Guest art_vandelay Report post Posted January 27, 2003 For those of you who have seen this 2001 Hong Kong blockbuster, you may be interested to know, if you didn't before, that Shaolin Soccer will be distributed by Miramax for North American theatrical release sometime in April. That's the good news. The bad news is that they have chosen to dub the film entirely in English, and also re-edit some of the parts, particularly the score and the opening. There has also been rumours of Miramax renaming the film to "Kung Fu Soccer," but I heard that they changed it back. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's basically a story about a shaolin kung fu student who wants to spread the word of kung fu to the masses, but is unsuccessful until he meets an ex-soccer player. The kung fu student then gathers his five shaolin "brothers," and together, they use their mastery of martial arts as they compete, and dominate a soccer tournament. It's fucking hilarious and features some of the nicest CG visuals I've ever seen. I hear a sequel is in the works as well. I'm glad that the film has made its way to North America, but it's too bad it'll be in a butchered form. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Lethargic Report post Posted January 27, 2003 I assumed they canned it. Jeez, they started advertising for the American release last summer and then all of a sudden it vanished. I've read reviews of the American version and most people actually liked it better. I don't see how things like the singing and dancing part could be translated though. I don't think I'll get rid of my Hong Kong bootleg though for it. I made that mistake with Twin Dragons. My copy of the original version looked so bad that I figured I'd just copy the new American version of it. Little did I know that my favorite Jackie Chan movie was completely ass-raped in that version. Nearly 30 minutes gone. And I was left with a good looking bad movie that used to be good but looked like crap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted January 27, 2003 I have a copy on a VHS tape that was copied from a DVD. Subtitled in English. Movie is so dumb it's funny. Defintly worth checking out Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DVD Spree Report post Posted January 27, 2003 This movie fucking rules. WHY WHY WHY won't American studios leave foreign product the fuck alone? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Karnage Report post Posted January 28, 2003 Disney always does that to HK movies. This Just In! Miramax is also going to pick up the rights to release those recent Celestial Shaw Brothers DVDs in North America. They are going to be edited and dubbed to english. Another reason to get a region free DVD player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
