Jay Chou made his movie debut with playing a character from a popular manga adaptation “Initial D”, which bring him to involve with other movie projects like Curse of the Golden Flower
and his directorial debut film “Secret”. This year, He’s back again with a film that again was originally conceived as another big screen adaptation of highly popular Japanese manga created by Takehiko Inoue “SlamDunk!” but along the way when it was decided to slot in some Kung Fu into the story, the title was changed to “Kung Fu Dunk”. This decision of course reminded us to compare the film with Stephen Chow’s blockbuster “Shaolin Soccer” which also came with the idea to combine the Chinese martial arts with sport. However, with the US$10 million budget that almost was went to the special effects and superstar Jay Chou as a big boost to any hopes of a box office success. The film that was released over the previous Lunar New Year had received a quite hefty box office results in Asian. Now, this martial arts and basketball mixed film is throwing to the market in home cinema format which is a region 3 Hong Kong version DVD that will give us a chance to reprise Jay Chou performance in dunking some balls with his Kung Fu style.
The film revolves around an orphaned boy who grew up in a kung fu university and becomes a talented basketball player. The youngster, Fang Shi Jie (Jay Chou) grew up at the Kung-Fu School. He practiced excellent Kung-Fu and was equipped with good skills. When he was punished by his principal to stay on the streets for one night, he demonstrated his incredible accuracy to a down-and-out hustler, Wang Li (Eric Tsang). On the pretext of helping him search for his family, Wang Li invited him to play basketball at 'First University' as the new star of its basketball team. Meanwhile, Wang Li capitalized on media interest in Shi-Jie to make money via interviews and news articles.
After joining the basketball team, Shi-Jie found that Li-Li(Charlene Choi) whom he had admired for a long time is the sister of Ting Wei (Bo-Lin Chen), the leader of basketball team. Shi Jie was desperate to draw her attention. Therefore, he attempted to compete with Xiao Lan (Baron Chen), who is Li-Li's idol. The competition between Shi Jie and Xiao Lan generated an unstable atmosphere within the team. After Ting Wei counsels Shi Jie, the basketball team becomes more unified. Meanwhile, he helped Shi Jie combine his foundation of Kung-Fu skills into basketball techniques, which in turn brought his skills into full play and helped the team win many rounds of the inter-varsity tournament.
By the time of the finals, the major competitor faced by Shi Jie and his team members was the team led by Lee Tien. Lee used to be on the First University basketball team alongside Ting Wei and Xiao Lan, but became arrogant and was lured to their competitor's camp. The competing team comprised of players who had been banned from all basketball games in Japan. The competing university also bribed the referee of the final game. Although Wang Li had enlisted the aid of Shi Jie's kung-fu teachers, the opposing team had put in place a number of measures to prevent First University from winning, up to and including injuring First University's star players Shi-Jie, Ting Wei and Xiao Lan. Thus, due to both unscrupulous fouls from the opposing team and the referee's biased decisions and outright interference, First University was defeated. Unwilling to admit defeat to such unjust conditions, Shi Jie recalls a technique his first teacher had utilized, and managed to turn back the clock. Eventually, First University won fair and square.
Product Details:
Product Title: Kung Fu Dunk (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Actors: Jay Chou, Charlene Choi, Eric Tsang, Baron Chen, Bo-Lin Chen
Directors: Kevin Chu Yen Ping
Format: Widescreen 16:9 (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese
Subtitles: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of disc: 1 Disc
Country Made: Hong Kong
Genre: Sport Comedy
Distributor: Deltamac (HK)
Release Date: March 19, 2008 ( Order your copy now!)
Story-Meter: 6/10 – Actors-Meter: 6/10 – Video-Meter: 7/10 – Audio-Meter: 7/10
The Dunking Review by John Li – Moviexclusive
“This lightweight Chinese New Year blockbuster is highly entertaining”
The second a particular Asian superstar named Jay Chou appears on screen, sporting his too-cool-to-be-true persona, you know this movie belongs to him and him alone. After hiding a “Secret” and bearing the “Curse of the Golden Flower”, Chou is back on the big screen, and this may be his most enjoyable performance yet. Heck, even the signature hip-hop soundtrack that plays when he first makes his appearance in this Kevin Chu-directed Chinese New Year blockbuster will tell you that the movie is made for him.
Shot in Taiwan and Mainland China, the story of this 100-minute movie isn’t exactly what you call innovating: Chou plays an orphan who finds himself in a kung fu school. Like the artiste himself, our protagonist discovers his talent for playing basketball. After being expelled by the corrupted headmaster of the kung fu school, he joins a university basketball team to shoot balls, fall in love and play in matches against the bad guys.
