Verdict
Summary
n early Jackie Chan-starring vehicle that still has the old chop sockie style of fighting before Jackie leveled up the entire martial arts game when he made martial arts movement more innovative with less boxy motions with his much more natural and unpredictable choreography (this would come into play in the ’80s), Magnificent Bodyguards is pretty good as far as the “old school” kung fu movie style goes, and director Lo Wei (who’d worked with Bruce Lee on some of his films) delivered what fans of the genre would expect.
Plot:
A team of bodyguards escorts a sick man through very dangerous territory.
Review:
Boasting unbeatable fighting skills, a mercenary named Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) impresses a woman, who hires him to lead a team of bodyguards to escort her and a man she claims is her brother, who is dying and unable to leave a small covered box, on through the Northern Hills where bandits and murderers are known to ambush travellers. She swears that there’s a doctor who can cure her brother, and to be on the lookout for a man with six fingers on one hand because he is the one they need to find. Ting Chung handpicks a small squad of adept mercenaries to carry the man in the box via poles, and off they go, and sure enough they begin encountering a wild assortment of characters along the way: First, they go to an inn where an old woman with some missing teeth is happy to serve them, but this is also where they meet a master dart-slinger, who imposes himself on the mercenaries and insists on joining the adventure as a protector and hero … as well as demanding 70% of the fee for protecting them all. The dart-slinger is humiliated by another master of sorts, who promptly skins his face! This hero demands 50% of the fee, which Ting Chung agrees to. Later, the group is besieged by a bunch of bandits and they fight them all off, but at a cost to their team, and eventually they make it to the king’s court, which is close to their destination. They must beg the king to allow them to pass without issue, but the king turns out to be a big phony! In Scooby Doo fashion, they rip the king’s mask off and he’s revealed to be an imposter (and someone we met earlier), which leads to the big revelation that the man they’ve been carrying in the box all along is the real king! But that’s not all! Ting Chung and his mercenaries have an ulterior motive for all their efforts, and they want to bring the king to justice for some great evil that he did many years ago … leading to a big sock ’em up climax.
An early Jackie Chan-starring vehicle that still has the old chop sockie style of fighting before Jackie leveled up the entire martial arts game when he made martial arts movement more innovative with less boxy motions with his much more natural and unpredictable choreography (this would come into play in the ’80s), Magnificent Bodyguards is pretty good as far as the “old school” kung fu movie style goes, and director Lo Wei (who’d worked with Bruce Lee on some of his films) delivered what fans of the genre would expect. It works best when it’s going over the top (the face shredding stuff is wild), and if you watch this in 3D, as it was shot, it’s got lots of extra dimension with objects (blades, spears, fire, and even snakes) flying towards the camera. Fans of Jackie might appreciate this more than others.
88 Films has just released a three-disc edition of Magnificent Bodyguards with two different 3D options and a standard 2D version, and it comes in a hard slipcover with a lenticular lens on it, plus a booklet and some bonus material.
Bonus Materials
- Brand New 2K Restoration From the Original Camera Negatives
- High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio
- 3 Disc Set including Real-D 3D, Anaglyph 3D and 2D viewing Options.
- 2.0 Cantonese Dual Mono with English Subtitles
- Classic English Dub
- Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto
- Punching Into the 3rd Dimension – James Mudge on Magnificent Bodyguards
- Magnificent Bodyguards – A New Dimension in Action?- By Steve Lawson
- Mandarin Trailer