Magnificent Bodyguards in 3D

If you think collecting physical media has become a niche hobby, consider 3D Blu-ray which now accounts for well under 1% of the home video market. But for a format that was almost doomed from the get-go thanks to incompatible equipment, competing TV manufacturers and pricey glasses, there are still a few die-hards hanging in there thanks to used gear on Facebook Marketplace and a scattering of pre-owned titles. And every so often a new title is added to the dwindling library that saves one more film from extinction. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jackie Chan’s Magnificent Bodyguards…in 3D!

Gathering a team of martial arts experts to escort a critically ill patient via sedan chair through a bandit-filled mountain pass, Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) pledges to make the journey in three days, refusing payment for personal reasons. His compatriots also have their own agendas, but serve as protectors against a series of threats and ambushes that inevitably lead them toward the King of the Mountain whose secret will endanger all their lives.

No one is going to pretend that Magnificent Bodyguards is a good film. Even the experts tacked onto 88 Films’ handsomely packaged new release admit it’s a slog to sit through, cramming Jackie Chan into a by-the-numbers period piece like a square peg in a round hole. Director Lo Wei, who was still coasting on his reputation as “the man who made Bruce Lee,” was in desperate straits to do the same with Jackie before their contract ran out. Hence the 3D gimmick, using the same cinematographer from a pair of Taiwanese titles (Dynasty and Revenge of the Shogun Women) to repeat the trick and cash in on the fad’s short-lived late ‘70s popularity.

The image is soft, the gags are predictable and the dimensionality is all over the place. But damn if Magnificent Bodyguards isn’t still a treat to watch in its intended 3D format…and we should all be grateful we can!  Spears, snakes, fists, rocks and anything not nailed down get thrust into the camera, resulting in barrage of eye-crossing pop-out moments...some of which don’t land but just as many that do. Cinematographer Chen Yung-shu makes sure to keep branches, shrubbery and other bits of landscape in the foreground to provide some much-appreciated depth even in the master shots. But it’s the close-ups that give you the most bang for your 3D buck. 3D Film Archives were in charge of the restoration and if you’ve seen their previous work on Kino’s Dynasty, then you have a good idea what to expect. The stereoscopic system used here was jerry-rigged to begin with, so their efforts are nothing short of miraculous.

There are still a few classic 3D Blu-rays in the pipeline for this year, but the writing has been on the wall for a while. The three-disc set features a new 2K transfer and includes two 3D versions (digital Blu-ray and a red-blue anaglyph with custom glasses provided) along with a standard “flat” version for those who can’t beg, borrow or steal a 3D display. Extras include a commentary track, two sit-down interviews with film historians, trailers, liner notes, lenticular cover and an alternate English soundtrack with different music cues (yep, that’s John Williams Star Wars theme playing in the background). As it is, picking up Magnificent Bodyguards feels a bit like contributing to your own private Smithsonian.