Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Sports, action and comedy collide in Golden Harvest's The Champions, the precursor to Shaolin Soccer from the first family of Hong Kong martial arts cinema: the inimitable Yuen Clan. Lee Tong (Yuen Biao, Dreadnaught) is a young farmer who has grown up in an isolated rural community. When an indiscretion lands him in hot water, he leaves his home in the countryside and heads for the big city – where he meets Suen (Cheung Kwok Keung, Eastern Condors) a street footballer who recognises Tong's talent for the beautiful game and encourages him to try out for a pro team. But Tong's first chance at footballing glory is scuppered by a rivalry with the narcissistic King (Dick Wei, Project A),who relegates the newcomer to cleaning up after his teammates. Having discovered a love for football, Tong soon accepts an offer to join a rival team – and the stage is set for a final confrontation with King on the pitch. Written and directed by Brandy Yuen (In The Line Of Duty III) and featuring action choreography by Yuen Shun Yi (The Miracle Fighters) and Yuen Chun Yeung (Armour Of God), The Champions is a sporting underdog story filtered through some of the greatest minds in the history of Hong Kong action cinema. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time ever from a brand new 2K restoration. (91 Mins)

 

HK VCD Synopsis: NA (90 Mins)

 

Views: Running for just a week in Hong Kong cinemas back in October of 1983, The Champions is a football-crazy, zany kung-fu comedy starring the always enjoyable Yuen Biao as an unlucky country bumpkin that finds himself drafted by a Hong Kong football club. Delivered by Golden Harvest in conjunction with Yuen Woo Ping's Peace Film Company and Paragon Films, the film was written and directed by the one and only Brandy Yuen – supported by his family of talented brothers, more commonly known as the Yuen Clan, with his elder brother, Yuen Woo Ping, helping to plan the production. Set in the 1960s (although it's timeline is often missed or confused by many), The Champions is one of Yuen Biao's most fun, yet most unseen movies to date – thankfully given a stunning new 2K restoration and Blu-ray release by Eureka Video across the UK and Ireland. Playing the lovable character of Lee Tung, the legendary Yuen Biao entertains as the fast-kicking fish out of water whose crippled uncle sends him packing after he is blamed for the death of another local in their village; played by the ever popular Tino Wong from kung-fu classics such as Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires (1974), Invincible Armour (1977), Snake In The Eagles Shadow (1978), Drunken Master (1978), and Hitman In The Hand Of Buddha (1981), who seemingly dies after crushing his balls during a traditional game. Arriving in Hong Kong, the young fighter soon finds himself in a spot of bother with the Football King – a well-loved local soccer player who quickly takes a disliking to him and goes out of his way to show it. Eventually finding himself in a rival team surrounded by new friends, Biao finds his skills put to the test as he faces-off against the Football King on the pitch and on the streets!

 

Aside from many martial arts competition-based, or motor bike and car racing films, sports movies have never been a rarity in Hong Kong cinema with titles such as Victory (1994), Full Strike (2015), Legend Of The Dragon (1991), To The Fore (2015), Kung Fu Dunk (2008), Life Must Go On (2022), Men On The Dragon (2018), Weeds On Fire (2016) and, of course, Stephen Chow Sing Chi's Shaolin Soccer (2001) which was quite clearly inspired by this – the first real modern Hong Kong action-comedy of the sports genre! From particular and prominent shots to character arcs, plot twists and even fight action, Chow's CGI heavy film is a hilarious and hugely entertaining re-imagining that deserves to be seen. But with that said, one still can't deny the genuine creativity and pure talent involved in The Champions as an overall piece. Interestingly, this wouldn't be the first time the Hong Kong funny man would take notes from a Yuen Biao movie. In 1992, Biao would entertain under Ronny Yu's direction with Shogun & Little Kitchen – the hugely underrated cooking comedy that saw cameos from the legendary Jimmy Wang Yu and Leung Kar Yan. But only four years later, Chow Sing Chi would deliver his own funny food-fest with the box-office smash, God Of Cookery (1996); both of which would also feature co-starring roles from the late, great Ng Man Tat. There's no doubt, with the success of both these Chow Sing Chi projects shadowing that of their inspirational blueprints, that Yuen Biao clearly felt disheartened and let down having brought his titles to the fans first – with his career starting to dwindle as Chow's went on to explode...

 

The Champions was the directorial debut of Brandy Yuen who would go onto direct Hong Kong films such as In The Line Of Duty 3: Force Of The Dragon (1988), Three Against The World (1988), and the little seen but very enjoyable Master Of Zen (1994). Along with his brothers, more widely known as the infamous Yuen Clan, led by hugely celebrated Yuen Woo Ping, the brothers deliver a host of fast-paced action – seen both on the field and off – including a brief fight in the locker room, a disco showdown, and a brutal night-time showdown in and around vehicles that almost seems out of place for such a movie. Regardless, their work bagged them a nomination for Best Action Choreography at that years film awards. Interestingly, and in line with what the Yuen Clan were producing at that time, The Champions bears the same structure as any number of classic kung-fu movies with it's use of rival schools changed for rival football teams, the kung-fu student arriving in town to learn a new style, lots of training, and the final showdown between good and evil. Cleverly, this format is blended with new modern ideas with many of the kung-fu comedy and physical games sharing similarities with those seen in Jackie Chan's Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982), respectively.

