This has to be one of the goofiest, dumbest, strangest - and funniest - films ever made! It made sound like a cliché, but you truly have to see this movie to believe it. It's that outrageous, far-out: a slapstick film containing martial arts, supernatural power and the sport of soccer.

We get the usual misfits-make good story, which is nothing new, but how it happens in unlike anything I've ever seen. I can't recall how man times I literally laughed out loud watching these ludicrous scenes. The climactic soccer game at the nd got carried away, of course, but it was still fun to watch.

Earlier in the story, the bizarre dialog, odd encounters with different characters and the humor is stupid many times.....but so stupid, it's comical! I just shook my head in amazement at what I was seeing and hearing. Be prepared, as I said, for some incredible dumb things, but also for much weird but definitely entertaining stuff.

Note: I watched the short "English theatrical version" which runs 89 minutes. You can also view the 112-minute Chinese version. From what I've heard, read, and witnessed, the 89- minute is sufficient. Any more of this insanity would be too much.

"Golden Leg" Fung was a great Hong Kong soccer star. His teammate Hung deliberately threw a game and hired a mob to break Fung's leg. Hung is now a fabulously rich and powerful chairman of the soccer tournament while Fung is a drunken has-been with a limp. Fung encounters street person "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing (Stephen Chow) who thinks Shaolin kung fu is the answer to everything. Sing meets special-powered street baker Mui with severe acne. Sing tries to promote kung fu by singing in a karaoke club with brother Iron Head. Sing refuses to fight a street gang but turns it into a super soccer demonstration. Fung tells Sing to play soccer and Sing sees an opportunity to promote kung fu with the other Shaolin brothers.

I love this most for the moments of deadpan humor and its surreal touches. There are a couple of aspects that I find less funny. The first soccer game with the thugs is great but the subsequent games become less and less funny. It's a function of the same action over and over again. The other minor problem is Mui's makeover. She has emotional flip-flops that are too jarring. It's also a great opportunity for her to join the team. I wish the scene starts with the dejected team and an injured goalkeeper. By the end, they come up with an idea for her to train as the new goalkeeper. Her training could be a fun traditional addition. I love the first half and the second half isn't that bad.

Wow--did I really love this film! So far on IMDb, I have reviewed well over 1000 films and I must say that this is about the most original, refreshingly different and funny film I have seen in years. Without a doubt, it is the best Chinese film I have seen and may be even better than my favorite Japanese comedy, HAPPINESS OF KATAKURIS. It is on-par with the funniest American and British films as well!! How it has a ratings in the mid-7s on IMDb, I really don't know except that, perhaps, there are a lot of "stick in the muds" who have absolutely no sense of humor! You MUST see this film.

This movie succeeds because it is a perfect melding of a traditional sports movie (it's highly reminiscent of the American film DODGE BALL) with WAY over-the-top CROUCHING TIGER-type martial arts special effects--with a little Bruce Lee thrown in as well (the one goalie even looks like Lee). And, from start to finish it is just plain funny--even the opening credits are great.

The film is about an ex-soccer player who was knocked out of the sport when he missed a penalty kick and was savagely beaten by the crowd. The the film advances 20 years to the present where this same man is still down-and-out and wanting revenge against his old boss--the owner of "Team Evil"! Well, he meets a very strange poor guy dedicated to Shaolin Kung Fu and realizes this guy's amazing and super-human powers can he used for soccer. Once he convinces the guy to join a new team, this Kung Fu master summons his older, overweight and completely un-athletic appearing brothers to form the basis for a team. These apparent losers, though, turn out to be highly reminiscent of the 5 Chinese Brothers from the old children's story--with super-human skills of their own. One brother can kick a ball so high it takes an hour to hit the ground, another has a head of steel, another can carry the ball on his chest, and another is a goalie who is apparently invincible and can score against the other team all the way from his own goalie box!! They enter the national tournament and all appears ready for them to take the championship AND the $1,000,000 prize---until Team Evil unveils their newest secret weapon!! Will the good Shaolin soccer team prevail or will Evil win the day?? Tune in to see it and be completely amazed and bowled over by the amazing and funny special effects--plus a lot of great twists and turns along the way! This film really has heart and is great fun for anyone EXCEPT total stick-in-the-muds who can't laugh and suspend all disbelief for this wonderful fantasy. You must see this film. Now--go on, get up and get the DVD,....NOW!

PS--the DVD has 2 very different versions--the American version (less than 90 minutes long) and the original version which is about 20 minutes longer and is subtitled. My review is based on the subtitled version. I would never consider watching the shorter version, as every moment I spent watching this film was pure gold--how could any clod consider cutting perfection down to 89 minutes?!