The Fearless Hyena

Customer Reviews:

long-haired hippie.......2006-11-01

In cinema, regardless of country, there is a tendency to try to capitalize on the success of a film by remaking it Ad Nauseam. The most common approach is the sequel. Generally sequels will never perform as well as the original (there are exceptions such as Godfather and Drunken Master). When the star of the original film will not appear in the sequel this is normally a recipe for disaster. However, this does not compare to when the lead actor leaves during production (either through death or other problems) yet they continue on with the project trying to complete it. This happened with atrocities such as Trail of Pink Panther and Game of Death when they employed such fraudulent techniques as splicing in old footage, using body doubles while mixing with the original material to create an Ed Woodian style of film. This would also happen with Fearless Hyena II.

With the success of Fearless Hyena there was obviously going to be a sequel. Jackie Chan decided to leave for the greener pastures of Golden Harvest during the early filming of movie. Now instead of quitting production, Lo Wei obtained the rights to produce this film, part of the infamous bargaining agreement between the Triads, Jackie, Lo and Wang Yu and employed the use of old footage, body doubles and mixed this with the already completed footage.

This "sequel" borrows the same premise as the original and tries to follow the same format. Heaven and Earth (Yam Sai-kwoon aka Yen Shi-Kwan who was also the original nemesis in the first film and Kwan Yung Moon), wearing capes to appear villainous and silly, are tracking down all members of the Yin-Yang clan to exterminate them to prove that they have the greatest Kung Fu. Notice that they fight a young James Tien though later in the film he will age considerably. If you take note of every continuity error, or where the Jackie Chan footage comes from, you will probably have more fun watching this film.

We are then introduced to a nude Jackie Chan getting fish, putting snakes down his pants and killing chickens. These introductory scenes of Lung are courtesy of the previous Lo Wei film Spiritual Kung Fu. Like in the first film Lung's guardian (the ubiquitous James Tien) wants him to get a job. This leads to one of the best scenes in the film that is actually left over from the first Fearless Hyena (I am not sure how much extra scenes were originally cut from the first film, but I've read at least an hour or more though I do not know how much still exists). Lung asks to get a job from Jaws Four (a great part from Dean Shek) in a restaurant and results are similar from his previous job with the other brother (a quadruplet) the coffin salesman. This scene is also infamous because of the post dubbing insults that were added against Jackie like - "Look at your ugly face. Small eyes and a big nose. You(r) hair is even longer than a goddamn monkey" and "That goddam long-haired hippie".

Then we are introduced to the lazy son of Chan Chi Pei (Chan Wai-Lau as the Unicorn in the first film) Ah Tung who does have an interesting Rube Goldberg device that was done before Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Brazil (could they have copied this film? :-) Probably not). He is a disappointment to his father (though he has good inventor skills) and has a weak knowledge of Kung Fu. He is also friends with a local malcontent named Frog (Hon Gwok-Choi). Frog is the comic relief in the film (and we all know what happens to the comic relief in a Hong Kong film).

The plot is vary familiar once you have the introductions of the characters and especially if you have seen Fearless Hyena. Jackie is going to take revenge along with his new found friend (who are they going to take revenge for, well I will not spoil that if it is not obvious). This leads to a shoddy finale that has new scenes filmed mixed with the climax of Fearless Hyena. There is no comparison to the awesome finale of the first film.

After watching this movie for the first time I felt it was OK. After subsequent views I disliked it more and more. The biggest problem is the piecemeal approach to this movie. The doubles they used did not look like Jackie and did not move like Jackie (though the one in the beard was a decent fighter). Obviously Lo and Chan Chuen (the director) did not care about continuity and made lots and lots of mistakes in editing. For (another) example there is a good fire stunt in the film until they cut away and show the stunt man in complete protective garb ruining the decent scene. Oh and when they were not taking music from Raiders of the Lost Ark they were using a horrid electronic soundtrack.

The pluses of this film are the contraptions that Lazy Tung creates and several scenes with the real Jackie, especially the scene with Dean Shek and the out-of-place betting scene involving turning a shirt inside out. Though even the new scenes Jackie does not appear to "giving it all" and sometimes appears to be out-of-place. Though some of that is because those scenes are from different films.

I have a couple of R1 versions of this film. I have one of the full-screen prints (there are many of these out there) and the Columbia version. The full-screen print should definitely be avoided in favor of the Columbia version. This has a great transfer, Cantonese dialog option and looks quite good for this mediocre film. The worst attribute is the ever present malady that afflicts most Hong Kong R1 films - dubtitles.

I WAS TERRIBLY BORED TO DEATH WHEN I SAW THIS .......2004-08-14

TWO CLANS FEUD AND A YOUNG MARTIAL ARTIST [JACKIE CHAN] IS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL. I HAVEN'T SEEN THE ORIGINAL MOVIE, BUT, THIS MOVIE SUCKS! IT'S TOO SLOW, TOO BORING, AND IT'S EASY TO WANNA FALL ASLEEP WHILE WATCHING IT. WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE TO KEEP THIS AWFUL MOVIE. BEING THAT I BOUGHT THIS AS PART OF A TRIPLE FEATURE MARTIAL ARTS DVD THAT ALSO HAS ''THE IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE'' [ANOTHER HORRIBLE MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE] AND ''BLOODFIGHT''. DEFINITELY NOT WORTH THE MONEY OR THE TIME.

Fearless Hyena 2 (1980).......2002-11-12

The story's about these 2 brothers who get together top avenge the murder of their father. The usual.

