Magnificent Bodyguards

This was one of many Jackie Chan vehicles made around this time when he was not yet a huge star. He had just made "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", and "Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin". The mega-hit "Drunken Master" would follow. Unfortunately this doesn't compare well to those.

Chan is asked by a young, wealthy lady to take her sick brother to a specialist doctor. To reach him, Chan and a handful of traveling companions must pass through bandit-infested wild country. They encounter and kung-fu-fight several gangs of thugs along the way.

Some minor interest is maintained as there's a quest involved, and the group journey through some nice locations. Also, the musical score has a surprising range of dynamics.

On the downside, the version I saw was poorly dubbed and the script had a lot of problems.

None of the many fight-scenes reach the heights of "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", "Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin" or "Drunken Master" (Jackie Chan vehicles made immediately before and after Magnificent Bodyguards).

Also, there is a twist near the end which I felt was a cop out and undermined the nature of the film, but by that point I wasn't too bothered anyway.

I would recommend this to die-hard Jackie Chan fans only. The casual fan would do well to stick with his 80s and 90s output (with a few exceptions).

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.

Here is a movie filmed in 3-D and now it is about 40 years later and I am watching it at home in 2-D in about VHS resolution with dual Chinese and English subtitles. As bad as this movie is the 3-D badness is all I can focus on. Kicks, spear points and even bell clangers are used to take advantage of the 3-D effect but now all these shots seem out of place and jarring. I refuse to believe that years ago these odd angles and objects suddenly stuck in front of the audience face did anything to improve the action. I like old Viewmasters but otherwise 3-D is the worst idea in movies.

When I watch terrible movies like this I try to find a "moment". Even the worst movie can have a special moment, not necessarily scripted, that hits a nerve, sparks a memory, or just creates something special out of the nothingness. Not all movies have a moment but this one does. At about 47 minutes James, Bruce and Jackie are standing next to each other thinking. Then James gets this expression on his face "What the heck is going on here?" and he walks off. Then Bruce does the same thing, then Jackie. Yes, that was the defining moment of the movie – what the heck is going on here!- then they all leave!