 |
| Images courtesy of 88 Films |
Jackie Chan fans have been waiting a
LONG time to see his one and only 3-D martial arts film (and the first 3-D film
ever made in Hong Kong) in its intended format. 88 Films announced their 3-D
blu-ray of The Magnificent Bodyguards (1978) a full two years ago, and
the repeated delays that the release has endured, due to the far trickier than
expected 3-D restoration, have been absolutely legendary. It’s safe to say that
this has been the GTA VI of Hong Kong Cinema blu-ray releases. And even before
this long-delayed disc, ever since the laserdisc and DVD era, Chan fans have
hoped for a proper 3-D release of this film which until now never came. The
Magnificent Bodyguards has previously gotten exactly ONE 3-D release on
home media, and that was a Japanese laserdisc, which has naturally taken on a
mythical level of rarity in the intervening years. On all of its North
American, European, and even Chinese home media releases, the movie has been
stuck in two dimensions, despite having been obviously shot for three. Now,
finally, the 88 Films disc is here, offering The Magnificent Bodyguards
in three different presentations: flat 2D, red/blue anaglyph 3-D, and digital
3-D. So put on your glasses, and let’s see if 88 Films’ Magnificent
Bodyguards in 3-D was worth the wait.
THE FILM:
The Magnificent Bodyguards is a product of Jackie Chan’s
early-career period, when he was working with prolific director/producer Lo
Wei. This was when the shadow of Bruce Lee’s untimely death still hung heavy
over Hong Kong cinema, and Lo Wei was trying to sell Jackie Chan as “the next
Bruce Lee,” forcing Chan into a box in which he never really fit. In Lo Wei
productions, Jackie was forced to play a more serious and straightforward,
traditional martial arts hero, without the elements of Buster Keaton-inspired
comedy and prop work that define the star’s style when he is making the
creative decisions himself. Jackie was still very good at this, and brought to
these roles a charm and swagger that still manage to convey his personality,
but he isn’t really getting to be Jackie Chan. This is one such film, which
feels less like “a Jackie Chan film” in the way we now define them, and more
like a period martial arts film/wuxia which just happens to have Jackie as its
lead. This is not necessarily a criticism, just an observation, and an
expectation-setter.
The plot is a pretty by-the-numbers
wuxia premise: Chan plays a famously tough kung fu master who fights as a
warrior-for-hire, and he is hired to be the bodyguard for a rich noblewoman and
her severely ill brother who must travel from their remote town to the nearest
city to find a doctor. But the only way to get to the city fast enough to save
her brother’s life is to cut through Stormy Hills: a notoriously savage and
lawless domain ruled by sadistic bandits, killers, warrior-monks, and the
ruthless King of the Hills himself. They must assemble a team of equally
unbeatable warrior-bodyguards, so they can fight their way through Stormy
Hills. It’s a premise deliberately intended to set up an episodic story: the
movie is basically a string of action setpieces as Jackie progresses through
the journey, in a way that feels rather like a video game (years before video
games were like that, of course). First he has to gather his crack team of
Magnificent Bodyguards, which means testing each of their abilities in a fight.
Then they enter the Stormy Hills, and fight a progression of unique enemies in
unique environments, moving towards the final boss of the King of the Hills.
Employing such a simple premise is definitely the right idea, since it allows
this pretty by-the-numbers wuxia to focus on the thing that makes it stand out:
good action.
The combat in The Magnificent
Bodyguards is very very strong. While again, most of the fight scenes don’t
feel like archetypal Jackie Chan fight scenes (with a few exceptions, when he
does get to cut loose with some props), they are all excellently choreographed
and expertly performed. Hard-hitting, fast-moving martial-arts action is the
priority for this film; appropriate, as Lo Wei pushes his “the next Bruce Lee”
concept. And Jackie isn’t the only martial artist leading the cast either: this
is an ensemble piece, with James Tien and Bruce Leung Siu-lung likewise in
excellent form as the primary trio of heroes. All three nail the assignment,
both in terms of the excellent martial arts work, and in terms of bringing fun
personality to fairly underwritten and generic roles. While Jackie Chan isn’t
yet being allowed to go full Jackie Chan with his star persona, he is charming,
charismatic, and brings in a certain sly humor. Bruce Leung Siu-lung is the
most overtly comedic character, and James Tien brings an angry intensity, as a
character whose whole vibe is constantly threatening to skin people and turn
them into leather (but like… in a heroic way?).
