4 Star

The Beautiful Kung-Fu Game

This whacky football themed film was the first film written and directed by popular martial arts actor Brandy Yuen (In The Line of Duty III, Master of Zen, Drunken Master) who addresses subjects such as the problems of jealousy, corruption and bullying in sports, all in the guise of this 1983 modern slapstick movie. Great skills, great spills and great ball skills.

Sit back and enjoy the talents of Yuen Biao (Project A, Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain), Cheung Kwok-keung (Don’t Give a Damn, Crocodile Hunter), and Dick Wei (Jackie Chan’s PROJECT A & PROJECT A PART II, Millionaires Express). Referee. Blow that whistle.

Lee Tong (Yuen Biao) is a fit young man who is into his martial arts, and today of all days is festival day and its challenge for the young men of the small town. Unfortunately during this contest, son of the local dignitary gets injured in the family jewels, and Tong gets the blame. It’s serious enough that his Uncle ‘cripple Lee’ gives him money and a note with the address of a friend who will help him.

When he arrives he encounters ‘Big Brother’ Suen (Kwok-Keung Cheung) playing football with his friends. The ball goes astray and they ask Tong to kick it back, which he does, with some force and it hits Big Brother square in the face. He is impressed with the power and shouts him over, but Tong takes it the wrong way, so he starts running.

This leads him to encounter Fanny (Moon Lee, Mr Vampire, Iron Angels) who is running a lottery scam, but her heart is in the right place. She sees that he is being robbed and warns him, now it is him chasing people, which in turn leads him to come into conflict with the King (Dick Wei) of Football. That’s bad news for Tong.

It appears these three were destined to meet as the address on the note is Fanny’s old house, her deceased parents would have wanted her to help Tong, as well as her brother Suen. The misunderstandings explained, Suen wants Tong to join his football team as he is about the only one that can kick a ball.

How can we become football Kings?

But when playing another team on the wasteland they use, a new type of football is created as it turns into Kung-Fu-football and the lads getting a beating. Eventually they both want to be football stars, which prompts them to try out for the local team, but it turns out that it is King’s team, and he sees an opportunity to exact his revenge and make life hard for the aspiring football star.

The Boss said you’re not qualified to use your feet yet.

Get ready for some skill learning as Tong tries to get in the team despite King’s abuse, as the slapstick plays heavily in this comedy.

The ball, the shoes and the clothes are all different, but the game is thee same, except for the Kung-Fu.

THE CHAMPIONS [BOH NGAU] (Eureka Classics)
Special Edition is available on Blu-ray

 

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES*:

• Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [2000 copies]

• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration

• Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)

• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release

• Brand-new audio commentary by East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) & F.J. DeSanto

• Brand-new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

• Brand-new interview with filmmaker and critic James Mudge

• Brand-new featurette by CFK looking at the 1987 Hong Kong celebrity football / soccer team that featured a number of Hong Kong legends including Jackie Chan and Andy Lau

• Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork

• Trailer

• A limited-edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by James Oliver [2000 copies]