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Movies / Upcoming / Balls of Fury
Balls of Fury

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Balls of Fury (2007)

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23 %
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Reviews Counted:126

Fresh:29

Rotten:97

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: Tasteless, yet harmless, Balls of Fury nevertheless fails to generate enough laughs despite its lowbrow intentions.

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $32,844,290

Synopsis: It's ping-pong played to the death in this balls-out comedy: Dan Fogler stars as pong child prodigy and Def Leppard-devotee Randy Daytona, whose defeat at the hands of a hissy East German (Thomas... It's ping-pong played to the death in this balls-out comedy: Dan Fogler stars as pong child prodigy and Def Leppard-devotee Randy Daytona, whose defeat at the hands of a hissy East German (Thomas Lennon) during the 1988 Olympics forced him leave the world of ping-pong competition in disgrace. Randy's life is a shambles until he gets recruited by CIA agent (Barry Lopez) to infiltrate an ENTER THE DRAGON-style ping-pong tournament (to the death), run by an evil triad leader (Christopher Walken). First Randy needs to get back in shape; enter James Hong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) as the blind ping-pong master Wang and Maggie Q as his sexy, kung fu-fighting niece. While FURY is a consistently funny comedy it also manages to sluly infuse some intelligence and compassion into its steady stream of genre spoofery and lowbrow crotch gags (similar in that sense to Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES). Fogler has an engagingly scruffy underdog-style warmth and seems to really connect with the older pros like Walken and Hong; there's the sense everyone had a good time making this film, which carries over to the audience. Director Robert Ben Garant knows when to speed up the action and when to give his actors room to stretch out; the result is a generous spirit where all the cast is allowed to grab their share of the laughs. There's also some awesome Def Lepard tunes on the soundtrack, and Maggie Q is one smokin' hot babe. [More]

Starring: Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, Maggie Q, George Lopez

Starring: Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, Maggie Q, George Lopez, Thomas Lennon, James Hong, Robert Patrick

Director: Robert Ben Garant

Director: Robert Ben Garant
Screenwriter: Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant
Producer: Thomas Lennon, Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Jonathan Glickman
Composer: Randy Edelman
Studio: Rogue Pictures

[See More Credits]

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1 - 4 of 9

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Reviews for Balls of Fury

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Is it] good? Heavens, no. But it has its seedy charms.

Full Review Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) | comment Comment
06/03/09
Thomas Peyser
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Comedians like Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Ben Stiller can get away with lesser material because just looking at them can elicit laughs. Dan Fogler is not in that category.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment 1 Comment
03/03/08
Jeff Bayer
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
01/18/08
Drew Toal
Drew Toal
Time Out New York

i straight to DVDila poy soy myrize stin proheirotita toy montaz kai tis skinothesias, kapelonei olo to synolo mehri to bareto finale

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
01/14/08
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

A horrendously written and acted movie which even Walken can't save.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
12/28/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

A daft, disappointing comedy.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
12/28/07
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This comedy raises the odd laugh, largely from an absurd appearance by Christopher Walken as a sinister martial-arts kingpin villain.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
12/28/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s a hodge-podge of Enter The Dragon and Blades Of Glory, yet infinitely worse than either. In short, a film about bouncing balls with the bounce of an anvil.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
12/28/07
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Cut a ping-pong ball in half, draw a large black dot in the centre of each then carefully insert around your eye-sockets- you'll raise more laughs than this film manages.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
12/28/07
Jim Hall
Jim Hall
Channel 4 Film

Enter The Dragon meets Shaolin Soccer meets Dodgeball – just with infinitely smaller balls. A camp turn from Christopher Walken astounds but it’ll be funnier if you wait for the DVD and lubricate it with a six-pack. Or three.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
12/28/07
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
Total Film

CGI-assisted ping pong and lame gags about dead pandas, simpering homos and ‘Antiques Roadshow’.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
12/28/07
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out

Balls of Fury isn't quite as funny as it thinks it is, but there are some good gags and it's worth seeing for Christopher Walken's performance.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
12/27/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Bad acting, writing and jokes... Apart from a few funny gags that save this from one-star ignominy.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/26/07
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's good natured enough, but laughs are thin on the ground.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/25/07
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC

In perhaps the movie's sole bit of irony, it completely lacks what it boasts so furiously--balls.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
12/19/07
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review

crap

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
12/04/07
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

A good-natured, easy-to-take goof.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
11/01/07
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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