Movies - Ride On : Jackie Chan's Newest Action-Comedy Hits Theaters April 7

By Mulder, 29 march 2023

Come for all the gravity-defying, side-splittingly funny action you expect from Jackie Chan, stay for the heartfelt, wholesome core that explores what it means—and costs—to be a stuntman.

Director-scriptwriter Larry Yang’s has always had a great fondness for movies about horses. Many such films have been made in the United States and South Korea, but such elements are rarely shown in Chinese films. Despite their cultural differences, ranching and racing cultures exist in both the United States and South Korea, so their protagonists may have grown up with horses. Such characters and their relationships with their horses are difficult to transplant to urban parts of China. Yang thought about the protagonist and his background for a long time but could not find the right direction. It was only when Yang served as a jury member at a film festival and saw a documentary about Hong Kong stuntmen that he found his direction. The classic action scenes Hong Kong cinema could only have because of their daring stuntmen. When Yang saw this group of heroes behind the camera, and heard their stories, not least the hardship they endured in the unforgiving work environment back then, he was very moved. He then came up with the story of a once-successful but now washed-up stuntman who has only a horse as his companion.

Ever since Yang began writing the script, Jackie Chan was his first choice. After all, Jackie Chan is an icon amongst Hong Kong stuntmen. Yang has been a Jackie Chan fan since he was a child and knows his movies like the back of his hand. In fact, these landmark films were a profound influence on Yang becoming a director. Yang not only appreciates Jackie Chan as an action star but also as a director. In Jackie Chan’s early films, one can see how precisely he balanced the rhythms of the action, the comedy and the story. Yang continues to watch these old movies to learn from them and had always hoped that one day he would have the chance to work with the action legend. In Ride On, Yang has seized the chance to express his admiration for Jackie Chan as a movie fan through the medium of what he learned from his movies over the years.

On casting Liu Haocun as Bao, Yang says that it is because her previous performances had deeply impressed him. The characters Liu has played in films are very different from Liu in real life. She fills the gap between herself and the characters she plays with charm and outstanding performances. After working with Liu, Yang finds her a very talented actor with an intuitive understanding of her character. Although she has less experience in acting, she has the talent to interpret the roles she plays with a freshness and precision that fulfils the director’s vision.

Yang had previously worked with co-star Kevin Guo and knew that he had a great sense of humor. Moreover, from the influence of his father, the cross-task artist Guo Degang, Guo knows how to make the best of his comedic talents to win the heart of the audience. Guo’s natural charm not only centers his performance but is also at the center of the comedy in Ride On. As a keen observer of human nature, Guo grasps the characteristics of the roles he plays and brings the characters to life. Since the bumpy relationship between Luo and Bao doesn’t have space for much comedy, it is Guo’s role as Mickey and his uncomfortable encounters with Luo that makes the audience laugh most. When writing the script, Yang already had Guo in mind.

Many scenes in Ride On are dangerous, not least because of Jackie Chan’s previous injuries. Even though the production team were keen to reduce risks, Jackie Chan would insist on making the stunts harder and then performing them himself. He was extremely strict with himself and would not allow the Jackie Chan Stunt Team to lower their expectations of him. As a result, the crew witnessed several dangerous moments on set.
For example, there is a scene in which Jackie Chan lifts a ladder with his foot. The ladder is hung over the edge of a long drop, and he has to lift the ladder up with his foot. After a few takes, Jackie Chan becomes tired and, due to the injury on his right leg, supports his body with his left leg. When he put down his foot, he slipped and nearly fell from the second floor! Everyone on the set was terrified, but with Jackie Chan’s years of training and experience, he could trust his muscle memory to save him.

An even more dangerous incident had Jackie Chan falling off a horse that was galloping on a slippery marble floor. Because a horse’s center of gravity is at the base of its body, it has to tilt when making a sharp turn to stay upright. Jackie Chan, who was riding on horseback, was suddenly thrown off! Everyone on set went into panic mode when Jackie Chan’s body thumped down on the marble floor. Fortunately, Jackie Chan got to his feet quickly to avoid being trampled by the horse’s hooves. Everyone was in shock, but Jackie Chan kept reassuring them that he was completely fine.

Another action scene is shot atop a Ferris Wheel. It is an important flashback to show when Luo was seriously injured. Luo is standing on top of the wheel. A rope drops down from a helicopter and Luo is meant to jump up and grab it. But Luo fails to catch the rope and falls, hurting himself badly. The director had planned to use a stunt double for safety reasons. But Jackie Chan insisted to do it himself, so that the camera could zoom in and the audience could see his face. While the Jackie Chan Stunt Team took every precaution to make it as safe as possible, everyone set was terrified that something would go wrong. It was not until Jackie Chan returned to the ground safely that they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Jackie Chan himself was so excited because he had not been so high in such a long time. Director Larry Yang is a huge fan of Jackie Chan’s movies and many scenes have left a deep impression on him. With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Jackie Chan, Yang wrote many details into the script to pay homage to Jackie Chan’s movies.

