Siu lam juk kau (2001)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Stephen Chow

Writers:

Stephen Chow (writer)
Kan-Cheung Tsang (writer)

Release Date:

12 July 2001 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

Kick some grass!

Plot:

A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.

Plot Keywords:

Shaolin | Kung Fu | Soccer | Martial Arts | Evil

Awards:

13 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Stephen Chow	...	Mighty Steel Leg Sing
Man Tat Ng	...	Golden Leg Fung (as Ng Man Tat)
Wei Zhao	...	Mui
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)
Chi Chung Lam	...	Light Weight (Small Brother)
Kwok-Kwan Chan	...	Lightning Hands (Fourth Brother)
Chi Ling Chiu	...	Hooking Leg - Second Brother
Ming Ming Zhang	...	Little Hung
Pu Ye Dong	...	Little Fung
Shi Zi Yun	...	Team Evil Center
Cao Hua	...	Team Evil Goalie
Li Bin Hong	...	Team Evil Player 1
Zhao Yong	...	Team Evil Player 2
Shi Heng Jiang	...	Team Evil Player 3
Shi Heng Jie	...	Team Evil Player 4
Hu Shao Qi	...	Team Evil Player 5
Lam Tsz Sin	...	Team Gangster Player 1
Yuan Xiao Long	...	Team Gangster Player 2
Wong So Hing Kin	...	Team Gangster Player 3
Lo Hoi Ying	...	Team Gangster Player 4
Xian Jian Rong	...	Team Gangster Player 5
Ma Jun Long	...	Team Gangster Player 6
Yao Xu	...	Team Gangster Player 7
Kin-Yan Lee	...	Manny
Min Hun Fung	...	Rebellion team leader
Tsui Na	...	Sweetie
Mok Wai Man	...	Hung's Driver
Sun Chang Meng	...	Hung's Assistant
Lun Yeung	...	Butcher
Wen Hui He	...	Street Singer
Lu Wei	...	Reporter
Tse Chi Wah	...	General Manager of Karaoke
Sun Chi Wing	...	Manager
Wong Yan Kit	...	Referee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ling Bai	...	Mui (voice)
Tom Romero	...	Iron Head (voice)
Yut Fei Wong	...	Iron Head (First Brother)
Nicholas Tse	...	Young Hung (uncredited)

Directed by
Stephen Chow

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stephen Chow		writer
Kan-Cheung Tsang		writer

Produced by
Kwok-fai Yeung	....	producer

Original Music by
Jacky Chan
Lowell Lo
Ying-Wah Wong		(as Raymond Wong)

Cinematography by
Pak-huen Kwen
Ting Wo Kwong

Film Editing by
Kit-Wai Kai

Art Direction by
Cyrus Ho		(as Kim Hung Ho)

Costume Design by
Yim Man Choy

Production Management
Lik-Chi Lee	....	production supervisor
Kai Man Tin	....	production supervisor
Connie Wong	....	production manager

Sound Department
Nelson Ferreira	....	sound editor
Thanos Kazakos	....	adr recordist: English dubbing
Chi-tat Leung	....	sound
Colin McLellan	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jason Perreira	....	sound re-recording assistant
Nathan Robitaille	....	assistant sound editor

Visual Effects by
Erik Dehkhoda	....	digital compositor
Mark Dick Danger Devlin	....	digital compositor
Christopher Dusendschon	....	digital imaging supervisor: iO FILM (english version)
Chris Ervin	....	digital effects artist
John Follmer	....	head of production: MetroLight Studios
Adam Hawkey	....	digital compositor: iOFilm
James W. Kristoff	....	executive in charge of production: MetroLight Studios
Ken Law	....	CG technical director
Dobbie Schiff	....	executive producer: MetroLight Studios
Mike Uguccioni	....	digital compositor

Other crew
Siu-Tung Ching	....	action director
Oli Laperal Jr.	....	equipment coordinator
Ailen Sit	....	martial arts director
Ming-kin Wong	....	martial arts director
Ron Yuan	....	voice
Stephen Chow	....	additional action director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Star Overseas
• Universe Entertainment

Distributors

• Universe Films Distribution Company (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Buena Vista International Italia (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (German speaking region)
• Optimum Releasing (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Star Overseas (2001) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Communications (2003) (Canada) (as "Shaolin Soccer") (dubbed)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (all media)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Buena Vista International (2005) (Argentina) (all media)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2003) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• GAGA
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Humax Pictures
• Klock Worx Company, The
• Laurenfilm (Spain)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2002) (France) (all media)
• Miramax Films (2004) (USA) (all media)
• Optimum Releasing (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Talpa (2006) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Centro Digital Pictures Ltd.
• MetroLight Studios

