Nostalgia Kinky

88 Films unleashes one of the year’s most unexpected releases, the wacky 3D Magnificent Bodyguards (1978) in a whopping 3-disc Blu-ray box set. Made by Fist of Fury (1972) director Lo Wei, Magnificent Bodyguards is quite an oddity of a film and a real surprising pick for a special-edition release. Featuring Jackie Chan, just before his star status really exploded, the Lo Wei film is incredibly well-served on 88 Films’ new collection. It is available directly from 88 Films, or from MVD here in the States.

Already in his mid-fifties when he directed Magnificent Bodyguards, Wei had racked up dozens of film credits before this odd action picture. Wei, in fact, retired shortly after this film’s rather failed release, but his direction here still maintains an energetic and pretty youthful feel. By the time Wei wrapped his film career up with Dragon Fist a year later in 1979, Chan was still the star of choice that sent him out.

Jackie Chan was 25 years old when he shot Magnificent Bodyguards. Not amongst his most memorable early roles, Chan still delivers the goods for Wei, although I wish the film gave him more to do. This film is just one of six that Chan saw released throughout cinemas in 1978.
Dude was busy.
Dude stayed busy.

Despite the 3D gimmick, Magnificent Bodyguards failed to make much of an impact on release, especially compared to the classic 1978 Jackie Chan film, Drunken Master. Fans of the 3D format who missed out on this in 1978 would have appreciated the film’s use of it throughout, from its opening to closing fights.

There is indeed a lot of fighting in Magnificent Bodyguards, with the choreography credited to Chan and Yasuhiro Shikamura. While Chan’s more memorable choreography is not on display here, the fight sequences are handled fairly well, and they do all they can to incorporate the 3D.

Because of the 3D, Magnificent Bodyguards is not the most dynamically visual production, and the cinematography by Chen Jung-Shu isn’t all that memorable. Considering everyone’s inexperience with the 3D, Magnificent Bodyguards is technically fine and is certainly as good as some of the more high-profile American films from the eighties that adopted the format.

Without a strong cult-following or critical-backing, Magnificent Bodyguards is kind of an unlikely box-set but 88 Films have pulled out all the stops in the beautiful hard-shelled Lenticular edition complete with a gorgeous book.

88 Films give us 3 versions of the film, Real-D 3D, Anaglyph 3D and 2D. I opted for the 2D as I, nor my eyesight, are fans of 3D. 88 Films new 2K restoration gives us a fine version of the film to view, with dynamic picture and sound. An alternate music track is included, as is an English dub. An excellent commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto is also featured, along with two video essays discussing the film’s faults and virtues. 3D glasses are also included in this exceptional set for this often-overlooked film.

-Jeremy Richey, July 2026-