Ping Pong on BBC4; 11th September at 11PM

This is a wonderful film - my favourite live action Japanese movie - and more people need to watch it. And don't let the table tennis element put you off - it's very exciting and some of the moves pulled off are unbelievable. It's a character drama at the same time though, and a gut wrenching, touching one at that.
 
I would love to watch it but I have full days of work/college/work again starting at 5am so that's about the time i'm going to bed. I'll probably pick it up on DVD sometime though or if somebody is kind enough i'll get them to record it for me. :)
 
I hope i have nothing else to watch (i can't think of anything) because i would really like to watch this, i was thinking of buying it a while ago, so this is a excellent opportunity :)
 
Paul said:
This is a wonderful film - my favourite live action Japanese movie - and more people need to watch it. And don't let the table tennis element put you off - it's very exciting and some of the moves pulled off are unbelievable. It's a character drama at the same time though, and a gut wrenching, touching one at that.
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Word!
the day i saw his film (few years back) i was like awsome!
and since i got a hold of the dvd, i have watched it countless number of times.
a truely great film. and yet not that many people have heard of it.
 
If nothing else it's worth taping - I'm looking forward to seeing what people make of this movie, in many ways its like Shounen Jump in live action.
 
WTFDaveMustaine said:
Paul said:
...in many ways its like Shounen Jump in live action.
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Don't put me off now...
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You kinda liked Naruto ;) Honestly, it's got a similiar tournament set-up to a classic Shounen Jump anime. Each player is fleshed out and between shots the action slows down and we get glimpses of their hopes and ambitions. That's what I love about it though, the way we build up empathy with even the so called "bad" personalities. In other words, it's an amazingly close translation between manga to live-action. I can't really sell this anymore - I would recommend this to everyone, and that's it ;)
 
So it's basicly live-action Prince of Tennis? But actually not being Prince of Tennis live-action, I'll think about watching it, right after I watch Azumi.
 
I really enjoyed it, even though anything sports-related stuff normally bores me to death! A great cast of characters and some insightful examinations on friendship, rivalry and the spirit of competition. The final tournament was quite something to watch!
 
I thought it was really good, i enjoyed it very much, also seemed a bit of a change from all the other blood filled asian films we have released over here, which i have to say arn't really my thing.
I liked the actors aswell, and i've now got a strange urge to start playing Ping Pong :lol:
 
I must admit that with every watch, I love Ping Pong more and more.

It's the characters that stand out for me. The way Demon starts out as a big moron and is dragged through such a dramatic change. The friendship between Smile and Peco is especially well done too- it really gets to the heart of their connection with one another. The ping pong element is great, but the fact we never see the "final match" between Peco and Smile really shows that the sports element was simply a means to emphasise the personalities, their ambitions and drives. Undoubtedly a very under seen movie I wouldn't hesitate to call a masterpiece of characterisation. I CAN FLY!! The random bits of English spliced into the dialogue is amusing!
 
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