Armour of God (龍兄虎弟) is a 1986 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Jackie Chan and Eric Tsang, produced by Leonard Ho and Chua Lam, and written by both Jackie Chan, John Sheppard and Eric Tsang. The film stars Jackie Chan, Alan Tam, Lola Forner, and Rosamund Kwan, with music composed by both Michael Lai and Tang Siu Lam. It was theatrically released in January 1987 for Hong Kong (but released first in Japan in August 1986) and distributed by Raymond Chow’s Golden Harvest Group and Fortune Star.
Background:
“Unquestionably the most popular martial arts actor of his generation, super star Jackie Chan features in this mid 80s Indiana Jones-esque romp which mixes Hollywood thrills with Hong Kong style action.
Former musician Asian Hawk (Chan) becomes embroiled in a dangerous quest to seek out the last three parts of lost treasure the Armour of God, in order to save his ex-band mate’s girlfriend from the clutches of a ruthless cult.
Though heavily inspired by Spielberg’s movie, the style and stunt sequences are all delivered with the star’s custom brand of slapstick and physical prowess. All the elements come together in a pleasing assortment of comedy, misadventure and gloriously realised action set pieces. A must for all Jackie Chan collectors.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, December 2021.
I guess you could say we have come full circle in terms of Jackie Chan’s catalog of popular martial art films getting rescued over the years. With films like City Hunter, Lucky Stars and Police Story under Eureka Entertainment and Crime Story, Dragons Forever and The Young Master under 88 Films, it’s honestly amazing how in recent years that there’s pretty much been a resurgence of remasters for these classic Hong Kong films for the Blu-ray format.
Armour of God is 88 Films’ 18th Jackie Chan release and the second to receive the deluxe collector’s edition treatment, which when you consider the film’s history pretty much deserves it. Jackie Chan almost died in the film because of the stunt work so if you thought the iconic sliding down a pole moment in Police Story was the most dangerous, he’s done a lot more insane stunts than that.
The film has been released throughout the world and has a few different takes, so this release offers the most definitive version you could have.
Deluxe Collector’s Edition Contents:
Like The Young Master, Armour of God receives a very special limited edition release from 88 Films. Instead of a regular set with a slipcase, we have even better packaging. KUNG FU BOB’s glorious artwork is still present of course.
The film is presented in a sturdy rigid box with the info specs and logos on a card that wraps from front to back vertically. Inside the box is an Amaray Blu-ray case housing two discs, which also includes 6 double-sided art cards while the case itself features reversible artwork that uses the original theatrical poster designs.
In addition to the case, it also includes a fold-out poster which is also double-sided, and a detailed 88-page booklet with information about the film’s history, essays, promotional artwork and more including Jackie Chan’s video games which is really cool to see.
The SRP is £24.99 with an estimated 3000 unit print run if its anything like The Young Master was. Once the print run is out of stock, they’ll re-release the film without the limited edition items. I pre-ordered the film on 88’s official website so my copy had arrived before the official release date.
Physical Contents:
- Limited Edition Rigid Box featuring unique artwork by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
- Vertical Info Sheet with Specs, BBFC and more
- 88-page perfect-bound book featuring 3 new essays + selected archive materials:
- Eastern Heroes – by Tim Murray
- Jackie Chan, a trademark designed to succeed by Thorsten Boose
- Pixelated Punch: The Early Video Game Years of Jackie Chan by Audi Sorlie plus an Interview with Thorsten Nickel
- 6 Replica Lobby Cards
- Double-sided foldout Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 13th December 2021
The 88 Films release of Armour of God is presented on two Blu-ray discs due to two different cuts of the film! Like many of Jackie Chan’s other featured films, there are multiple versions depending on its theatrical distribution or from being added for home video.
On the first disc, we have the 4K restoration of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut, running at 98 minutes length. The audio is presented in Cantonese with newly remastered English subtitles, with the option to watch the film using either the original theatrical mix and home video mix. Plus, there’s also the option to watch the film with either the Lorelei ending theme or the Flight of the Dragon ending theme (all audio tracks except English 5.1 on the disc specifies this).
If that wasn’t enough, the classic English dub is also included as well as a hybrid option that includes the Cantonese audio & English dub mixed together. English SDH subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing are also available on the first disc. A vast amount of on-disc bonus features are also included here, including tons of audio commentaries.
On the second disc, we have the 88 minute International Cut which includes the film’s classic English dub as well as English SDH subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Cantonese (Original Theatrical) DTS-HD Master Audio Mono Cantonese (Home Video) DTS-HD Master Audio Mono English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Hybrid DTS-HD Master Audio Mono English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 International Cut: English Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2:35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: English, English Hard of Hearing International Cut: English Hard of Hearing |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Audio Commentaries (all presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 audio):
- Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
- Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network
- The Art of Action on Armour of God (with Scott Adkins & Matt Routledge) (30:57 runtime)
- Celebrity Talk Show (58:21 runtime)
- Context: This is from Season 2 Episode 2 released in 1989 focused on Jackie Chan’s guest appearance. In Chinese it’s 今夜不設防 Season 2 Episode 02 – 成龍.
- Rise of the Phoenix: Radek Sienski on Armour of God (20:49 runtime)
- Locations: Then and Now (06:00 runtime)
- Jackie Chan on VHS (The VPF Years with Steve Lawson) (07:52 runtime)
- Interview with Jackie Chan (04:09 runtime)
- Interview with Willie Chan (03:44 runtime)
- Interview with Editor Peter Cheung (in-house editor at Golden Harvest) (04:42 runtime)
- Japanese Release Outtakes (04:29 runtime)
- High Upon High Tribute Music Video:
- Context: This is a short film called The Armour of Funk produced in 2016 celebrating the film’s 30th anniversary and was shot at original location from Armour of God.
- Music Video (06:00 runtime)
- Behind the Scenes (with Andy Long Nguyen) (04:16 runtime)
- Side-by-Side (02:08 runtime)
- Trailers:
- Cantonese Trailer
- Mandarin Trailer
- Japanese Trailer
- English Trailer
- 88 Films Blu-ray Trailer
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Armour of God is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The limited edition will sell out pretty fast like 88 Films’ other Jackie Chan titles. Both Amazon UK, Terracotta Distribution and the official 88 Films website will be the best option to secure a copy. Once sold out, a regular standard edition will be available.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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