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Balls of Fury (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Fogler
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $0.98
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Avg. Customer Rating:  51 reviews
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 91
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD62031849D
UPC: 025193184924
EAN: 0025193184924
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 05/06/2008 Run time: 91 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
Balls of Fury will score points with anyone who ever wished that Enter the Dragon played out in the subterranean "underbelly of ping pong" instead of the world of martial arts. Tony Award-winner Dan Fogler (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), joining the ranks of Jack Black, Seth Rogan, and Jonah Hill as a schlub (romantic?) hero, stars as Randy Daytona, a Def Leppard-loving ping-pong wizard who, as a 12-year-old, was disgraced at the 1988 Olympics. Nineteen years later and gone to seed, he is reduced to performing a novelty act in Reno until an FBI Agent (George Lopez, and yes, at one point, he will proclaim, "Say hello to my little friend" a la Al Pacino in Scarface) recruits him to infiltrate an underground ping pong tournament run by Feng (Christopher Walken), the arch villain who killed Daytona's father. Co-written by Reno 911 colleagues Robert Ben Garant (who also directed) and Thomas Lennon (who costars as Daytona's taunting East Berlin rival), Balls of Fury is hit and miss, but it fitfully kills with some ace performances, including Walken, bringing more cowbell, as Feng, resplendent in silks and red fingernails (his Christopher Walken impression, while perhaps not as uncanny as Kevin Spacey's or Jay Mohr's, is dead-on). James Hong puts a wicked spin on the clichéd role of mentor, and action babe Maggie Q rocks as his niece. Look quick for David Koechner as hopeless entertainer Rick the Birdmaster, Patton Oswalt as an obnoxious early opponent, Kerri Kenney-Silver as a showgirl, and Diedrich Bader as one of Feng's imprisoned sex slaves (don't ask). With less go-for-the-groin humor than the title might indicate, Balls of Fury brings its A-game with some subversive bits of business, such as an ominous moment that is undercut when a menacing character is forced to re-enter the scene to ask for directions back to the highway. --Donald Liebenson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 Goodness gracious, great balls of fury November 21, 2007
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
(To the tune of Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee lewis)
You shake your hips as you paddle the ball
So much work hitting balls that small
Your turn to serve, just watch that curve
Goodness gracious, great balls of fury
I watched this film and I thought it was funny
Though if you rent you'll save some money
Your funny bone will creak and groan
Goodness gracious, great balls of fury
This is an irreverent but funny film about extreme table tennis, and I do mean EXTREME, especially when playing in Christopher Walken's domain. Randy Daytona, (Dan Fogler from Good Luck Chuck) plays the unlikely hero, a former Olympian who discovers that it's a small world after all, and who is coerced by the FBI to play undercover ping pong in a sting operation against Walken's character, Feng.
This takes place nineteen years after his last Olympic appearance, and an out of shape Randy goes through some "Karate Kid" moments with his teacher Wong (James Hong), and Wong's niece (played by Maggie Q) before being invited to Feng's place for some ball paddling. The next section pays homage to the Bruce Lee mega movie "Enter the Dragon", before the shocking conclusion.
Packed with low blows, slapstick and full frontal stereotyping of several ethnicities, nationalities and persuasions, this is not a movie for the easily offended, or those who demand realism in a movie. Let me hasten to say that I didn't find it distasteful or vulgar, and that the actors obviously enjoyed themselves hamming it up to the max, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Definitely worth renting for those times when you need some stress free comedy, and don't feel like overloading a brain cell or two.
Amanda Richards, November 21, 2007
 One Joke Premise November 5, 2007
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
"Balls of Fury" is the type of film you find it playing on cable and you leave it on while you do housework, cook, and make the beds. Occasionally looking towards the screen, you might see or hear something causing you to laugh. But pay for a ticket and sit through the entire 90 minutes in a movie theater? Uh, no.
Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), a former ping-pong wunderkind (he was the favorite at the `88 Olympics in Seoul) now ekes out an existence doing ping pong tricks in a low-rent show on the Reno strip. He still plays the game, but nothing in his life has gone right, so he is a bit sad and just ordinary life is a bit of a struggle. Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) shows up and asks for his help; a master criminal by the name of Feng (a bizarre Christopher Walken) is getting ready to host his high stakes invitation-only ping-pong tournament. The FBI thinks the only way they can get close to Feng, and shut down his operations, is to infiltrate this tournament. Randy is reluctant, but his dad (Robert Patrick) was reportedly killed by Feng, so he has additional incentive to compete. Randy has to win a couple of tournaments to attract Feng's attention and earn a golden ping-pong paddle invitation. They turn to Master Wong (James Hong) and his daughter Maggie (Maggie Q), a ferocious competitor, to help them get Randy up to speed. They eventually end up at Feng's top-secret compound and the games begin.
