5 Star

A Touching Tribute to Stuntmen.

Written and directed by Larry Yang (Mountain Cry, My Other Home), a fan of action films and the one and only Jackie Chan (THE POLICE STORY TRILOGY, Wheels on Meals, THE LUCKY STARS 3-Film Collection), who has spent his life breaking bones, all for the love of action films and thrilling the cinema goers of the world. Ride On is a journey through time of the stunt person from the early 1970s through to the present day, and the way stunts are done using green screen today. Ride On is the perfect way for Chan to show his life’s work in a very emotional way. There will be laughs, you will gasp, and there will be tears. Awesome.

Master Lao Luo (Chan) spends his time outside film studios with his horse ‘Red Hare’, asking people if they want to have their picture taken with his horse. He has fallen on hard times since performing a stunt that became a near fatal incident which curtailed his stunt career. He spends his time living in Red Hare’s stable come home, teaching Red Hare to do stunts.

Because he hasn’t been earning much from the photos, he borrowed money from Demi who now wants it back, unfortunately Luo doesn’t have it. This is the first time we see the tag-team of Luo and Red Hare.

As usual (in a Jackie Chan film) there is always an element of comedy to the timing and the fighting style, as you look on stunned at the chorography.  After giving Demi the slip, Luo has other problems to handle, Red Hare was born with a crooked leg and was about to be put to sleep when Luo saved him, spent time sorting his leg and starting the training. But there is a legal battle going on about Red Hare’s mother, and who owned her, Mr Wang or his now liquidated business LM, and DY Capital who have bought it out, and they are after all assets, including Red Hare.

He needs a good lawyer, but he has no money for that, so he reaches out to his estranged daughter Xiaobao (Haocun Liu, One Second, Cliff Walkers) who is at law college, but she still doesn’t want anything to do with the man that abandoned her while he was doing stunts.

A real stuntman never says no!

Bao’s boyfriend Naihua (Kevin Guo, Joy of Life (TV Series), My Heroic Husband (TV Series)) has graduated from law college and he persuades Bao to reach out to her father and Red Hare, and who couldn’t love Red Hare.

Luo’s friend David is in the film industry, and when he sees that someone had filmed their fight with Demi, this is a big opportunity for the pair to show off their skills. Luo has always just worked from one stunt to another, never saying no. Now Bao is involved, she wants him and Red Hare to have proper contracts. It isn’t all plan sailing to begin with, but with a few supportive words from Bao, Red Hare is ready for action and he does shine.

Red Hare and Luo are now the toast of the industry and they are much in demand, but the legal owner of Red Hare has still to be determined.

Ride On is a heart-warming and emotional ride, that will have you shedding happy and sad tears in equal amounts. A must-see for any stunt or Jackie Chan fans. As always, watch the credits for some more laughs and injuries.

Ride On is available on Digital, DVD and Blu-ray