Armour of God (film)

Armour of God
Hong Kong film poster
Traditional	龍兄虎弟
Simplified	龍兄虎弟
Mandarin	Lóng Xiōng Hǔ Dì
Cantonese	Lung4 Hing1 Fu2 Dai6
Directed by	Jackie Chan Eric Tsang
Produced by	Leonard Ho Chua Lam
Written by	Jackie Chan John Sheppard Eric Tsang
Starring	Jackie Chan Alan Tam Lola Forner Rosamund Kwan
Music by	Michael Lai Tang Siu Lam
Cinematography	Peter Ngor Cheung Yiu Cho Bob Thompson Stephen Poon Au Kam Hung Arthur Wong Raymond Lam Fai Tai Andrew Lau Jimmy Leung Cho Wai Kei Lam Lai Hung Poon Hang Sang Chan Lok Yee Danny Lee Yau Tong
Editing by	Peter Cheung
Distributed by	Golden Harvest
Release date(s)	Hong Kong: 21 January 1987 (1987-01-21)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Gross revenue	HK $35,469,408

Armour of God (Chinese: 龍兄虎弟, Long xiong hu di) is a 1987 Hong Kong martial arts action film co-directed by, and starring Jackie Chan. The film features Chan's regular kung-fu, comedy and stunts, with an Indiana Jones-style theme. Chan came the closest he has ever been to death in this film during a relatively routine stunt; he leaped onto a tree from a ledge, but the branch he grabbed snapped, sending Chan plummeting and cracking his skull. The film was followed by the sequel. Armour of God II: Operation Condor in 1991.

Plot

Jackie aka Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) is an adventurer with a mercenary streak. Jackie used to perform in a band with his friends Alan (Alan Tam) and Lorelei (Rosamund Kwan) before he was kicked out of the band by Alan, who wanted Lorelei for himself. At the beginning of the film Jackie steals a sword from an African tribe that is one of the five pieces of a valuable armour known as the Armour of God. Alan is still a successful singer and Lorelei is a renowned fashion-designer. During the course of the film, Jackie is shown trying to sell the Armour of God via auction. He has a secretly placed artificial bidder whose job is to increase the bids by bidding a few hundred dollars more than the highest bidder. Although unexpected, the armour manages to get an astronomical bid by May Bannon. Happy with his grand fortune Jackie goes back to his hotel where he discovers an entire bunch of messages from Alan informing Jackie of his arrival.

When Jackie and Alan meet, Alan out of desperation (although unwillingly) tells Jackie of an evil cult which has kidnapped Lorelei and are demanding the Armour of God as ransom. Jackie at this sees the opportunity to remind Alan about their past failed friendship.

Jackie decides to aid Alan in rescuing Lorelei from the evil religious cult that has stolen her in hopes of Asian Hawk delivering the last three pieces of the Armor to them as they have the other two. With this information, Jackie is able to convince May Bannon and her father to borrow the three pieces with the promise that Jackie would return with all five to their collector.

Production

• This film was shot in former Yugoslavia: in Zagreb (Dolac Central Market, Upper town, Trnje (near the then-unfinished building of Croatian Radio Television), Croatia, Graz and in Predjama Castle near Postojna, Slovenia.
• During filming, one scene called for him to jump from a wall to a tree branch. On his second jump, the branch broke and he fell 15 feet to the ground below. His head hit a rock, cracking his skull and shooting a piece of bone up into his brain. Chan was flown to the hospital and was in surgery 8 hours later. As a result, he now has a permanent hole in his head, filled by a plastic plug, and slight hearing loss in one ear.

Reception

At the Hong Kong box office, Armour of God was Chan's biggest hit up to that point and broke all records in Hong Kong, grossing HK $35,469,408 in its theatrical run. The film received positive reviews, with a rating of 75% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.^[1]

Miramax version

In the United States, Armour of God did not get a theatrical release.^[2] The film's sequel, Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991) did receive a theatrical release under the simplified title Operation Condor. Armour of God was subsequently released direct-to-video by Miramax Films, but the title was somewhat confusingly changed to Operation Condor 2: The Armor of the Gods, despite being released before Operation Condor. A new musical score was created for this release, and English dubbing (with the participation of Chan) was also recorded.

Nine minutes of cuts were made to the Miramax version, including:

• The concert scene of Jackie's band, 'The Losers', an allusion to '70s Cantopop band The Wynners.
• Jackie's dream sequence.
• The scene in which May (played by Lola Forner), disguised as a prostitute, encounters a monk who wants to sleep with her.
• An extended version of the slapstick sequence in which Alan (played by Alan Tam) hides in May's room. The scene also includes Lorelei (while under the cult's spell) attempting to seduce Jackie.

These same cuts were evident in the Spanish Region 2 release, but DVD releases in Hong Kong, Australia and the rest of Europe are uncut.

Cast

Hong Kong DVD cover

• Jackie Chan - Jackie aka Asian Hawk
• Alan Tam - Alan
• Lola Forner - May Bannon
• Rosamund Kwan - Lorelei
• Bozidar Smiljanic - Count Bannon
• Ken Boyle - Grand Wizard
• John Ladalski - Lama
• Robert O'Brien - witch doctor
• Boris Gregoric - Jackie's representative at auction

Awards and nominations

• 1988 Hong Kong Film Awards
  • Nomination: Best Action Choreography (Jackie Chan Stunt Team, Lau Kar-wing, Danny Yuen)

See also

• List of Hong Kong films
• Jackie Chan filmography

References

1. ^ Gates, Anita (1997-07-18). "Jackie Chan And Babes Fight Nazis". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/18/movies/jackie-chan-and-babes-fight-nazis.html?ref=jackiechan. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
2. ^ "Armour of God Series (Region 3)". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/19187/armour-of-god-series/. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 

External links

• Armour of God at the Internet Movie Database
• Armour of God at AllRovi