ipkevin

I wept while watching Shaolin Soccer. I literally wept. Not just because it was funny, not just because the story was touching and uplifting, but also because it was SO WELL MADE. To see a fun HK movie of such high quality again... I don't know, it just made me emotional. If you like HK movies at all, you owe it to yourself to have this in your collection. It's far and away my favourite Stephen Chow movie and the best HK film I've seen in over 5 years.

And to elaborate a bit more, I'm not a sports movie fan or a big soccer/football fan, but the movie was entirely appealing to me. As long as you know that they need to get the ball in the net, you'll do fine. The matches aren't about real soccer anyway, but what matches they are!! This is one of those rare effects films where you can excuse not entirely convincing special effects because everything else is SO beautifully realised! So the ball looks CG, but who cares when the camera angles, the music (LOVED THE MUSIC), and especially the choreography and concept of the scene are so bloody AWESOME?

I saw the VCD and I immediately ordered the DVD after it was over. It's that good.

Crazy Aoshi

I haven't seen it, but since I'm a fan of his other stuff and I have heard only great things about this movie, mine is on its way from dddhouse.

khieng

I preordered this several weeks back and dying in anticipation of it's arrival in my mailbox. Last weekend I gave in and went to rent the vhs version of it and enjoyed this movie completely! Sure it had a few corky scenes but that's expected with Stephen Chow movies. It was a comedy but also a good drama. I found myself feeling sorry for what happened to Golden Leg in the beginning and the monks during their climatic game near the end. I can't wait till my DVD copy arrives so I can see what scenes have been cut.

Peep

Who is releasing this in the States?

A friend of mine just recently saw a test screening of it and he said that they showed the HK version (unrestored and with the original burnt-in subs). He said the cut seemed identical to the VCD that I have. I'm guessing that they're showing it to people to decide how to edit it for US movie-goers. How sad.

I really liked this movie and wouldn't mind owning it on DVD. If whoever releases the movie domestically treats it like CTHD (ie. no cuts or soundtrack changes) then maybe I'll wait for them to release it on DVD. Otherwise I'll get the import.

Yellow Hammer

Miramax owns the U.S. rights, so don't hold your breath - get the HK Universe version. The HK DVD kicks some serious a$$...

Peep

Ouch! They're pretty much the worst for releasing HK flicks. I guess I'll go with the HK version. Is it really 16x9 enhanced? About time!

jtkv

It is 16:9 enhanced, has Pan&Scan info in it, and has a kickass DTS soundtrack!

Nice extras, including some Interviews, NG scenes, and CGI effects shots. Great price too!


J.T.

zerotl

No doubt, buy this dvd.... The story is alright and similar to his other stuff, but the CG is awesome, the part when the clothes get ripped, that's so cool.....

The best part is that 'girl' in the beauty salon / I just love her. Is she the same one from god_of_cookery/the school girl?

Jameslam

I ordered this DVD but haven't received it yet. I turned down to see the VCD version and hope it'll appear in my mailbox right this minute.

Trigger

Got my DVD today and watched it... I had already watched the VCD - it's the same version as the VCD. Apparently, the extended version isn't available or I don't know how to get it. The menu system on this DVD sucks. Every time you go to the main menu (no matter where you're coming from) you have to endure this entire FMV sequence before being able to pick anything... once in the menu, it's damn near impossible to tell what item you're on because they use aqua marine for the unselected items and navy blue for the selected item. Too hard to distinguish. Also - I can't figure out how to make the Shaolin Soccer dude stop appearing in the top right corner. I thought I would be able to just watch the director's cut of the film without having to press enter every time that little guy pops up and half the time it's just to show you how they did the special effect. It's much much much better than the VCD and it's miles ahead of most of what has come out of HK so far, but still - I'm a bit disappointed that it's not the extended version and the menu kinda pisses me off. I'll probably pick up the Miramax DVD when it comes out.

yangshouwen

There are 3 extended scenes (two if you don't count the NG scenes which are also featured in the Special extras menu). The scenes will need to you to press your ente/play button when the "white" Shaolin Soccer logo appears. The first one is towards the end of the Stephen and Vicki banter. The second is where Vicki confront's Stephen with her scary makeup.