In terms of the costume design, a number of classic looks are seen in Ride On including the long robe Jackie Chan wears in Drunken Master II and how he kicks as the robe flips. In the chase at the beginning of Ride On, Jackie Chan dresses in a traditional short robe in homage to his appearance in Dragon Lord. The classic costume Jackie Chan wore in Armor of God II: Operation Condor leaves an unforgettable impression on his fans even though it appears for just a few seconds. In Ride On, Jackie Chan plays many characters that he would never be allowed to play in his previous films, like Elvis. For example, in a scene that pays respect to Police Story 2, Jackie Chan plays the drug dealer instead of his police officer role in the action classic!

A more direct homage is the scene in which Bao watches Luo perform the classic stunts in Red Hare’s stable. These are the classic stunts seen in Jackie Chan’s previous movies. When Luo is having a meal with Mickey’s parents, he talks about the wildest stunts he has performed, including jumping off tall buildings, smashing through glass, being thrown into a fire, and being thrown around while hooked onto a bus with an umbrella. As his fans know, these are all stunts Jackie Chan performed in his classic works.

As Jackie Chan has been making action movies for decades, his body has sustained many injuries. Filmmaking is already a tiring job, but Jackie Chan also has to endure pain and fatigue that no ordinary person could imagine. He has often postponed surgeries and used cortisone injections on set to ease the pain. On this shoot, Jackie Chan had cortisone injections on four successive days. After each shot, Jackie Chan would forget that he was injured! During the two months of filming, he was totally devoted to his role. Sometimes his knees hurt him so much that he would fall to the ground, losing his balance. But he never allowed his injuries to delay the shoot.

At the beginning of filming, people kept telling Jackie Chan that he was pushing himself too hard. His response was that he is just doing his job. As technology develops, filmmakers are tempted to lower their standards. But a veteran filmmaker like Jackie Chan sticks to the old rules. He never lowers the expectations he has of himself. Despite this, Jackie Chan treats the safety of the other actors and stuntmen extremely seriously. He never lets his guard down, or let anything go below his standard. His own injuries seem to remind him that he should not let the younger actors suffer as he did. In fact, he always urges the other actors to set their limit and protect themselves.

Director Larry Yang’s previous film Adoring also had animal actors. Back then Yang hired a team from Hollywood, which he learnt from. When they shoot a movie about animals, they treat them as previous as human talent and protect them physically and emotionally. Yang was moved by that and came to understand that caring for animals is not only an act of charity but an embodiment of one’s professionalism.

While shooting Ride On, which involves horses, Yang and his crew maintained the spirit they developed on Adoring, looking after the animal actors with great care. The crew never shouted at the horses but keep them calm at all times. While protecting the animal actors, they also ensure the safety of the cast and crew. Horses are huge, powerful animals so there is always danger when working with them. To work with a horse in close proximity, the actors must make the horse feel calm and secure. Jackie Chan would bring other actors in close proximity to the horse and give it

To cast Red Hare, the production team decided to not cast a well-trained stunt horse because Red Hare is supposed to be a bit disobedient. They chose a retired champion racehorse from Macau. It was very different from horses the team had worked with before. One can see that it was once a champion. As a racehorse, it has a quality very different to horses that have led a sheltered life. It is precisely this quality Red Hare that shines through. The horse did special training in preparation for the shoot.

In one scene, Red Hare gallops away from an explosion. In that scene, a stunt double is used. It is an experienced, professionally trained horse. On screen, the explosion seems very close to the horse, but the effect is created with a long shot. The explosion is far away from the horse and safety is the top priority throughout. The horse seen in the movie’s final stunt is controlled by a professional jockey is therefore completely safe. While many shots look dangerous, they were carefully designed and conducted by professionals since the safety of the actors and the animals were the top concern.

Synopsis : 
Directed by Larry Yang and starring international superstar Jackie Chan alongside new talents Liu Haocun and Kevin Guo, Ride On tells the story of washed-up stuntman Luo (Jackie Chan). When Luo’s trusty horse Red Hare becomes the focus of a debt dispute, Luo repairs his relationship with estranged daughter Bao (Liu Haocun). Moreover, with the help of Bao’s boyfriend Mickey (Kevin Guo), the team of “three people and one horse” set out to protect their family and loved ones. The brilliant action choreography in the film is a homage to Jackie Chan’s classic stunts from his previous movies. Ride On proves to be the best Chinese-language family movie of 2023.

Ride On
Written and directed by Larry Yang
Produced by Li Jie, Belle Lau, Yanming Liu, Yuan Nong, Tianfu Xu
Starring Jackie Chan, Liu Haocun, Guo Qilin
Music by Lao Zai
Cinematography : Ming Sun
Edited by Super Zhang   
Production companies : 
Distributed by Well Go USA Entertainement
Release date : April 7, 2023 (United States) 

(Source : press release)