# Shaolin Soccer...wtf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688 "2011-05-29T19:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/1 "2011-05-29T19:23:01Z")
The girlfriend made me watch this last night. Is this some sort of Chinese genre of film whose subtleties are lost on me? I thought it was ridiculous, and I liked the Mighty Ducks movies when I was a kid. Thoughts? Does Crouching Tiger meets The Waterboy peak your curiosity? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/2 "2011-05-29T19:32:59Z")
Roll with it. Rent Kung fu Hustle and bask in the WTF. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/3 "2011-05-29T19:34:59Z")
Agreed–_Kung Fu Hustle_ is greatness. ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/4 "2011-05-29T19:43:16Z")
_Kung Fu Hustle_ is the Stephen Chow’s follow-up to _Shaolin Soccer_. Personally, I think it is a far better film. Both have numerous funny cultural references that can be tough to understand (so I’m told). ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/5 "2011-05-29T19:54:49Z")
> [@tingbudong](#): > > _Kung Fu Hustle_ is the Stephen Chow’s follow-up to _Shaolin Soccer_. Personally, I think it is a far better film. Both have numerous funny cultural references that can be tough to understand (so I’m told). This. Except Kung Fu Hustle doesn’t have \ that deliberately-stupid-comedy attitude about it. (The parts that do, like the landlady parts, are just awesome) It’s really very…just good. Excellent. The violence is stylized in a way that I actually enjoy, whereas I can’t stand it normally. The musical duels, as well as the physical ones, just blow my mind. Love it, love it love it. Saw Kung Fu Hustle first, then Shaolin Soccer. Didn’t care for Soccer much at all; apparantly Chow prefers the Hustle stylings as well, given the opening to Hustle is him stomping on a soccer ball and saying, “No more soccer”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/6 "2011-05-29T19:55:07Z")
It also helps if you’re already familiar with Hong Kong wuxia films in general in order to get the jokes about what he’s parodying. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/7 "2011-05-29T19:57:13Z")
You have to embrace the WTF. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/8 "2011-05-29T20:09:55Z")
I actually love _Shaolin Soccer_, the point is it’s just ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/9 "2011-05-29T20:19:04Z")
Those films are made of awesome. Not sure which I like more, though I do agree that Kung Fu Hustle is more accessible to Western audiences. They’re both hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/10 "2011-05-29T23:28:25Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > I actually love _Shaolin Soccer_, the point is it’s just ridiculous. Right. It’s the ridiculousness that makes it great. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/11 "2011-06-01T02:17:27Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Right. It’s the ridiculousness that makes it great. Thirded. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/12 "2011-06-01T03:38:37Z")
There are a lot of different versions of this movie out there. IIRC, the US theatrical release cut a number of scenes. I prefer it to Kung Fu Hustle. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/13 "2011-06-01T15:28:31Z")
Quick question - did you watch it with English dubbing or subtitles? Because this is a movie that is\* exponentially\* better with subtitles. Half the fun is the ridiculousness of the Engrish. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaolin-soccer-wtf/583688/14 "2011-06-01T18:17:18Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > There are a lot of different versions of this movie out there. IIRC, the US theatrical release cut a number of scenes. > > I prefer it to Kung Fu Hustle. This. I saw the orginal HK version back when it was released and it is pure awesome. I don’t know what they were thinking with the US version. The edits didn’t make it more accessible to an American audience (that’d require a complete remake, a la Infernal Affairs -\> The Departed). It’d been better kept in its full HK glory–let the American audience either sink or swim. And with subtitles, of course. The dub’s voice actors are never as good as the original actors.