''Ride On'' () is a 2023 Chinese

action drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

film written and directed by Larry Yang, and stars

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

Liu Haocun Liu Haocun (; born ) is a Chinese actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film '' One Second'' (2020), and has since gone on to appear in various film titles. Early life Liu was born in Tonghua, Jilin Province. She studied in the middl ...

, and

Guo Qilin Guo Qilin (born February 8, 1996) is an actor and a crosstalk (Xiangsheng Xiangsheng (), also known as crosstalk or comic dialogue, is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture. It ...

. The film tells a story of an old-school

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

and his stunt horse. The film was released in China on April 7, 2023.

Plot

Lao Luo is a prolific stuntman who works with his Red Hare, his deformed-at-birth stunt horse who he saved from euthanasia. His life is falling apart - he had suffered a serious injury that sent him bankrupt 8 years ago and lost the custody of his daughter, Xiao Bao, after divorcing his late wife while she was still young. One night, Lao and Red Hare get into a fight with debt collectors and they soon learn Red Hare is at risk of being auctioned after their original company went bankrupt. Lao seeks legal help from Bao, now a university student studying law, and despite being reluctant at first, she offers him the services of her boyfriend, Naihua. Meanwhile, after Lao's fight with the debt collectors goes viral, he and Red Hare are hired for several films, with Bao becoming his agent '' ad litem''. Although they are able to help each other during tough situations, Bao soon expresses discomfort at Lao's stunt work, fearing that he and Red Hare might suffer dangerous injuries. After Lao embarrasses Bao in front of Naihua's parents, she leaves him in disgust. Afterwards, Lao and Red Hare get seriously injured during a stunt and as a result, Lao is sent to the hospital. While searching Lao's home for an ID card, Bao learns that he has saved CCTV footage of a failed meeting he had with her when she was younger. A touched Bao reconciles with Lao at the hospital, and Lao promises to stop doing stunt work. On one night, Lao wakes up to witness the debt collectors trying to steal Red Hare; after a brief confrontation, he pays his debt and invites Dami Ge, the leading debt-collecting thug, to become one of his disciples. The next day, Yuanjie, Lao's apprentice, invites him for a role in his film which pays homage to stunt work - Lao accepts as a final job, to Bao's dismay. Whilst filming, Lao insists on performing a dangerous stunt himself, but is unable to finish it after remembering Bao's words and quits the job. Despite being able to reconcile with Bao once again, Lao loses Red Hare's case, and is forced to sell them to a company. Refusing to leave them torn apart, Bao and Naihua convince the company's CEO, He Xin, to return Red Hare and show him footage of Lao's previous stunt work to display his dedication to his work. He Xin returns Red Hare to Lao, explaining that he intended to return the horse already - Red Hare had attempted to starve himself while being owned by the company. He Xin leaves as Lao, Bao, and Naihua reunite with Red Hare.

Cast

as Lao Luo, an old-school stunt performer who has a stunt horse named ''Red Hare'' (赤兔) *

as Xiao Bao, the daughter of Lao Luo *

as Naihua, the boyfriend of Xiao Bao * Wu Jing as Yuanjie, the apprentice of Lao Luo *

Joey Yung Joey Yung (, ; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer and Cantopop diva signed to Emperor Entertainment Group. Since her debut in 1996, Yung has won numerous awards, including the JSG Most Popular Female Singer and Ultimate Best Female Sin ...

as Yingzi, a female stunt performer and the apprentice of Lao Luo * Yu Ailei as Xiamao, the husband of Yingzi *

Yu Rongguang Yu Rongguang (; born 30 August 1958), also known as Ringo Yu, is a Chinese actor and martial artist. He is best known for the title role in '' Iron Monkey'' along with Donnie Yen as well as being featured in films such as '' The East Is Red'', ' ...

as He Xin, a company CEO who covets Lao Luo's horse *

Andy On Andy On () (born May 11, 1977) is an American actor and martial artist. Life and career On was born on May 11, 1977, in Providence, Rhode Island. He is a native of the US, and can speak English, Mandarin, and a bit of Cantonese. Andy On did no ...

as Dami Ge, a thug working for debt collectors *

Xiaoshenyang Shen He (born 7 May 1981), better known by his stage name Xiaoshenyang (), is a Chinese actor. He was a student of Zhao Benshan and was an errenzhuan performer before joining the film and television industry. Xiaoshenyang became famous immediate ...

as Li Yan, a lawyer working for He Xin * Shi Yanneng as Dawei, a stunt performer and a friend of Lao Luo

Production

Development

Director Larry Yang is a fan of Jackie Chan and wrote the screenplay after watching a documentary about Kung Fu Stuntmen (龙虎武师). Firstly, Larry looked for Chan to check his screenplay but got declined and was asked to revise it in months. Yang took five days to have the revision completed and sent it to Chan once again where he accepted the filming invitation.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on September 27, 2021, and concluded on November 10, 2022. Filming took place in

Hengdian World Studios Hengdian World Studios () is a film studio located in Hengdian, a Chinese town in the city of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the largest film studios in the world. The movie studio is operated by the privately owned Hengdian Group foun ...

Dongyang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, China. It covers an area of and administers eleven towns, one township, and six subdistricts. It is part of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region. As ...

and the Pegasus Watertown,

Jiangyin Jiangyin (, Jiangyin dialect: ) is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, and is administered by Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Jiangyin is one of the most important transport hubs on the Yangtze River, it is also one of the most d ...

Release

The film was released in the United Kingdom, United States and China on April 7, 2023, and was released in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on April 13, 2023.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ride On 2023 in Chinese cinema Films directed by Larry Yang 2023 action drama films Films about stunt performers Films about horses 2020s Mandarin-language films