"Balls of Fury", co-written by Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant and directed by Ben Garant, has a few amusing scenes and made me laugh a few times, but it also misses a lot of opportunity or creates humor that is simply too, too low brow to make a lasting impression.
The best thing about the film, and this is often the case, is Christopher Walken. His performance is bizarre and that says a lot about Walken, who seems to make his career playing strange, off-center characters. In his last film, he played the husband of a 300-pound woman played by John Travolta. As Feng, Walken wears an elaborate Fu Macho-like costume and headdress. They have thankfully steered clear of the stereotypical moustache and eye treatment, but this only serves to make his performance all the more strange. He doesn't make even the smallest attempt to even try to appear Asian, beyond the costume. He doesn't try to create an Asian character. He simply is Christopher Walken wearing an elaborate kimono and a black wig. Yet, he is supposed to be an Asian super villain who has been able to elude the authorities for years and years. It doesn't make sense. But it isn't supposed to, so I went along for the ride.
Walken always appears to be having fun. And this is what helps to make him a more likable and watchable onscreen personality. He clearly realizes how ludicrous Feng is, and how stupid the film is and doesn't take either too seriously. He frequently smiles, and his familiar speech pattern helps to make the role all the more unusual. At one point, he reaches over and pinches Randy on the cheeks and does a little baby talk gesture parents often do to their children. An Asian super villain?
As fun and interesting as Walken is, the same cannot be said of the rest of the cast.
Dan Fogler plays Randy Daytona who has the appearance of the lovechild of Jack Black and Will Farrell; yet, he isn't as good as either of them. He certainly has the looks of an out of practice athlete, but he isn't funny and his character isn't interesting simply because he exists. Fogler is more interesting at the beginning of the film, as the character of Randy Daytona is being established; we see shots of Ron and Nancy watching the '88 Olympics, hoping the American ping-pong player can bring home Olympic Gold. As an adult, he becomes a two-bit performer at a no-name show in Reno, and he is so sad and pathetic he is a little amusing. But as the story progresses, he becomes more confident of his abilities and, as a result, less interesting.
Maggie Q, who was a formidable foe to Bruce Willis' John McClain in "Live Free or Die Hard", plays the young woman who is assigned to give Randy some training. A fierce competitor, Maggie spurns the advances of the men she plays against and is even able to karate chop a few who go too far. It is a pretty standard character for this type of `parody'. About halfway through the film, a lame excuse is made and Maggie gets left home and she therefore disappears from the film.
George Lopez plays Agent Rodriguez, an agent who clearly doesn't relish the assignment or even believes it will work. As such, he seems to be playing the straight man, his one attempt at comedy is a "Scarface" rip-off he does, which is shown in the trailer. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen Lopez's best bit. For the rest of the film, he is simply boring.
When the team arrives at Feng's compound, they meet the requisite collection of weirdos and freaks, all of whom have been called together to play ping-pong. It sounds funnier than it is, because all of these characters have been seen before. The people behind the film (I have difficulty calling them `filmmakers') don't really try very hard to make any of them the least bit different. We have the German competitor who wears impossibly tight uniforms and speaks in a stereotypical clipped way. There is the black American muscle bound freak that makes his pecs jiggle to try to intimidate his competitors. There is the stereotypical wise Asian elder who will train the Caucasian in strange and unusual ways, with strange and unusual methods.
The problem with "Balls" is they have taken a number of ideas and characters we have seen many times, but haven't bothered to try to make them slightly different or give a little unique twist to them. They seem to think that merely including them will make us laugh. It isn't enough.
So, wait a few months, turn on Starz, find the inevitable showing of "Balls of Fury", start vacuuming your carpet and you have the perfect venue to catch the few laughs this film contains.
Moments January 6, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This film is the best and worst of comedies. It certainly had some funny moments, but there were way too many dry spells. Set in the seedy underworld of ping pong with Walken playing a chinese triad member who arranges illegal ping pong tournaments, this is a crazy very of Enter the Dragon. Look for Jason Scott Lee(who played Bruce Lee) in a funny role. In fact, you will spot a lot of well known comedy actors making appearances big and small. Fogler is alright in the role, though he seems to be aping Jack Black for most of the film. I enjoyed the film, but I was glad I just rented it instead of buying.
