A former champion
soccer player leads a group of Shaolin martial artists to victory in a
national soccer championship.
CRITIQUE
When I heard that
Miramax had gotten the distribution rights to Shaolin Soccer, I
was excited. Shaolin Soccer, while not the most original film
ever made, is a fun little underdog film that uses the conventions of
every Shaolin movie you’ve seen (people flying, elaborate martial
arts, silly computer effects, etc.) However, along with the excitement
came fear. When films like this are distributed they are always cut
down, dubbed, and given hip hop soundtracks. And so I waited for the
distribution news.
Shaolin Soccer
will be shortened.
Shaolin Soccer
will be dubbed.
Shaolin Soccer
will have a hip hop soundtrack.
Shaolin Soccer
is going to be renamed Kung Fu Soccer.
After a series of
delays, I had forgotten that the film was coming out, and only later
discovered that its release was overshadowed by the release of Kill
Bill Vol. 2 the previous week. I managed to catch a showing of its
theatrical release and I was surprised. The title was, of course, left
unchanged, the hip hop soundtrack wasn’t there (although a few disco
songs found there way into the film,) and the film was in Chinese. I
was relieved.
It is true that
Shaolin Soccer is shortened by a half hour. Did I notice it when I
saw it; not really. Only two scenes are removed, both of which are
explained at other points of the film and do not impact the
storytelling. The rest of the cut material is nothing more than brief
shots from various points in the film (mostly during action
sequences,) although a great joke is lost from the Shaolin team’s very
first soccer match.
But overall, the
US
version doesn’t differ much from the original Chinese version (both
are featured on the DVD) so audiences will not feel like they are
being given the cliffs notes version of a great film. This is a fun
film, definitely worth renting. Fans of kung fu films and sports films
should have a great time with this marriage.
THE VIDEO
The transfer looks
wonderful. The colors are bright and balanced However, the computer
effects in the film didn’t translate well and look very fake. However,
if you’re looking for realism, this really isn’t the place to look.
THE AUDIO
The film is
presented in the original Cantonese, as well as English and French
(only on the US
version.) The US theatrical version is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1
surround in all languages and sounds wonderful. The soccer crowds are
well done. However, the original Chinese version is not given the
clean up that the theatrical cut gained as the audio is hollow and
echoes. While it isn’t a burden on the film, it seems a waste to clean
up the sound for the US release, but allow the original to sound as if
it were bootlegged.
THE EXTRAS
The DVD has no
extra features however it does feature both the US release (in both
Cantonese and English dub) and the original Chinese version. However,
since the original Chinese version doesn’t differ that much from the
US release, the DVD ends up lacking in content.
Now, I have seen
the making of features for this film (on a Chinese disc) and it
would’ve been nice if Miramax had been able to secure the rights to
those features as well. The special effects featurette alone is worth
watching. But, sadly we miss out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Shaolin
Soccer is loads of fun and worth watching. It is nice that
audiences are given the opportunity to see the original film as well
as our theatrical version, but the lack of real difference between the
two hurts the disc. The film is a definite renter, and worth owning
for those who really love this presentation. Had the disc contain any
features, I would feel compelled to raise the overall rating, but the
disc is bare bones, which is a shame.
