There are periods of time when 3-D becomes all the rage for cinema. Audiences get to sit in their seats, wear various styles of glasses to capture the big effect and have various things come out or go deeper into the screen. It wasn’t that long ago that dozens of films were in 3-D at your local multiplex where they cost a few extra bucks to be given the 3-D glasses. The first big wave was in the ’50s and early ’60s when the movies needed a good gimmick to keep people from staying home and just watching TV. In the post-Bruce Lee era, Hong Kong filmmakers were looking for the next big thing. Director Lo Wei thought he found it when he brought a 3-D camera to shoot Magnificent Bodyguards. He didn’t completely realize that he had the next big thing in front of that camera in the form of Jackie Chan.
Director Lo Wei is best known in America for having directed Bruce Lee’s first two movies: The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. After Bruce didn’t want to make a third film with him, Lo went to find the new Bruce Lee. This led to him realizing that Jackie Chan had the moves and the look to be more than a background extra for stunt scenes. The two would make several movies with Jackie as the lead. The problem is Lo Wei wanted Jackie to be a serious leading man. He didn’t want him to express too much personality on the screen. He loaned Jackie out to make Snake In the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master. The mixture of outrageous stunts and comedy made Jackie an international sensation. Even though Magnificent Bodyguards was released between those two films, Bodyguards was made before those two films so it lacks the jokes coming from Jackie. Instead we’re given Jackie as a hero figure standing out in the 3-D imagery. Although there is something funny when Jackie is throwing stuff at the camera as if he’s part of an SCTV spoof like Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House Of Stewardesses that ran on Count Floyd’s Monster Chiller Horror Theater.
The movie opens with Lord Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) fighting a group of men with poles. The sticks come at you. Eventually we learn that they are testing Chung for their employer. Lady Nan (The Chinese Boxer‘s Wang Ping) needs protection. Turns out her brother is sick and needs to go through the treacherous Stormy Mountains to reach a medical expert. Jackie puts together a team that also includes James Tien (The Big Boss). It is a rather harsh place since there’s a group of thieves out to get them. There’s also an issue when Jackie learns the true identity of the mysterious brother. It’s a traditional martial arts film from this era. There is some comedy such as when a group of men enter a ghost town except for one open restaurant. The owner has to reject their orders since very little on the menu is available since the food has spoiled.
The film also stars Bruce Leung (aka Bruce Liang) who was one of the big names during the Bruceploitation era. His biggest film was The Dragon Lives Again. Leung would have bit of a comeback as the heavy in Kung Fu Hustle. So this is a film that stars two people who were considered the next Bruce Lee.
While Lo Wei had no idea how to make Jackie Chan a superstar, he does a fine job with the 3-D camera. He gives us depth on the screen during the non-martial arts scenes. There’s no question that he wanted to truly make a 3-D kung fu film.
The biggest pleasure of Magnificent Bodyguards are the fights in 3-D. The sense of depth as Jackie is in motion adds so much to stunts. It’s a shame Jackie didn’t try to make another 3D film when he established his blockbuster style. Although he probably remember what a nightmare it was to set up shots for the 3D camera and decided 2D was good enough for him.
There’s three ways to watch the movie and they’re on three different discs in the boxset. This first way is Real-D 3D. This disc works if you on a 3-D Blu-ray player and 3-D HDTV. Lucky for me, my parents own one. I dropped by their house and dropped the disc in the player and put on the special 3-D glasses. The opening scene of Jackie Chan fighting guys with poles looks fantastic. The poles do poke out the screen. You might find yourself wanting to duck down. You also get a sense of depth as they exchange blows. If you own this set up, you really need to buy a copy of the boxset. The second is the Anaglyph which lets you watch it on a normal HDTV set up. You were the glasses with the red and blue lenses to get the extra umph from the images. It’s effective although not as great as a 3-D home entertainment center. Finally there’s a disk with the film in 2-D so it’s just a normal film with no effects. No matter which way you watch Magnificent Bodyguards, you’ll get to enjoy Jackie Chan bringing you into his fights.
The Video is 2.39:1 anamorphic. All three films look great with their 2K Restoration transfer from the original camera negatives. The audio includes LPCM 2.0 tracks in Cantonese and Mandarin. The English dub is LPCM 2.0 mono. There’s also an English mono track with alternate musical cues. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. Frank points out that Magnificent Bodyguards came out a month after Snake In the Eagle’s Shadow. Box office wasn’t as good as the comedy/kung fu movie. It should be pointed out that Djeng was a producer on the thrilling documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce that featured Bruce Liang. They get into how Lo Wei’s use of Jackie Chan in his films. Why didn’t he see the comic charms of Jackie? We also learn how Frank Djeng owns 3D HDTVs. This release means a lot to him.
Punching Into the 3rd Dimension (19:28) James Mudge talks about seeing the film a few decades ago. He talks about not liking it originally because he’d seen all the major Jackie Chan films first. This wasn’t the type of movie Jackie made after Drunken Master. He mentions a few 3-D movies that were made in Tawain that proved popular in Hong Kong. They were made by American director Michael Findlay. Lo Wei saw 3-D as the next step of Kung Fu cinema. We learn that Findlay didn’t take part in the film because he met a gruesome death with a helicopter on top of the Pam Am building in New York City. He gets into the legacy of Lo Wei. Was he a controlling director over his stars or someone who cared more about horse races during shoots. Mudge wants to see Magnificent Bodyguards on a big screen now.
Magnificent Bodyguards – A New Dimension in Action? (8:56) has Steve Lawson give a few words about the film. He had only seen it on a VHS tapes. He didn’t like it originally. He still has issues with Lo Wei’s unfocused nature with the characters. But he finds himself more intrigued by the fight sequences this second time around.
Mandarin Trailer (3:35) wants the audience to know this is a 3-D movie with plenty of behind-the-scenes shots. You get a sense of what will be coming at you.
English Trailer (3:35) has an English announcer.
One Pair of 3-D Glasses so you can enjoy the Anaglyph 3D version at home.
Collector’s Booklet with essays on the film and behind the scenes photos
88 Film present Magnificent Bodyguard in 3-D (3-Disc Blu-ray Set: 3D + 2D + Anaglyph 3D). Directed by Lo Wei. Screenplay by Gu Long. Starring Jackie Chan, James Tien, Leung Siu-lung, Wang Ping, Lau Ming and Lee Man-tai. Running Time: 104 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 30, 2026.