Anyone for Table Tennis? August 29, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Even if the title weren't a double entendre, "Balls of Fury" would still be a funny movie. I suppose it's no wonder that something so unnecessary can still be enjoyable; mindless comedies are sometimes a welcome diversion. This isn't to say that all mindless comedies are good. A year ago saw the release of "Beerfest," a film I recommended only for the thrill of watching an awful film trying to work and failing every step of the way. Unlike that film, "Balls of Fury" has actual ambition to be funny, not just through juvenile humor, but also through character development, setting, and plot. This movie is by no means a masterpiece, and I suspect that it will be forgotten fifty years down the line. But for all intents and purposes, it still accomplished its goal of making the audience laugh.
The film opens in 1988, when twelve-year-old Ping Pong prodigy Randy Daytona (Brett DelBuono) competes at the summer Olympics. His crushing defeat put an end to a future in professional Ping Pong. It also resulted in the death of his father (Robert Patrick), who unwisely made a bet with an underground Chinese faction. We see the result of Daytona's misfortune when we flash forward to present day: he's reduced to doing Ping Pong tricks in a Reno lounge act. Daytona (now played by Dan Fogler) has clearly let himself go; he's overweight, unkempt, and generally unconnected with his audience (most of which don't seem to know that he's on stage).
But things begin to change with FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez) approaches him with a mission: To infiltrate the secret world of underground Ping Pong and find a ruthless weapons dealer known only as Feng. In order to prepare for his mission, Daytona is taken to Chinatown and introduced to Master Wong (James Hong), a blind restaurant owner who coaches Ping Pong players in his spare time. Daytona also meets Wong's niece, Maggie (Maggie Q), a woman whose driving force is equal parts Ping Pong and martial arts. Both of these traits are appropriately overplayed, as seen when she's matched against many players at once; not only does she hit every ball that flies across the table, she also answers the phone to take an order. When the game is over, she fights them all. Why this was deemed necessary, I have no idea, but I suppose analyzing it would be pointless.
After intense training, and after winning a game against The Dragon (a Chinese girl no more than nine), Daytona finally gets Feng's attention and is invited to compete in his tournament, which is held somewhere deep in the jungles of Central America. Upon their arrival, Daytona, Wong, and Rodriguez finally meet the elusive Feng (Christopher Walken), a man who couldn't be less Asian even if he tried. This, of course, is part of the joke, as is his appearance. His ornate robes, delicate hairdo, and pasty makeup give him a look that's incredibly over the top; at one point, Wong wonders if Feng still dresses in clothes from Elton John's garage sale.
The climactic tournament scenes pit Daytona against the world's best Ping Pong champions. This includes Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon), an arrogant German who claims to practice nude in front of a mirror (I think it's safe to take his word for it). He also defeated Daytona at the 1988 Olympics. In a plot device perfectly suitable for a comedy of this sort, Daytona can now show his arch nemesis what he's capable of. But he has to be careful; all players are subjected to Sudden Death, meaning they will be killed if they lose. I won't say how the rest of the film plays out, but I will say this; if you're into these kinds of movies, then how it plays out will most likely be the last thing on your mind.
I don't know if I've been describing a film anyone would want to see. As I've already said, this is a mindless comedy, a silly parody free from anything even remotely enlightening or meaningful. But I'd by lying if I said that I didn't find it funny. Not hysterical, mind you, but funny nonetheless. Consider a moment when a riddle engraved on a golden Ping Pong paddle is examined: Maggie translates the Chinese characters into English, after which Daytona gives an impressive interpretation of it's meaning. But logical thinking had nothing to do with it; he was only reading the back of the paddle, which explained the riddle in English.
If that joke doesn't do it for you, then maybe you'd prefer Daytona and a male courtesan playing Boggle, or a cameo by Patton Oswalt as an asthmatic Ping Pong champion. Whatever suits your fancy, "Balls of Fury" is sure to deliver on some level, which is just as much a relief as it is a bizarre thing to say. I say this because comedic escapism is an indulgence, like eating a big slice of chocolate cake after weeks of dieting. "Balls of Fury" is to audiences as cake is to someone on a diet. Enjoy sparingly.
SILLY HARMLESS FUN! 2 1/2 STARS! July 30, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
'Balls Of Fury' isn't a great film, but it has some very funny moments. Silly and harmless with some good comedic performances by Walken, Lopez and Co. It's a short film that's pretty easy to sit through, if your in the mood for this sort of thing. Lots of jokes about.......balls! If ya get my drift. ;-b
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