Reviews

I read over 300 reviews. Here are my two cents. (1) If you cannot accept people can fly in a fantasy movie, it is your loss. The East accepts Lord of the Rings, Peter Pan and Super Man. Why it is so hard to accept the Eastern culture and fantasy? (2) If you only accept the Hollywood's formula of happy ending, it is your loss too. On the other hand, 'finding yourself' is Hollywood's idea. I do not like it but this movie is aimed at world audience.

(3) Ang Lee, Tan Dun, Yo-yo Ma and Chow Yun Fat are the most important men in their own fields in our generation. After 2 or 3 hundred years, their work still will be appreciated by our great grand children. Only a handful of Hollywood movies made today can claim the same. (4) There may not be a better performance by a new actor/actress as Zhang Ziyi in this movie even she is not recognized in Oscar - see how protective are Oscar's folks. (5) I like Coco's theme song than the one won the Oscar. It seems to be the same reason as #4 why it did not get an Oscar. (6) Who is the most beautiful woman in the movie? You're wrong. Chen Pu Pu is when she was younger. (7) Chow is a real actor and Jet Li is more a Kung Fu Master. Jet Li, the original choice, may not do that well in this movie that requires good acting. (8) Another HK actress more beautiful than Zhang was approached first for the role. She turned it down due to too much work for the money. Did she know she missed the chance of a life time? (9) HK is making this kind of movies since 1960s. Lee is credited in introducing to the general audience in the west but he did not create this kind of movie. On contrary to some users' view, I'm glad Lee did not introduce the culture from scratch as it would make the movie too boring. (10) Village Voice had a bad review on this movie. They had a point though I do not totally agree. However, some users gave this movie the worst rating with racial remarks. It reminded me of a Nazi's kid saying some movie is bad becuase there are so many Jewish names in the credit. (11) If this one is your first Kung Fu/ Fantasy movie from Asia and you like it, check out Iron Monkey, Chinese Ghost Story...

No camera tricks. No high production value (even compared to the Hong Kong Kung Fu movies at that time). No stunt men/women. No wire. It is just pure Kung Fu. The location is real and so are the fighting. It belongs to the classic that we miss in today's Kung Fu movies. If you practice Kung Fu, you have to watch it repeatedly to learn a lot from the real masters. It is quite good for the first Kung Fu movie made in China (about 20 years ago).

you better release this film earlier to capture the market.

It is the same story theme of a bunch of 'rejects' winning big championship as underdogs that have no respect by anyone.

Actually capturing the AFC championship is enough for a movie and what is better is one that is readily available. Instead of football, we have soccer. The characters are quite simple. David Patten and Troy Brown almost not made it in NFL and Brady is a no-body in the beginning of the season.

The previous review is quite unfair. This movie can only be understood and hence enjoyed by Cantonese (not even by other Chinese). I laughed all the way. You will, if you can enjoy this kind of lower intelligent jokes (same level as Jim Carrey's). It has so many local jokes that I missed some since I left Hong Kong for a long time. I can feel they're funnier if I stayed in HK long enough. The performance is great for Chow. It is not a good role for Gong Li. It is a comedy rather than the serious roles she is usually in. Unlike some stars such as Chow Yun Fat, she is only good at certain roles. The song at the end is great and I believe it was copied from another movie with a similar name, which is a serious version of this movie.

Rated at 9.2, it is not the best fantasy movies for sure. Star War is a better movie considering the special effects available at the time. I would like to call people rate it at 5 or below to bring it down so it is fair for other movies. It deserves a 8.2 but not 9.2!

Cannot believe a movie that can be made that good in 1987 and is virtually unknown in the west. Not to repeat other reviews here. The score is very good and moving. Literally it means "Dawn please never comes" - when it comes, the beautiful ghost and the lover will be apart forever. After 24 years, Joel and Leslie still look great. I enjoyed Joel in God of Gamblers and many movies by Leslie including Better Tomorrow.

It is quite impressive after I found out movie was made 11 years ago. Many scenes have been copied in many other movies and even an American remake. Most Hollywood action actors cannot act in slow scene, but not Chow. As in many Hong Kong movies, you cannot just classify them as pure action or pure comedy or pure love story. The other support can act too. American audience will lose most of the jokes in Cantonese. However, you will enjoy the movie from the beginning to the end even you have to read the sub title that is not quite correct in many cases.

Do not compare it to Crouching Tiger. It does not have the story, artistic features and great music score. However, it is highly entertaining. It is real Kung Fu - Michelle Y. is the only one in Crouching Tiger that knows Kung Fu. It is a simple story so you do not have to read sub title that much (or too much thinking). I hope they could make a lot of money in the film and open the flood gate of other great Hong Kong movies. Those that already in cable may not do too well. Some may require English dubbing. They are: Once Upon in China I, II, III, Chinese Ghost Story, Bullet on the Head, Killer, God of Gamblers, God of Cookery... Shaolin Soccer and Wu will be released next year and Hollywood would make good money with the right marketing. Besides Kung Fu movies, HK has a lot to offer but most comedies are hard to translate without losing a lot.

I watched the VCD version 2 times. I enjoyed it fully on the second time when I decided it is a comedy and treated it that way. Highly entertaining and I could not find any major flaw (some minor ones exist). It could be a big hit for teenagers who either play soccer or Kung Fu. English should be dubbed for wider distribution. Comedy is harder to sell for foreign films as a lot will be lost during the translation. It is my first Steven Chow's movie and I love it every moment. It will not earn any film award but you will be entertained. I like the training with eggs and of course all the soccer matches. Based on nothing similar to compare, I rate it a 9.5.