The Champions is a 1983 sporting comedy film directed by Brandy Yuen (In The Line of Duty III, Master of Zen and Three Against the World)  and starring Yuen Biao (Project A, Once Upon A Time in China and Encounter of the Spooky Kind), Moon Lee (Fighting Madam, Mr Vampire and Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain), Dick Wei (Project A, Eastern Condors and Five Deadly Venoms) and Eddy Ko (Lethal Weapon 4, Rumble in the Bronx and The Bride with White Hair). 

In the days before 2001's Shaolin Soccer won the hearts and minds of Western audiences with its blend of martial arts and football skills, there was the Raymond Chow produced martial arts football epic called The Champions. Yuen Biao stars as Lee Tung, a young farmer who enters a competition where he defeats and injures a wealthy local aristocrat. Afterwards, his father insists he flee his home in the countryside and heads to the city,  where he becomes friends with Suen (played by Kwok-Keung Cheung of Visa to Hell, Don’t Give A Damn and Raging Fire).  Suen is a street footballer who wants to be in the pro team, however, his initial attempt at glory ends with him suffering at the hands of the arrogant  King (Dick Wei),  who goes out of his way to ensure that Tung is nothing more than a punch bag. Lee Tung switches teams and the pair resume their rivalry on the pitch.

As well as being the precursor to the much-loved Shaolin Soccer, it represents a damning indictment on corruption in sport. The film features incredible wire work from the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping and his incredible stunt team, with some excellent fight sequences, however it is the battle on the football pitch that takes precedence here with some outstanding choreography. The film itself is very enjoyable with good performances from Biao and Wei as on-the-pitch rivals, as well as Moon Lee as Tung’s love interest, and Eddy Ko as his uncle.

The new Blu-ray release from Eureka features an excellent print of the film drawn from a brand new 2k restoration, with a variety of audio and subtitle options and an audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. The disc also features an interview with filmmaker and critic James Mudge and a new featurette looking at the 1987 Hong Kong celebrity football team featuring the likes of Jackie Chan. 

Overall, this is a great release for a little-known Golden Harvest movie, that 20 years later would become a huge influence on the very successful Stephen Chow movie, Shaolin Soccer. Eureka have once again given us a great release for an underappreciated movie, if you manage to nab the limited edition release of 2,000 copies you’ll get a very nice O card and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing from James Oliver. This one is highly recommended for fans of Yuen Woo-Ping, Shaolin Soccer and Hong Kong martial arts in general.