Ping Pong

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Ping Pong

2002,

1h 54m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

76%

21 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Arrogant teen Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) and his best friend, the stone-faced and apathetic Smile (Arata), are Japanese schoolboys who excel at ping-pong. But they aren't the only table tennis experts around; an immigrant nicknamed China (Sam Lee), another rival called Demon (Koji Ookura) and the fearsome Dragon (Shido Nakamura) are all formidable nemeses who give the duo some high-flying competition. They also force the two boys to examine life outside the sport they love.

Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

May 25, 2007

3/4

Braced by spiky humor but tempered by sentimentality, Ping Pong might have been a disposable teen comedy if not for the Japanese film's unexpectedly thrilling action sequences and subtly profound observations about competition and the human spirit.

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Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

Apr 27, 2007

3/4

The movie has some of the feel of a good graphic novel and offers a lot of Japanese pop pleasures as well. The images are eye-catching and highly colorful, the pacing is fast, and the story and the characters are simple, grabby and archetypal.

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Bill Stamets

Chicago Sun-Times

Apr 27, 2007

2/4

An overlong exercise in sport as character-builder.

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Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

Sep 14, 2026

The fascinating thing about “Ping Pong” is that, while it perfectly captures the tone of sports manga, its ability to hook its audience is not as consistent.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Sep 19, 2023

7/10

I’m not sure how many table tennis movies are out there, but I’m reasonable comfortable in asserting Ping Pong is one the best that’s been made.

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Sean Axmaker

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

May 24, 2007

C+

There are no surprises in this match, but director Fumihiko Sori makes the games visually thrilling and communicates the athletic nirvana of high-level competition...

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Mar 26, 2018

Here's my review of pingpong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6e4NjcBrY

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Fumihiko Sori

Director

Yôsuke Kubozuka

Yutaka Hoshino

Arata Iura

Makoto Tsukimoto

Sam Lee

Kong Wenge

Shido Nakamura

Ryûichi Kazama

Koji Ookura

Manabu Sakuma

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Synopsis

Arrogant teen Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) and his best friend, the stone-faced and apathetic Smile (Arata), are Japanese schoolboys who excel at ping-pong. But they aren't the only table tennis experts around; an immigrant nicknamed China (Sam Lee), another rival called Demon (Koji Ookura) and the fearsome Dragon (Shido Nakamura) are all formidable nemeses who give the duo some high-flying competition. They also force the two boys to examine life outside the sport they love.

Director: Fumihiko Sori
Producer: Shinji Ogawa, Sanae Suzuki, Fumihiko Inoue
Screenwriter: Kankurô Kudô
Production Co: Asmik Ace Entertainment
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (DVD): Sep 4, 2007
Runtime: 1h 54m

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