That’s about the extent of what The
Magnificent Bodyguards is aiming for: memorable-enough characters, getting
into frequent well-staged fights, with as little plot as possible to get from
one to the next. There isn’t much more to it, but there doesn’t really have to
be. It’s a pretty by-the-books wuxia, that doesn’t do much that’s different,
but it does what it does very well. Martial arts fans should have a fun time
with it, and Jackie Chan fans should as well, even if it feels more like just a
generic martial arts movie with him in it, and not “a Jackie Chan film.”
There is one thing that really sets The
Magnificent Bodyguards apart, and makes it a unique and singular film that
is more than just a generic though solid by-the-books wuxia… and that is the
attribute that the film has been missing on nearly every single home media
release before now… its 3-D. This isn’t just a movie that happens to have been
shot in 3-D as an added bonus; this is a movie that is all-in on the gimmick,
and puts it front and center. The movie CONSTANTLY throws 3-D gags at the
camera. Punches, kicks, darts, staffs, thrown objects, even a snake (the same
gag Friday the 13th Part 3 did). But more than that – the
action is choreographed in a way that keeps the 3-D in mind, and pushes the
combat towards the viewer in a way that isn’t just a gimmick, but that makes
the action cooler and more thrilling. It’s a more fun experience in 3-D, and I
would go as far as to say that it’s a better action movie in 3-D, and certainly
a more unique one!
For that reason, I would strongly
advocate for watching this film in 3-D on this release, if at all possible. And
fortunately, since most of us do not have 3DTVs these days, 88 Films have
included two options by which to do so. I and one of my fellow Movie Sleuths
(who does have access to a 3DTV) were able to review both formats:
THE ANAGLYPH 3-D PRESENTATION:
Anaglyph 3-D is the only way in which The
Magnificent Bodyguards has ever been previously available in 3-D on home
media (that rare Japanese laserdisc). But this state-of-the-art restoration by
88 Films and the 3-D Film Archive is a massive improvement over anything we’ve
seen before. The 3-D Film Archive worked painstakingly to realign the images,
so the 3-D could work as well as possible… no small task, since it sounds like
there were quite a few idiosyncrasies to that 3-D negative. Not surprising,
since this was the first 3-D Hong Kong film, shot on a newly-developed custom
3-D rig. All of that work, which delayed this release by two years, paid off
though: the 3-D presentation is fantastic, even in the compromised anaglyph
form. Yes, occasionally there are still shots where the images were shot in a
way that is slightly misaligned, beyond what the 3-D Film Archive team could
fix, but for the most part, the illusion works beautifully.
Viewers tend to have a certain amount
of skepticism about how well anaglyph 3-D will really work in a film;
understandably so, since a bad anaglyph presentation can be a nightmare to try
and watch. But fear not, this anaglyph presentation works impressively well,
and is one of the best anaglyph 3-D discs I’ve ever watched. The illusion of
depth looks beautiful and very convincing, really showing off how the movie’s
cinematography utilizes spaces designed to look great in 3-D. And the action
works great, with the “jumping off the screen” effects really popping. Fear
not, even if you don’t have a 3DTV, this anaglyph presentation will still give
you a very good experience of The Magnificent Bodyguards in 3-D.