 

It's perhaps worth noting that Yuen Biao himself isn't part of the aforementioned Yuen family clan. Called Yuen because of his stage name only, Biao was born Hu Ling Chan but would later be renamed by his Peking Opera teacher (Yu Jim Yuen) when he joined his school alongside future stars such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Wah, Yuen Tak, and the late Corey Yuen Kwai among others. Here, Biao would excel in acrobatics and martial arts, going on to become a much loved star of Hong Kong cinema. And although he had worked with the Yuen Clan prior to this on films such as The Invincible Armour (1977), Broken Oath (1977), The Magnificent Butcher (1979), and Dreadnaught (1981), and shone in Jackie Chan's Young Master (1980), as well as Sammo Hung's Knockabout (1979) and epic Prodigal Son (1981), it would seem that 1983 would indeed by the turnaround year for the underrated star. Starting with a leading role in Tsui Hark's fantastically entertaining Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain, Biao would follow with this before joining his big brothers in the much loved action-adventure Project A that would come out only months after The Champions. In between, he would deliver a cameo in Sammo Hung's brilliant Winners & Sinners alongside his Zu Warriors co-star, the beautiful Moon Lee, who returns to star with him here once again in a small role. Interestingly, the pair would share the screen a few more times over the years in films such as Those Merry Souls (1985), Mr. Vampire (1985) – albeit indirectly, and Mr. Vampire 2 (1986) after that before Lee would explode onto the action scene as one of Hong Kong cinema's most treasured femme fatales in Iron Angels (1987). Here, Moon plays the sister of K. K. Cheung; a professional football player-turned-actor who stars here as the captain of an independent team of players as well as doubling-up as the football advisor for the actual games seen on screen. This, in fact, was only Cheung's fifth movie since he began acting before going on to star in almost 100 films (and still counting) including titles such as Peking Opera Blues (1986), The Dragon Family (1988), Red Shield (1991), Don't Give A Damn (1995), Firestorm (2013), and The Leakers (2018) among many more. Here, Cheung works well alongside Yuen Biao as his co-star, with the pair joining forces many years later for the little seen and less entertaining Fight For Love (2007) with Li Bing Bing and Philip Ng.

 

The always enjoyable Eddy Ko, who had starred in over 60 film titles prior to this, appears as Yuen Biao's crippled old uncle with a troubled past involving the sport. Of course, both Ko and Biao would share the screen a number of years later again in The Peacock King (1989) and then in The Hero Of Swallow in 1998. Without a doubt, his role here is a clear inspiration of that played by the late Ng Man Tat in the aforementioned Shaolin Soccer (2001). Fan favourite Dick Wei, known in some territories as Ron Van Lee, plays the campy villainous role of the Football King. Of course, he had long established himself as a kung fu star in many titles for the Shaw Brothers studios such as The Five Venoms (1978), The Kid With The Golden Arm (1979), To Kill A Mastermind (1979), and Killer Constable (1980), but had also starred with Yuen Biao in The Prodigal Son (1981) and all of his 1983 productions – making an impact as the powerful pirate chief, San Po, in the aforementioned Project A. Naturally, the pair would share the screen in many titles for years to come. Eagle-eyed viewers should also make a note of trying to capture the super-fast cameo by superstar Jackie Chan, who appears incredibly briefly on-screen dressed in a cowboy hat! A number of familiar faces also grace the screen including the easily recognisable Chang Ching Po, Gam Biu and hugely prolific Ho Pak Kwong, while Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Johnny Cheung and Benny Lai also appear, and Brandy Yuen himself makes a fun cameo.

 

For the Japanese release, distributed by Toei, Yuen Biao cranked out his first big movie number – Champion Hawk – a catchy song with an upbeat tempo that has tones of Alan Tam's Midnight Rider from Armour Of God (1986), and the score of Wheels On Meals (1984) which, in fact, came just a year after this. Although it has went practically unnoticed by many western fans for decades, The Champions still scores with it's skilful football moves, fast-paced fight action, zany comedy, and underlying social commentary. The film never fails to entertain and is always a joy to watch and while it may have been considered a box-office flop with it's abysmal ticket sales upon release, The Champions a film that's definitely enjoyed more by today's fans of Hong Kong cinema and for it's truly amazing star – the one-and-only Yuen Biao!

 

Overall: Highly enjoyable, funny, charming and full of Yuen Clan creativity, The Champions is an exciting Yuen Biao vehicle that deserves to be seen!

 

Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng & F.J. DeSanto, Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Featurette on Hong Kong Celebrity Football, James Mudge on The Champions, Original Trailer, Japanese Trailer