The Champions (1983)

Lee Tung is a poor kid in a small town who has a clash with a rich bully and has to flee, ending up in the city. A couple of chance encounters lead him to befriend a football enthusiast who recognises his athletic potential, and then to a contract with the Football King. When he discovers that Football King is involved in match fixing he leaves in disgust, and is picked up by a rival manager who hopes to claim the king's crown.

There are few things in life that leave me as cold as football, but few things in life that bring me as much joy as Yuen Biao in a film by the Yuen Clan, so THE CHAMPIONS presented something of a dilemma. Thankfully a fresh faced Moon Lee tips the scales enough to make watching the film seem conceivable. Well, that and the fact that Shaolin Soccer is one of the greatest films I've ever seen, and this is clearly in the same, err, ballpark.

I've been apprehensive about watching this for decades because of my conflicting feelings, but people assured me that liking football isn't a prerequisite for enjoying it. In fact there's a lot of fun to be had here, on and off the pitch. It's pretty goofy and generally good-natured, despite some egregious cheating, bullying and violence. The tone stays up-beat and the film plays up Yuen Biao's impish charm.

Cheung Kwok-Keung is a good sidekick for him, and Dick Wei an excellent foil. Moon Lee's role in the film is a bit nebulous - after a prominent contribution early on she fades into the background and has no real presence in the second half of the film.

The plot basically follows the rules, delivering the appropriate rises and falls in fortune that are expected in a sports film, with appropriate messages about teamwork and fair play or what have you - well, maybe they're just implicit in the genre.

The football matches are entertaining, featuring some of the kind of kung-fu inspired ball play you might expect but mostly sticking to what I take to be authentic football. The highlight of the film is actually a kung-fu inspired Tango, with Dick Wei and Cheung Kwok-Keung engaging in surreptitious competition on the dance floor.