Of course, the major drawback of
anaglyph 3-D is that color really suffers: watching the film through one blue
lens and one red lens makes the whole film look pretty brown or sepia, even
after your eyes have adjusted. Some colors still pop through, but watching the
film this way does it make it all look far more muted. Which is a shame,
because The Magnificent Bodyguards is a very colorful film. If you don’t
have a 3DTV, you are basically having to choose between full color and the 3-D
illusion; for this particular film, I think the 3-D is far more important, but
it is undeniably a compromise. And of course, some people find anaglyph 3-D to
be very eye-straining, so mileage may vary there. Still, despite these
drawbacks, 88 Films have given us the best possible anaglyph 3-D presentation
of the movie, which I was very happy with as a viewing experience. It really
does work great, and makes this a release which I would still highly recommend,
even if you don’t have a 3DTV.
- Christopher S. Jordan
THE DIGITAL 3-D PRESENTATION:
While 3-D televisions seem to be a thing of the past, Real 3-D
digital projection and the production of 3-D disc titles are alive and
well. Anaglyph 3-D glasses with one blue
lens and one red lens being the go-to for 3-D viewing for so many years can
indeed be a strain on the eyes, particularly when you take the glasses
off. In an odd case, as aforementioned
with this particular digital restoration for Lo Wei’s The Magnificent Bodyguards,
problems with the alignment were somehow more pronounced and visible in
anaglyph. Usually when rendering to a
much clearer more authentic color Real 3-D presentation, you would think
anomalies inherent in the original master would be much more pronounced. Other than some occasional monofilament wires
used for some superhuman aerial jumps, many of the aforementioned alignment
problems didn’t stand out as much when properly rendered.
What probably stands out the most when comparing the anaglyph
to the actual 3-D presentation are the grain levels and colors. Costumes and set pieces show off their
multicolored patterns beautifully now versus the sepia look of anaglyph which renders
the footage practically noise free save for some occasional print damage while Real
3-D looks filmic and noisy, alive with grain.
Issues with focus on the scope lenses used are still present but again
somehow less noticeable or bothersome in Real 3-D. One other factor that’s more noticeable with
proper 3-D viewing are the beads of sweat on the actors’ faces which weren’t
visible in anaglyph, giving you a sense of the physicality of the hand-to-hand
combat exchanges.
Shots of snakes biting the camera or rocks landing on the
camera off of monofilament wires still ring high on the silly meter but the
real 3-D presentation preserves the sight gags beautifully. Fans of the ShawScope fast zooms and whip
pans endemic to Lo Wei’s prior wuxias might come away frustrated by the lack of
either stylistic trope which would’ve been fun to see in the 3-D format but
what they achieve here nevertheless lives up to the expectations of the 3-D
moniker. 3-D Film Archive’s restoration,
painstaking and years in the works, have paid off swimmingly in this lovely
Real 3-D presentation.
- Andrew Kotwicki
THE EXTRAS:
There aren’t a ton of extras on 88 Films’ The Magnificent
Bodyguards, but what is here is very good. We have yet another audio
commentary by the duo of Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto, which is as excellent as
their tracks always are. It is interesting, fun and conversational, and packed
with facts and trivia and production history about the film. As usual, their
commentary will certainly expand your appreciation for the movie. The only
other disc extras are two appreciations of the film, by critics James Mudge and
Steve Lawson. Both of these are good, though not great, providing more
interesting context and info about the film.
That’s it for disc extras, though the limited edition package
also comes with a booklet, with a long, in-depth essay about the film by
scholar Thorsten Boose. Altogether it adds up to a very nice package. I do have
one gripe, though, which is that I really wish this disc had a short
documentary or featurette about the 3-D restoration of the film by the 3-D Film
Archive, and how this release was done. It really seems like a wasted
opportunity to not have chronicled that long and painstaking restoration of
this version, and the journey from original camera negative to 3-D blu-ray.
That special-features what-could-have-been aside, though,
this is a stellar release, which was absolutely worth the wait. To finally be
able to see The Magnificent Bodyguards looking genuinely amazing in 3-D
is a huge thrill, which many Jackie Chan fans thought we might never get to
see. It jumps off the screen in the best way, absolutely living up to our hopes
for the restoration. It’s an odd, highly unusual chapter in Jackie Chan’s
storied filmography, but it’s a very cool and unique one, and it is a dream
come true to finally be able to watch it as it was meant to be seen.
- Christopher S. Jordan
