Director: Brandy Yuen Jan-Yeung
Screenplay: Brandy Yuen Jan-Yeung
Starring: Yuen Biao, Cheung Kwok-Keung, Moon Lee, Dick Wei, Chang Ching-Po, Eddy Ko Hung, Gam Biu, Tong Tin-Hei
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 92 min
Year: 1983
BBFC Certificate: 18
So many martial arts movies had been made in Hong Kong by the early 80s that filmmakers would often try to experiment with the genre to inject new life into it and ensure their films didn’t get lost in the shuffle. In 1983, Brandy Yuen was due to make his directorial debut after working as an actor and martial arts co-ordinator since the early 70s. In a bid to make something a bit different, he decided to fuse a kung-fu movie with a sports movie and the action-football-comedy film The Champions was born.
It’s a title that likely inspired Stephen Chow’s 2001 film, Shaolin Soccer. That took a more fantastical approach to the on-screen martial arts but it still borrows a similar narrative and setting to The Champions, which pre-dated it by almost two decades.
The Champions is a title that has been little seen in the UK, outside of, presumably, a VHS release. It’s surprising, given the popularity of football over here. Thankfully, Eureka are picking up the slack and have decided to add The Champions to their ever-growing lineup of martial arts classics on Blu-ray. I got my hands on a copy and my thoughts follow.
The film stars Yuen Biao as Lee Tong, a young farmer from a remote rural village, who lands himself in deep water after an incident during a local competition. Escaping the consequences of this, he ventures into the bustling city where he encounters Suen (Cheung Kwok-Keung), a street footballer who instantly recognises Tong’s natural talent for the game. Encouraged by Suen, Tong attempts to join a professional team, but his dreams are dashed by the arrogant mega-star King (Dick Wei), who relegates him to ball boy and punching bag. Undeterred, Tong’s newfound passion for football leads him to accept an offer from a rival team, setting the stage for a climactic showdown with King on the field.
The Champions is a good, solid slice of entertainment. There’s plenty of goofy comedy but, unlike a lot of Hong Kong comedies from the era, it doesn’t get too silly and pays enough attention to its story to hold your interest, rather than going for the episodic, skit-based approach that was popular back then.
The Champions fuses its genres together nicely too. It manages to take some classic kung-fu movie tropes and transposes them into a sports underdog story. Most notably you have a hero who learns to incorporate his previously gained special moves into his football skills (rather than martial arts ones) to beat the villain by the end. The dynamic between the two teams feels like that of rival kung-fu schools too.
Though not featuring the talents of Yuen Woo-Ping, The Champions is a ‘Yuen clan’ film, with Brandy Yuen writing and directing as well as working on the action alongside a couple of his brothers. As such, the film has their typically inventive, acrobatic choreography. There aren’t a huge number of actual fights, but their skills at putting together an action set piece are put to great use in the football scenes, where the characters pull off some eye-popping moves that may not always make practical sense in a real match but look great on screen. Fight fans shouldn’t worry though, Biao and co. do get several chances to kick arse. There’s also a fun twist where the central rivalry suddenly leads to a dance-off, which eventually becomes a cleverly orchestrated fight scene.
The cast are decent, with Yuen Biao and Cheung Kwok-Keung making for likeable heroes and Dick Wei an enjoyably nasty villain. His comeuppance at the end is rather over-the-top though! Moon Lee is sadly underused, unfortunately.
Overall, it’s a well-crafted, solid martial arts movie that’s a pleasure to watch but it never quite blew my mind in a way that might help it join the upper echelons of classic kung-fu movies of the era. If you’re in the mood for a more grounded fusion of football and kung-fu than Shaolin Soccer though, you’re in for a treat.
Film: 
The Champions is out on 23rd September on Blu-Ray, released by Eureka as part of their Eureka Classics series. The film looks great, with gorgeous colours highlighting a clean, detailed print. You get a choice of 4 audio tracks – original or restored Cantonese mono, an alternative Cantonese track with the Japanese version of the soundtrack or English dubbed. I opted for the restored Cantonese and it sounded decent. I’m not sure what the difference is between that and the original audio, to be honest. The Japanese version has some different music cues, including a catchy theme song sung by Yuen Biao himself.
LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES
– Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [2000 copies]
– 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
– Original Cantonese audio, restored Cantonese, alternative Japanese soundtrack and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
– Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
– Brand new audio commentary by East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) & F.J. DeSanto
– Brand new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
– Brand new interview with filmmaker and critic James Mudge
– Brand new featurette by CFK looking at the 1987 Hong Kong celebrity football / soccer team that featured a number of Hong Kong legends including Jackie Chan and Andy Lau
– Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
– Trailer
– A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by James Oliver [2000 copies]
F.J. DeSanto and Frank Djeng provide one commentary. As usual, Djeng delivers an invaluable torrent of information about the film and cultural aspects that will normally be lost on Western viewers. De Santo, meanwhile, is a fan of the film and talks about what he thinks makes it special. The track is well worth a listen.
Arne Venema and Mike Leeder provide the other commentary track. It’s another fun dive into the histories of those involved in making the film alongside discussions of football in Hong Kong. As usual, the pair throw in some enjoyable personal stories linked to who’s on-screen or what’s happening.
In his interview, James Mudge talks about what makes The Champions special and where it fits in the history of martial arts films. It’s an interesting piece.
Venema reappears in a piece looking at the Hong Kong All-Stars football team, which featured numerous big names from Hong Kong cinema over the years. The featurette has a bit of a ‘pub debate’ vibe in how most of the piece sees Venema select a ‘dream team’ from previous players. It’s another fun addition to the set.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, unfortunately.
So, Eureka have once again treated us to a well-stocked package celebrating an enjoyable martial arts/sports romp. Recommended.
Disc/Package:
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