THE CHAMPIONS [BOH NGAU] (Eureka Classics)

While the likes of Eureka and 88 Films have been responsible for some seriously 'meh' output of late, I'm delighted to report that The Champions is a welcome return to form.If you're unfamiliar with the picture, it tells the story of a simple country bumpkin (Yuen Biao) who finds out he's actually really good at football, and from there the shenanigans commence. However, this is in no way a 'sports film'; it's kung fu comedy and football is merely the background against which events unfold. So even if you're only a moderate fan of the sport (like me) or even don't like it at all, please don't let that deter you.While The Champions isn't quite the quality of Yuen Biao's other output, like On The Run, Knockabout, Zu Warriors or Above the Law (also reviewed by me) it is a nice opportunity to watch the man himself take centre stage and be the star.The film looks lovely, comes with a nice glossy booklet and has a couple of nice on-disc extras. More importantly, there is an English dub option, so it's disability-inclusive. This might seem like a minor thing, but SO MANY recent releases from Eureka and 88 Films (particularly the latter) have not had the option of English audio. I can perhaps understand that if there was never an English dub in the first place, but many the films they've released DO have English dubs - they've just not bothered to include them. So like I said - happy to see that one is present here.So, should you buy The Champions? Well in my opinion. . .yes. True, it's not a 'must see' Hong Kong movie. Honestly, it's not even a must see Yuen Biao movie. But it's an odd, likeable and refreshing twist on the kung fu comedy.So it's not a classic, but it's an under-seen, underappreciated little film. And for me, it was ninety minutes well spent.

Artwork sold the dvd all on its own, great rare movie with all the Extras too, you can’t go wrong with Eureka 😀👍 1st Class Throughout