Now available from Eureka Classics
A young country hick with acrobatic skills running away from town finds his way into a soccer team where he seems to fit in quite well.
This sport comedy from writer-director Brandy Yuen has aged rather well, with a few moments of ick for modern audiences of course, and has been influential in creating a path for other soccer martial arts hybrid films such as Shaolin Soccer. The story here is that of a fish out of water who finds his true calling and his place in society, bringing him into hijinks of course to make his moving from his countryside life to the professional soccer player life more interesting. Along the way, he meets with a soccer super star and makes an enemy out of his, leading to even more hijinks and comedy with a touch of action sequences like fights and sports bouts. The film here strikes a good balance between being a soccer film and a martial film with some decent comedy along the way. The writing here works well and so the direction with some dated elements here and there that make it clear that this was made the audience of its time and for the trends of its time. Still, it entertains, it’s funny, it’s exciting in parts even.
The cast here is why most will come check this film out and why it hit the radar for this viewer. Star Yuen Biao is the main attraction here and the folks behind the film knew that clearly, giving him the hero’s share of the screen time, plenty of stunts, sport and fights, and making him look good most of the time with a few exceptions for comedy’s sake. His work is star-making, and he makes quite the impression. Also entertaining are Kwok-Keung Cheung as Suen, Moon Lee as Fanny, Dick Wei, Eddy Ko, and so many more. This cast is great to watch and really adds to the film’s fun and entertainment factor.
The cinematography here is good but clearly wasn’t the main point of the film, still it serves its purpose and makes the film easy to watch while allowing the viewer to see everything that is going on. The editing also works well without flourishes, letting the action scenes speak for themselves.
The Champions is a fun movie that is easy to watch and has plenty to offer to entertain. It has a clear goal to do so. This new release of it is in 1080p presentation of a 2K restoration with mono audio. The extras here are good with two new audio commentaries by Asian films experts, a new featurette about the 1987 Hong Kong celebrity football team which included players such as Andy Lau and Jackie Chan, a new interview with critic Andrew Heskins about the film, and new artwork by Darren Wheeling.