Boasting an impressive production and marketing budget of US$10 million, it is evident where all the money went to. Check out the remarkable computer generated effects which make Chou fly into the air. Check out the outstanding stunt choreography by Ching Siu-Tung (The Warlords), where Chou brings down an army of bad guys in a night club. Check out the breathtaking camera shots by cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding (Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles), where multiple crane shots showcase the magnificence of the adrenaline-filled basketball matches.
The well-rounded team is complete with Yee Chung Man’s vibrant costume design, a very strong supporting cast of Eric Tsang, Charlene Choi, Chen Bo-Lin, Baron Chen, and cameos from familiar faces like Ng Man Tat, Leung Ka Yan, and Jacky Wu. Tsang is reliable as the money-minded businessman with a heart, Choi is somewhat bland as Chou’s love interest, the two Chens are pretty-looking boys without looking silly, while recognizable comic figures like Ng, Leung and Wu make you sit up with their spot-on antics.
While there is a more original sports-themed kung fu movie Shaolin Soccer (2001) before this, Chu’s festive movie is still well worth your bucks, simply for its high entertainment value. The Taiwanese filmmaker is known for his slapstick shows like Flying Dagger and the Shaolin Popey series (starring the two adorable bald-headed kiddies), and his jokes will tickle your ribs, even if they are not the most intelligent types
But we digress. The show is clearly all about Chou and his very likeable screen personality. A 29-year-old actor playing a 20-year-old character? In the wrong hands, the sight of a grown man bouncing around like a typical teenager may be very cringing. But trust the sometimes broody singer-actor-director to pull it off. Girls would want to be with him. Guys would want to be him. There is no doubt the spotlight of this mass-appealing movie is on the Asian superstar.
Come on, even the theme song of the movie is named after the man: “Zhou Da Xia” (loosely translated as “Swordsman Chou”) features signature Chou-styled rapping lyrics about eating bean curds. On one hand, you can’t imagine anyone who is more narcissistic, while on the other, you give it to him because you know you are going to enjoy this so much.
Just Check Out These Similarities: “Shaolin Soccer”, “Initial D”, “Kung Fu Hustle”
(Synopsis Source: Wikipedia)
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and his directorial debut film “Secret”. This year, He’s back again with a film that again was originally conceived as another big screen adaptation of highly popular Japanese manga created by Takehiko Inoue “SlamDunk!” but along the way when it was decided to slot in some Kung Fu into the story, the title was changed to “Kung Fu Dunk”. This decision of course reminded us to compare the film with Stephen Chow’s blockbuster “Shaolin Soccer” which also came with the idea to combine the Chinese martial arts with sport. However, with the US$10 million budget that almost was went to the special effects and superstar Jay Chou as a big boost to any hopes of a box office success. The film that was released over the previous Lunar New Year had received a quite hefty box office results in Asian. Now, this martial arts and basketball mixed film is throwing to the market in home cinema format which is a region 3 Hong Kong version DVD that will give us a chance to reprise Jay Chou performance in dunking some balls with his Kung Fu style.
The film revolves around an orphaned boy who grew up in a kung fu university and becomes a talented basketball player. The youngster, Fang Shi Jie (Jay Chou) grew up at the Kung-Fu School. He practiced excellent Kung-Fu and was equipped with good skills. When he was punished by his principal to stay on the streets for one night, he demonstrated his incredible accuracy to a down-and-out hustler, Wang Li (Eric Tsang). On the pretext of helping him search for his family, Wang Li invited him to play basketball at 'First University' as the new star of its basketball team. Meanwhile, Wang Li capitalized on media interest in Shi-Jie to make money via interviews and news articles.After joining the basketball team, Shi-Jie found that Li-Li(Charlene Choi) whom he had admired for a long time is the sister of Ting Wei (Bo-Lin Chen), the leader of basketball team. Shi Jie was desperate to draw her attention. Therefore, he attempted to compete with Xiao Lan (Baron Chen), who is Li-Li's idol. The competition between Shi Jie and Xiao Lan generated an unstable atmosphere within the team. After Ting Wei counsels Shi Jie, the basketball team becomes more unified. Meanwhile, he helped Shi Jie combine his foundation of Kung-Fu skills into basketball techniques, which in turn brought his skills into full play and helped the team win many rounds of the inter-varsity tournament.