Shame you can't remove the logo at all (tried watching without the subtitles on normal, and they're still there). However, no real complaints, as the picture is great (barring a few specks) and is one of the best transfers to come out from Hong Kong (ChinaStar and MegaStar recent releases are close contenders).

Yellow Hammer

you're one sick puppy...

Lee Kin Yan has been in a lot of Stephen Chow movies, they go back a long way together.

ipkevin

Here are some pix from the movie. Hope it doesn't slow down too much. Let me know if it does and I'll get rid of them:

Awesome.





My favourite shot of the movie. It looks so graceful. And when it happens, it's like one of those old-school kung fu movie moments where an innocuous technique from early on becomes the perfect answer to the villain's attack. "Of course!"




I think this shot is lifted from another movie, but it looks really cool when it happens.


I think I saw this in a Shaolin monk demonstration once. Minus the soccer ball.

gabegarwick

That 2nd to last shot (the face-off in the street)... I think that's the pic you are wondering if it's from a different movie...
It is from Shaolin Soccer. It's the scene right after Golden Leg pulls the can out of the wall and it collapses.

cheers,
Gabe

ipkevin

Oh no, I just meant that I think I've seen the same type of shot (camera move and everything) in other movies before. I know this particular shot is from Shaolin Soccer as that's where I grabbed it from.

dleedlee

Was that some sort of joke (because of who the salon operator was) or a reference to something else? It was seriously hideous ! Kind of reminded me of something out of Cats.

On another board, there was discussion about various other references.
One being the karaoke scene song being
a variation on California Dreaming. I really had to strain to make that connection
even on a second viewing.

AmonTwin

Where is a good place to pick this up? What's the cheapest price for this so far? really wish i still lived in hk...Thanks...

Keyser Soze

They have this dvd out here in S.F. for $15.99....

So it sounds like it's worth it from the above posts.

May go pick it up on my lunch.

-k
###

ipkevin

AmonTwin - http://www.dddhouse.com and http://www.hivizone.com are two very reliable online retailers based out of Hong Kong. I think most HK movie fans at DVDtalk buy from these two (you can search for the dddhouse thread somewhere on this forum). I believe DDDhouse has Shaolin soccer fro $10.25 at the moment, but shipping per disc will probably be at least $3-5.

cheekymunkey

I cant recommend this movie enough. Yes I can BUY IT! BUY IT! BUY IT!

I bought it after reading some good reviews about it and what a film. My wife cringed through all of it, but I loved it. Which can only be a good sign as her favorite movie is 'national lampoon vacation'.

If your a fan of kung fu movies with lots of wire work, but with lots of new CG effects then your in for a treat

It now takes pride of place next to Fong Sai Yuk, which she also hates

feeding that addiction!

Singapore Slim

Received and watched my copy yesterday. Missed the part (extended?) that takes place in the beauty pallor. Was expecting the soccer symbol to appear when she was met at the door. Could someone tell me where was this part introduced? Thanks!

Yellow Hammer

there is no extended beauty parlor scene.

The only two extended scenes are the part where Stephen Chow first meets Vicky Zhao, and the part right when all the guys are gathered up at the outdoor cafe stall having drinks.

axolotls return

I really dislike Steven Chow's trademark silliness. And I was cringing up to around the can out of the wall scene. After that I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. The dts is really nice for an HK movie.

I actually held off on getting this when it first came out because of my dislike for Chow. But, I got it yesterday and will keep it. Now if Mei Ah would start.... ahh nevermind

Singapore Slim

I got the two extended scenes you mentioned, but read various comments about a beauty parlor scene.....probably in a news group or from some web site. Not complaining as I more than got my dollar's worth of laughs. Must have misread or misunderstood the writers comments.

The good news is this movie has plenty of replay mileage (at least for me), as I found myself being drawn back into the movie while just looking for the nonexistent scene.

maverick6146

As most of yr guys might already know, the girl in "god of the cookery" is one the female forwards in the semi-final match against "ShaoLin Team"