Other Companies

• Centro Digital Pictures Ltd.  motion control equipment provided by
• Cinerent  camera equipment provided by (scenes in Guangzhou)
• Cinerent  grip and lighting equipment (scenes in Guangzhou)
• Mandarin Laboratory (International) Ltd.  subtitles
• Media Business Service Limited  sound post-production
• Toplight Engineering  camera equipment provided by
• Union Film Laboratory  film processing

Also Known As:

Shaolin Soccer (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Shao lin zu qiu (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Atsalini klotsia (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Futbol kung fu (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Kung Fu Soccer (Netherlands) (DVD box title) [nl]
Shaolin Kickers (Germany) [de]
Shaolin Soccer (Finland) [fi]
Shaolin Soccer (France) [fr]
Shaolin Soccer (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated PG for martial arts action and some thematic elements.

Runtime:

113 min | Hong Kong:102 min (DVD version) | USA:87 min | Argentina:89 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 (re-rating) | South Korea:All (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (2004) | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Shanghai, China

Company:

Star Overseas

Trivia:

All of the "Bullet Time" like effects in the film were done by only two motion picture cameras and all the "still" frames were generated with a computer.

Quotes:

Sing: [after his team gets brutally beaten by Team Gangster] Why don't you stop them? They're being unlawful!
Golden Leg Fung: I'm the referee! I won't stop them!
Sing: What do you mean by that? You basically want us to die!
Golden Leg Fung: [blows his whistle] You! Out of the game!
Sing: Have you gone nuts?
Golden Leg Fung: This is a test! If none of you can pass it, then you can't play in the soccer league!
Sing: Well, this is a soccer game! This isn't a war!
Golden Leg Fung: The final soccer game is a war.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Cheung Gong 7 hou (2008)

Soundtrack:

Mens' Courage

I hate sports movies.

What a wonderful sports film. STOP, read that line one more time. I ask you to do this because you will probably never see this again.

This was a sports film, for me to say that it wasn't would be a bold faced lie. This had all the characteristics of the modern Hollywood sports film, but what made it stand out and enjoyable is that it did not take itself seriously … AND … it had some amazing CGI action sequences. I recently watched a film called Equilibrium where it was mentioned that it could rival the popularity of The Matrix, well I would have to say that perhaps this film, Siu lam juk kau, would probably do more in toppling the king of bullet-time cinematography than Equilibrium would. I was impressed from the beginning till the end of this movie. The characters were all animated and individual in their own way. There was time used to set them up and learn about each of them. This wasn't one of those films where you spent most of your time with one of the characters then never really got to know the rest of them … you knew them all and couldn't wait to see what they were going to bring to the table next. Hong Kong has crafted a spectacular film here. They have taken the popularity of the bullet-time effect and applied it to a genre that definitely needed a face-lift. I am surprised that America wasn't the first to do this, but we are a nation that loves the standard sports film, so why change what we love. PWFSSSST. We are so lazy sometimes.

Siu lam juk kau tells a spectacular story coupled with some amazing graphics to create a story about love, teamwork, and superpowers. I also enjoyed the fact that this film also tried to say that kung-fu is not an old topic, that it can and should still be used in society today. When we think of the martial arts films (and physical aspect), we see them as a very old and dated genre. Well, let me be the first to say that they are coming back, and coming back with a vengeance. I enjoyed the fact that this was a revenge film. So many of our kung-fu films are revenge films, I was happy to see that this one was not far off. This film used techniques that I have not seen used in any other films. They took the old, skillful ways of the dated kung-fu film, added the work of bullet-time, and added the sports flare to it to create Siu lam juk kau. It had us laughing, it kept us based in reality, and it focused my attention to the screen for the entire film (a task that no other sports film has been able to do). I think that by having your star also direct it (directed and starred Stephen Chow) it builds upon a sense of comfortability with the story. Chow is a master of slapstick, yet seldom overdoes the silliness, choosing carefully timed gags and meticulously mounted visual construction over slapdash comedy. The film is also no stranger to the bizarre, with Chow's multiple homages to Steven Spielberg, and a weird egg gag that I'm honestly shocked still remains the American cut of the picture.

Overall, Siu lam juk kau is a amazing combination of comedy, action, romance, and dazzling soccer footage, forming an irresistible package to those looking for something they haven't seen before. We see that it is a personal story that everyone is having fun being a part of. That also helped this film … the characters really wanted to be in this film and it shined like the North Star through our screen. The dubbing (which seemed off a couple times) only added delight to this film. Chow's Siu lam juk kau, is and will always be breathtaking.

Grade: ***** out of *****