''Magnificent Bodyguards'' is a 1978

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...

directed and produced by

Lo Wei Lo Wei ( 12 December 1918 – 20 January 1996) was a Hong Kong film director and actor best known for launching the martial arts film careers of both Bruce Lee, in ''The Big Boss'' and ''Fist of Fury'', and Jackie Chan, in ''New Fist of Fury''. ...

. The film stars

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

, James Tien,

Leung Siu-lung Bruce Liang (28 April 1948) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts film, martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Si ...

, and Wang Ping. Chan, along with Luk Chuen also worked as

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for casting stunt performers. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of s ...

s. This film was well received in Hong Kong, but Chan himself doesn't like it. He puts it down to Lo Wei not giving him any creative freedom. This was the first film in

to be filmed using 3-D technology, and it features music from ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''.

Plot

Lord Ting Chung is hired to escort a woman's sick brother to the doctor, but he does it for free. To get there they must pass through "Stormy Hills", an area of

Ancient China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

controlled by criminals. Then the sick man turns out to be the king of the criminals and is not really sick; he is just trying to reclaim his throne from an imposter. The king had previously murdered Ting Chung's father, and now Ting Chung has to fight for his life to get out and also to avenge his father.

Cast

as Lord Ting Chung * James Tien as Tsang / Chang Wu-yi *

as Chang * Wang Ping as Lady Nan * Lau Ming as Old Lady of Ma Por Inn * Lee Man-tai as Bearded Shaolin Abbot * Luk Chuen as King * Fang Fang as Liu Chin-lien * Ko Keung as Wen Liang-yu

Home media

* The

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

is said to be the only version containing the 3D version, though the only audio language option is Japanese and it is missing 10 minutes of footage. * On 22 March 2002, Eastern Heroes released it on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

cropped from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1 and an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

dub (edited to remove Star Wars music) with no other language options. * On 28 October 2005, Universal Japan released their DVD in 2.35:1. However, it has no English subtitles. * On 5 March 2007,

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bough ...

released their DVD in 2.35:1 in Cantonese with newly translated English subtitles. However, the Cantonese "mono" is a downmix from the 5.1 remix. Mandarin is the correct language. * In 2010, Fortune Star/Shout Factory released the film as part of the "Jackie Chan Eight Film Collection" DVD set. It is in 2.35:1, features the mono English dub, as well as the Star Wars music cues edited out of other versions. * On 23 September 2024, 88 Films Presents 88 Asia Collection released their

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in 2.35:1 in Mandarin with newly translated English subtitles. However, the Cantonese "mono" is a downmix from the 5.1 remix. This is the first 3D home release since the Japanese Laserdisc.

References

External links

* {{Lo Wei 1978 films 1978 martial arts films 1970s 3D films 1970s Hong Kong films 1970s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Lo Wei Hong Kong 3D films Hong Kong films about revenge Hong Kong martial arts films Kung fu films

Plot

Cast

Home media

See also

References

External links