Director for the...
, co-creators of the Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
animated television series, stated in an interview that "Shaolin Soccer is one of our favorite movies. It has tons of fantastic action and lots of funny moments. Some of the effects provided inspiration for how bending
The Chinese website xiaoyouxi.com has eight flash animations devoted to Shaolin Soccer. They range from non-playable 16 bit video game
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
s where the characters reenact the soccer games from the film to animations highlighting Sing and Mui’s strained relationship (one of which is accompanied by the song "Hazard
Hazard (song)
"Hazard" is a 1991 song performed by adult contemporary artist Richard Marx. It has since become one of the most popular songs by Richard Marx, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, the song spent one week atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart...
" by Richard Marx
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
).
One episode of Keroro Gunso had a soccer theme which parodied this movie.
The music video for the American R&B singer-songwriter and rapper Lumidee song "Dance" launched for the 2006 FIFA World Cup album soundtrack has scenes of the movie.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_K05AdivC8&feature=related
External links
- Miramax's Shaolin Soccer site
- Shaolin Soccer at LoveHKFilm.com
- Shaolin Soccer Fanlisting