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MOVIES / ON DVD / KUNG FU HUSTLE
Kung Fu Hustle

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Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

89%
88%
90%
N/A
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N/A
89 %
Reviews Counted: 169 Fresh: 151  Rotten:18 Average Rating: 7.7/10
 
Consensus: Kung Fu Hustle blends special effects, martial arts, and the Looney Toons to hilarious effect. Kung Fu Hustle blends special effects, martial arts, and the Looney Toons to hilarious effect. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Synopsis:
Stephen Chow's follow-up to SHAOLIN SOCCER ups the over-the-top action quotient by about three zillion percent. The story is set in 1930s Hong Kong, with Chow as a shaggy-haired, would-be bad guy named Sing, who gets caught up in the middle of a war between the top-hat-wearing Axe gang and the... [More]
Stephen Chow's follow-up to SHAOLIN SOCCER ups the over-the-top action quotient by about three zillion percent. The story is set in 1930s Hong Kong, with Chow as a shaggy-haired, would-be bad guy named Sing, who gets caught up in the middle of a war between the top-hat-wearing Axe gang and the hard scrabble inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley. Chow--who wrote, produced, and directed--doesn't step in as the star here for quite a while, letting the comic duties fly in a myriad of directions: a landlady in curlers (Yuen Qiu) has a yell that can flatten buildings; people get kicked across courtyards and through walls; musician assassins whip ghost sabers from lyre strings, and a mental patient in pink flip-flops named "the Beast" (Leung Siu Lung) catches bullets in his fingers. Buoyed by SOCCER's box office success, HUSTLE uses bigger production values and a dizzying amount of CGI-enhanced martial arts (imagine Bruce Lee vs. Bugs Bunny in THE MATRIX). It's full of references to other films and filmmakers, revering spaghetti westerns and '70s Shaw brothers movies a la Tarantino's KILL BILL (fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping worked on both films). It also pays sly homage to the works of Wong Kar Wai, D.W. Griffith, Sam Raimi, Jean-Luc Godard, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa. Raymond Wong's inspired score matches each cinematic reference with the appropriate cue as the camera circles and swoops around the sprawling sets. This is a real treat, more than a great action film or comedy, it's a great film period, and one that set box office records in the East. [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Qiu Yuen, Wah Yuen, Stephen Chow

Director: Stephen Chow
Screenwriter: Tseng Kan Cheong, Chan Man Keung, Lola Huo
Producer: Jeff Lau
Composer: Raymond Wong

DVD Info

Release:

Jul 7, 2009

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
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01/07/06 03:57 AM
Empire Magazine
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A deliriously enjoyable roller-coaster ride of a movie, from which you’re liable to emerge punch-drunk, grinning from ear to ear and demanding to go round again

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06/25/05 03:49 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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06/24/05 03:15 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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06/23/05 03:15 AM
Time Out
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Kung Fu Hustle is essentially one long computer-enhanced Looney Tunes punch-up - - and probably the most fun you'll have at the movies all year.

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05/25/05 03:15 AM
Paul Arendt
BBC
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Not only is it hilariously funny, but it's also a fiendishly entertaining (albeit somewhat cartoonish) action movie.

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02/26/05 05:30 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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12/27/07 03:15 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
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11/01/07 03:15 AM
David Ansen
Newsweek
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08/16/07 03:16 AM
Trevor Johnston
Time Out New York
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The laws of physics no longer apply, if they ever did; characters leap, run at neck-breaking speed, bash each other through several walls with one blow.

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08/04/07 04:27 PM
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
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While those who can't stand long fight scenes might find it a bit tiresome, everyone else is going to consider this a sweet, light-hearted martial arts treat.

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07/25/07 08:18 PM
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
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10/30/06 03:18 AM
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
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A strange, fun flick that loves its source material dearly, Kung Fu Hustle is destined to become a cult classic.

Full Review | Comment
09/25/06 02:42 PM
Russ Breimeier
Christianity Today
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Simultaneously and paradoxically irreverent and loving. A terrific piece of cinematic entertainment

Full Review | Comment
07/04/06 05:02 PM
Dan Jardine
Cinemania
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05/12/06 03:15 AM
Ken Tucker
New York Magazine
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Kung Fu Hustle flies by on bursts of dizzying slapstick invention. There's rarely a dull moment, but the wise-guy tone and the non-stop frenzy wear you down.

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02/07/06 12:42 PM
Kurt Loder
MTV
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09/26/05 03:16 AM
Onion AV Club
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Few directors in world cinema are working so competently and consistently in any mode as Chow is in this one.

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08/31/05 04:31 PM
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus
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Kung Fu Hustle is made with such infectious humour and gee-whiz visuals it’s easy to simply surrender all over again to Chow’s brand of lunacy

Full Review | Comment
08/30/05 10:42 PM
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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"Hustle" attempts to bring a different style to the forefront of popular cinema but fails to be more than a shoddy mischaracterization of the Asian culture.

Full Review | Comment
08/07/05 07:03 AM
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
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News

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If the idea of Seth Rogen as a superhero sounds a little crazy, well, it is. But at least the guy has good taste in co-stars....


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You thought the awards season ended with the Oscars? Please. MTV's just gearing up for their movie awards, which will be...


Chow Puts His Second "Hustle" on Hold
posted by Scott Weinberg April 18, 2006
Asian Cinema site MonkeyPeaches.com reports some good news and some bad: The good news is that there will be a Kung Fu...


Broadcast Film Critics Dole Out Their Awards on National TV
posted by Scott Weinberg January 10, 2006
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Around the Network

• Kung Fu Hustle at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kung Fu Hustle at IGN
• Kung Fu Hustle at AskMen
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