By the time of the finals, the major competitor faced by Shi Jie and his team members was the team led by Lee Tien. Lee used to be on the First University basketball team alongside Ting Wei and Xiao Lan, but became arrogant and was lured to their competitor's camp. The competing team comprised of players who had been banned from all basketball games in Japan. The competing university also bribed the referee of the final game. Although Wang Li had enlisted the aid of Shi Jie's kung-fu teachers, the opposing team had put in place a number of measures to prevent First University from winning, up to and including injuring First University's star players Shi-Jie, Ting Wei and Xiao Lan. Thus, due to both unscrupulous fouls from the opposing team and the referee's biased decisions and outright interference, First University was defeated. Unwilling to admit defeat to such unjust conditions, Shi Jie recalls a technique his first teacher had utilized, and managed to turn back the clock. Eventually, First University won fair and square.
Product Details:Product Title: Kung Fu Dunk (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Actors: Jay Chou, Charlene Choi, Eric Tsang, Baron Chen, Bo-Lin Chen
Directors: Kevin Chu Yen Ping
Format: Widescreen 16:9 (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese
Subtitles: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of disc: 1 Disc
Country Made: Hong Kong
Genre: Sport Comedy
Distributor: Deltamac (HK)
Release Date: March 19, 2008 ( Order your copy now!)
Story-Meter: 6/10 – Actors-Meter: 6/10 – Video-Meter: 7/10 – Audio-Meter: 7/10
The Dunking Review by John Li – Moviexclusive“This lightweight Chinese New Year blockbuster is highly entertaining”
The second a particular Asian superstar named Jay Chou appears on screen, sporting his too-cool-to-be-true persona, you know this movie belongs to him and him alone. After hiding a “Secret” and bearing the “Curse of the Golden Flower”, Chou is back on the big screen, and this may be his most enjoyable performance yet. Heck, even the signature hip-hop soundtrack that plays when he first makes his appearance in this Kevin Chu-directed Chinese New Year blockbuster will tell you that the movie is made for him.
Shot in Taiwan and Mainland China, the story of this 100-minute movie isn’t exactly what you call innovating: Chou plays an orphan who finds himself in a kung fu school. Like the artiste himself, our protagonist discovers his talent for playing basketball. After being expelled by the corrupted headmaster of the kung fu school, he joins a university basketball team to shoot balls, fall in love and play in matches against the bad guys.
Boasting an impressive production and marketing budget of US$10 million, it is evident where all the money went to. Check out the remarkable computer generated effects which make Chou fly into the air. Check out the outstanding stunt choreography by Ching Siu-Tung (The Warlords), where Chou brings down an army of bad guys in a night club. Check out the breathtaking camera shots by cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding (Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles), where multiple crane shots showcase the magnificence of the adrenaline-filled basketball matches.
The well-rounded team is complete with Yee Chung Man’s vibrant costume design, a very strong supporting cast of Eric Tsang, Charlene Choi, Chen Bo-Lin, Baron Chen, and cameos from familiar faces like Ng Man Tat, Leung Ka Yan, and Jacky Wu. Tsang is reliable as the money-minded businessman with a heart, Choi is somewhat bland as Chou’s love interest, the two Chens are pretty-looking boys without looking silly, while recognizable comic figures like Ng, Leung and Wu make you sit up with their spot-on antics.
While there is a more original sports-themed kung fu movie Shaolin Soccer (2001) before this, Chu’s festive movie is still well worth your bucks, simply for its high entertainment value. The Taiwanese filmmaker is known for his slapstick shows like Flying Dagger and the Shaolin Popey series (starring the two adorable bald-headed kiddies), and his jokes will tickle your ribs, even if they are not the most intelligent typesBut we digress. The show is clearly all about Chou and his very likeable screen personality. A 29-year-old actor playing a 20-year-old character? In the wrong hands, the sight of a grown man bouncing around like a typical teenager may be very cringing. But trust the sometimes broody singer-actor-director to pull it off. Girls would want to be with him. Guys would want to be him. There is no doubt the spotlight of this mass-appealing movie is on the Asian superstar.
Come on, even the theme song of the movie is named after the man: “Zhou Da Xia” (loosely translated as “Swordsman Chou”) features signature Chou-styled rapping lyrics about eating bean curds. On one hand, you can’t imagine anyone who is more narcissistic, while on the other, you give it to him because you know you are going to enjoy this so much.
Just Check Out These Similarities: “Shaolin Soccer”, “Initial D”, “Kung Fu Hustle”
(Synopsis Source: Wikipedia)
