BALLS OF FURY
An intermittently funny, occasionally offensive comedy best skipped.
Should You Watch It?
The best thing in Balls of Fury is its spoof of old martial-arts movies, especially those starring Bruce Lee. The cast serves the material as best it can, but there is not much else here to tickle the funny bone.
The movie also brings strong violence, crude sexual humor, homosexual references, profanity, gambling, and a pagan worldview. Its politically incorrect jokes may interest some viewers, but they do not make the comedy worthwhile for most families.
The practical answer is simple: skip this intermittently funny, sometimes offensive comedy.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESRandy Daytona, a down-and-out ping-pong prodigy, gets a chance to regain his self-respect when an FBI agent hires him to infiltrate an underground tournament. To earn an invitation, Randy must train with an old Chinese teacher and his beautiful daughter. But the contest, run by the gangster who killed Randy’s father, is far more dangerous than an ordinary sporting event.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means this movie has a few amusing moments but does not sustain its comedy. The spoof of old martial-arts movies, particularly Bruce Lee films, is pretty funny. The cast serves the material as best it can.
Beyond that, there is not much to recommend. The movie is intermittently funny, and its crude, offensive humor overwhelms its better comic ideas.
The Worldview
The film presents a strong pagan worldview in a comical setting. It does include people helping the FBI catch a criminal gangster and people saving others from a big explosion, but these actions do not replace the movie’s larger spiritual framework.
The comedy also makes strong homosexual references involving secondary characters, mostly for laughs, and portrays the villain as homosexual. It mocks homosexual men who act like sissies, rejecting the usual politically correct treatment of this subject. That approach may be intentionally provocative, but it is still crude and demeaning.
The film’s central moral movement involves a man trying to regain his self-respect while helping catch a criminal. Scripture points toward a deeper kind of restoration: “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong pagan worldview in a comical setting mitigated by man helping FBI catch criminal gangster and people saving other people from big explosion, plus strong homosexual references involving secondary characters but villain himself seems to be homosexual and movie mocks homosexual men who act like sissies, so movie avoids the usual cloying political correctness regarding this issue; 18 obscenities, one strong profanity and four light profanities, plus some crude double entendres, many of which involve movie’s title; strong, mostly comic violence such as little girl punches grown man in stomach and kicks him in groin, two explosions, fighting and gun battle, man smashes man’s fingers in door, men don vests in one ping pong game that gives them an electric shock if they lose a point, one man shocked to death, woman shoots deadly poison darts into losers of ping-pong matches; strong homosexual references involving secondary characters played mostly for laughs (some crude) but nothing really depicted, talk about sex slaves in villain’s lair, and some brief lustful actions between a man and a woman but nothing extremely explicit; upper male nudity and female cleavage; alcohol use; smoking; and, gambling, homosexual villain makes hero play against the woman he loves in a ping-pong match to the death, little girl takes advantage of man’s concern when she fake cries after losing to him in a ping-pong match.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Randy wants to regain his self-respect. What is the difference between seeking a reputation and seeking the kind of character God values?
1 Samuel 16:7 · Galatians 1:10The movie includes gambling and people facing deadly consequences in a competition. What warnings does Scripture give about loving money and treating people as tools?
1 Timothy 6:9–10 · Philippians 2:3–4The film uses crude jokes about sexuality and homosexual men. How should Christians speak about people while still rejecting degrading humor?
Ephesians 4:29 · James 3:9–10Characters help catch a criminal and save people from danger. How can doing good reflect God’s character even in a story with a distorted worldview?
Micah 6:8 · Matthew 5:16The Final Word
The martial-arts spoof has a few funny moments, but the crude humor, strong content, and pagan worldview make Balls of Fury not worth your time or money. Our answer is SKIP IT. For better choices, see.
