Magnificent Bodyguards

It is a pervasive feature of the written history of Chinese martial arts films (from CFW's long-extinct periodical "Martial Arts Movies" to the pioneering coffee table book "Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to the Ninjas" by Ric Meyers) that Jackie Chan languished in a series of both artistically and commercially disastrous films before attaining stardom in 1978 with "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow". The general idea is that Chan was being held back by his director/mentor Lo Wei, who was such a humorless square that he saw no merit in Chan's comedic aspirations and insisted on trying to sell the young actor as the new Bruce Lee in a series of straight dramatic roles. This contention has been repeated so often that even today it is uncritically accepted as fact. Well, guess what? It's a bunch of baloney. In the first place, Chan starred in only one Bruceploitation film: "New Fist of Fury". Thereafter, he was cast in period costume productions (in contrast to Lee, who never made a period film). Secondly, some of these movies--like "Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin" and "Spiritual Kung-Fu"--featured comedic elements. Thirdly, Chan almost always did a respectable job when assigned a dramatic role. Finally, while there's no doubt that comedy kung-fu made him a star, it's debatable how good films like "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master" really are. They were wildly popular, certainly, but unless you consider slapstick the highest art ever achieved by human civilization, they're pretty cringeworthy. "Magnificent Bodyguards", neither a deadly serious dramatic picture nor a screwball comedy, stars Chan alongside James Tien and Leung Siu-lung (Bruce Leung); they are martial arts experts who have been hired to escort a sick man on his journey to see a physician. Along the way they fight off bandits, hostile Buddhist monks and an assortment of other characters. Based on a tale by Taiwanese wuxia novelist Ku Lung, the film is not a classic by any means, but it's watchable. There are lengthy, entertaining fight scenes and Chan does just fine in his non-comedic role. (Bizarrely, the movie was shot in 3D, which is why there are so many kicks and jabbing weapons aimed directly at the camera.) Further putting the kibosh on the myth that Chan's early films were all unmitigated disasters, "Magnificent Bodyguards" was a success at the box office. Don't believe everything you read!

This film has never shown in Japanese movie theatre although Jackie was superstar for more than two decades. You will enjoy this if you don't sleep.(It's not easy!) I thought it was something like a mixture of the old Japanese Samurai story and the Western Cowboy film. You will see so many naked indians although it's story is in China - they look so stupid like Monty Pythons' comedy. And you will see the guy with 6 fingers on his hand.You will hear some Star Wars soundtracks.Kung-Fu actions with 3D camera tricks are so shabby, maybe one of the worst ones in Jackie's all films ever made. But you gonna like this garbage if you like 70's cheap and crazy Kung-Fu films.I like this one because this is definitely one of the most stupid films I've ever seen. Even more stupid than Austion Powers!!!!

I have seen a lot of (bad) chinese, and I am a big fan of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but this movie is probably the WORSE movie ever made. Let me explain why:

1 - The acting is very, very, very bad. The actors in the "nazi" monk scene were laughing during the fight. The fighting scene is very bad.

2 - As this movie was shot in 3D you'll see some knives, rocks and even snakes flying over the camera, to create that 3D effect. If you are watching this movie in a TV, this will look silly.

3 - The fight scenes are quite bizarre. The make up and the fake blood are very odd. The final fight scene is indoor and outdoor almost at the same time (watch carefully the final fight scene and prepare to laugh with the final "the end" scene)

If you want to see this movie, I must say: May the force be with you! You'll need it.

Another 70s flick starring Jackie Chan. The movie has very well choreographed fight scenes but again there are way too many. I like the adventure aspect of this flick. The costumes are really good. The evil king in this film is one of the best Jackie Chan movie villains of the 70s. The movie has a very good twist at the end that I did not see coming. In fact, evey aspect of the little plot there was was good. The music score for the movie is mostly directly stolen from Star Wars (1977), which adds some camp value. The movie also has a theme of its very own during scenes of their trek through Stormy Hills. Director Lo Wei throws everything before your eyes that he can think of. This is the first Hong Kong movie filmed in 3D so snakes , swords, spears, ninjas, boulders etc. are hurtled toward the screen. This is one of Jackie's better movies but too much fighting and an overall lack of plot hurt the proceedings . Still, characters have enough different traits and eccentricities to be fairly engaging and Jackie and Luk Chuen choreograph the action well. The movie has decent pacing and is far from waste of time. This is a nice little movie that transcends the trappings and limitations of the typical period piece to deliver light thrills and mild gore for a somewhat more mainstream audience. Despite its flaws, I would recommend checking it out.

Cool movie! Features a long-haired 24-year old Jackie Chan, great costumes, an improbably complicated plot, a bizarre song in the middle, American-Indian Mongol hordes, pre-Matrix "bullet time" fx, and much more.

Basically, Jackie and cohorts - the magnificent bodyguards of the title - are hired to guard and transport a valuable cargo over some dangerous, bandit-infested mountains. Of course, nothing is what it seems, no-one can be trusted and there appears to be a lost tribe of American Indians wandering the hills.

The version I saw was subtitled - it was fun hearing the original Chinese. Maybe that let the humour come out more. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and only gets serious at the very end.

Well worth a watch.