Lo Wei's attempt to cash in on Jackie.......2001-02-09

It seems that the movie makers used lots of footage from the first movie, making the story choppy and incomplete. Apparently the studio that owns the film rights tried to cash in on first Fearless Hyena movie's success. The real story: The Lo Wei monstrosity. Jackie had just started filming this movie before moving to Golden Harvest. Lo Wei was quite bitter and even got the Triads involved. Jimmy Wang Wu got Jackie out of trouble so Jackie did two favors for Jimmy, making Fantasy Mission Force and Island of Fire. Lo Wei was very bitter over this entire situation so a couple of years later he put together Fearless Hyena 2 from the little filmed footage that he had, outtakes from Fearless Hyena, and new scenes that they shot using a Jackie Chan look-a-like. All of this nonsense is why I don't like this movie that well. It does have Jackie in it and didn't turn out that increadably bad so I'll give Lo Wei that credit. But none for trying to cash in on Jackie's name. A real disappointment in many fans opinions. Go see the first one... and you shouldn't waste your time with this one. With that said... you may feel stupid buying the Fearless Hyena double-video pack. Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware).

This is only Part 1 Reedited.......2000-01-06

This is only Part 1 Reedited and it really is funny at times.I like the editting though.The "two evil characters" are just great to gether.Part one is better though.

Average customer rating:

long-haired hippie
I WAS TERRIBLY BORED TO DEATH WHEN I SAW THIS
Fearless Hyena 2 (1980)
Lo Wei's attempt to cash in on Jackie
This is only Part 1 Reedited

The Fearless Hyena Part 2
Starring: Jackie Chan , Hui Lou Chen , Dean Shek , James Tien , and Austin Wai
Director: Jackie Chan , and Chuen Chan
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005N91I
Release Date: 2001-09-18

Customer Reviews:

long-haired hippie.......2006-11-01

I WAS TERRIBLY BORED TO DEATH WHEN I SAW THIS .......2004-08-14

Fearless Hyena 2 (1980).......2002-11-12

The story's about these 2 brothers who get together top avenge the murder of their father. The usual.

Lo Wei's attempt to cash in on Jackie.......2001-02-09

This is only Part 1 Reedited.......2000-01-06

This is only Part 1 Reedited and it really is funny at times.I like the editting though.The "two evil characters" are just great to gether.Part one is better though.

Average customer rating:

Crapfest
ORIGINAL IS BETTER
Beware - this hyena does not laugh.

The Fearless Hyena 2
Starring: James Tien , Jackie Chan , Dean Shek , Yam Sai-Kun , and Chan Hui-lau
Director: Chuen Chan
Manufacturer: Beverly Wilshire
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005AWQG
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Customer Reviews:

Crapfest.......2006-12-26

Here's the movie. Step one, get some monkeys TOTALLY BLITZED.

Step two, take Fearless Hyena 1. Cut out all the good parts. Add some of the throw away scenes/cuts from any movie previously staring Jackie Chan. Splice in a new plot and make all the characters the children of the previous movies characters (that's why the look EXACTLY the same).

Step three, sell it to an unwitting public and make a few $$$.

ORIGINAL IS BETTER.......2006-02-05

If you want UNCUT ORIGINAL version, ALWAYS look for ORIGINAL LICENSED Production. NOT US Release. Its a foreign film, it should not be US version to begin with~! HELLO!!!?? Why settle for LESS with US Version where they edit and cut so many excellent scenes especially with Jackie's Fighting Scenes. And US Release ruins the speed and sound as well. I have been collecting Jackie Chan's movies both HK and US Release Version for quite some time now. I found HK Version to be MUCH MORE in enjoyable, and HIGHER in Quality. American Market always like to "Americanize" and "Control". Regional Code Regulation thing is one of the example to CONTROL the Market. Why not let everyone enjoy the same HK Original Release move the same way ENTIRE WORLD enjoys it ?? No one makes Hollywood American movies to "French version" or "Chinese Version" ~! This what Americans are doing~! Well, enjoy the cheap "American version" then~! LOL

Beware - this hyena does not laugh........2002-02-05

Whatever you do, DO NOT GET THIS MOVIE! Fearless Hyena II on DVD is one of the worst DVDs I have ever had the unfortunate experience to waste money on. The transfer of this DVD is horrible and whoever is responsible should be forced to watch this over and over; it is THAT BAD!

My impressions:

THE DVD has no menu or special features. Pressing the MENU button on the remote simply causes the playback to flicker for half a second. Pressing the GUIDE button on the remote takes you to a white screen that does nothing and remains blank.
THE TRANSFER is horrible. It appears as if they set up a recording device to record direct to DVD a straight projection of the film on a cheap screen. There are even film scratches and spots and the entire screen is blurred and distorted beyond recognition. The sound is muffled as if you are in a padded cell listening through a tin can. The dubbing of British accents over the dialogue really throws you off when the use odd phrasings. The acting is nonexistent. It seems as if it was cut together in a rush and several scenes are missing. In one scene, you see Jackie Chan walking down a road in a marketplace and moments later you are cut to his character's father in the middle of an action scene as the house burns down around him.

The quality of the movie is less than what you would get taping something off CBS without cable. HORRIBLE RECEPTION HERE!

Customer Reviews:

Don't bother with part II.......2003-10-06

Fearless Hyena is a fun, standard-issue early Jackie film, well worth seeing for any Kung Fu lover. The fights are all humorous, including a lot of great propwork as well as a fight in drag. The film isn't all that special, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it, and it has some great moments. Fearless Hyena II is an absolute dog, however, and I wouldn't recommend it even for free. The storyline is so convoluted it is too confusing even to laugh AT, let alone laugh with. Buy the first film if you like early Chan films, but don't bother with the second.

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