Overview: 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 recognizes Tong’s talent for soccer and encourages him to try out for a pro team.

But Tong’s first chance at glory is scuppered by a rivalry with the narcissistic King (Dick Wei, Project A), who relegates the newcomer to cleaning up after his teammates. But having discovered a love for soccer, 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!

Blu-ray Verdict: The film stars Yuen Biao (Eastern Condors, Righting Wrongs), Sam Hiu (Dragon from Russia, Swordsman), Dick Wei (Project A, Winners, Rosa) and for all intents and purposes is almost like a respective nod toward Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer. And while I liked Shaolin Soccer, as it mixed soccer, wire-fu and comedy, I loved this a little more because it has all that, great comedy and grounded martial arts (oh, and did I mention Yuen Biao!)

The comedy is spot on, especially for people who find it funny when someone gets hit in the face with a football or falls over! The plot is about a young farmer played by Yuen Biao who was a opera veteran and classmate of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung to name a few. He gets in trouble when he hurts a local gang leader (played by Tino Wong, Secret Rivals 2, Invincible Armour).

His uncle Eddy Ko (Heroes Shed no Tears, Miracle Fighters) sends Yuen Biao to the city to live with his friend, but when Yuen gets there he finds out from the mans daughter he has died. The daughter is played by a very young Moon Lee (Mr Vampire, Angel) and she has a brother played by canto pop star Sam Hiu. Sam gets Yuen Biao into playing football and so the two join a team and eventually go up against the cruel and arrogant football star played by screen legend Dick Wei.

Not only does Yuen Biao show off his martial arts skills but his impressive soccer skills and so does Sam Hiu, which makes them a really likeable duo. This film surprised me within the fights as they were done really well. The soccer scenes are just as exciting and great fun to watch Yuen flip and kick past opponents, and all with a football at his feet. Dick Wei also shows off a lot of his skills in martial arts and with a football (however, he is notably doubled for a few scenes).

While Ching Siu Ting did the action choreography for Shaolin Soccer, here the Yuen clan (Yuen Woo Ping, Sun Yee, Yat Chor, Brandy Yuen, Yuen Ceung ect) devise their own great fights, the stand out one being the dance floor scene, where Dick Wei and Sam Hiu fight using their dance partners!

Special Features:
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
Brand new audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Brand new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
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
Andrew Heskins on The Champions – brand new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (eastern Kicks)
Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
Trailer