The Fearless Hyena (1979)
The most readily available version of this early Jackie Chan flick has been distractingly dubbed with English accents and lad slang. ("You twit!" snarls a beefy young kung fu master.) This is a film of some historic interest, however, since Chan was directing himself for the first time, going way to... (read more) The most readily available version of this early Jackie Chan flick has been distractingly dubbed with English accents and lad slang. ("You twit!" snarls a beefy young kung fu master.) This is a film of some historic interest, however, since Chan was directing himself for the first time, going way too far in his attempt to inject humor into the genre and distance himself from the grim, ferocious example of Bruce Lee. He has only himself to blame, in other words, for the over-the-top slapstick of the martial arts training sequences--like the one that has him standing on his head, balancing a bowl of scalding hot tea in his crotch. The action scenes are all-out gag-fests in which Chan does more mugging than fighting, appearing in drag in one memorable sequence. One hapless thug even gets squashed into the ground, like a steamrollered cartoon character. --David Chute
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Unrated, 94 min.
Directed by:
Jackie Chan,
Kenneth Tsang
Release Date: Jan 01, 1979
DVD Release Date: Oct 07, 1997
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Jackie Chan doing what he does best. Martial Arts comedy, and a pretty good one at that.
All of Jackie Chan's old school (and I mean, REALLY old) movies are pretty much the same. So if you like one, you like them all. I believe this is the movie where Dreamworks got the inspiration for the dumpling fight scene in Kung Fu Panda. That a... (read more) All of Jackie Chan's old school (and I mean, REALLY old) movies are pretty much the same. So if you like one, you like them all. I believe this is the movie where Dreamworks got the inspiration for the dumpling fight scene in Kung Fu Panda. That animated flick has Jackie Chan and all the greats written all over it. I had this in a 3-pack VHS. I have yet to get it on DVD, now that I no longer own a VCR...
As far as old school Jackie Chan movies go, this is one of his best. Note, this is one of those generic style martial arts movies. Keeping that in mind, if that's the kind of flick you're expecting, this one does not disappoint. You get to see a youn... (read more) As far as old school Jackie Chan movies go, this is one of his best. Note, this is one of those generic style martial arts movies. Keeping that in mind, if that's the kind of flick you're expecting, this one does not disappoint. You get to see a young JC, pretty much in his prime doing what he does best.
Pretty good overall. The pot-stacking training scene is ample evidence of Jackie's comic genius.
One of JC's earliest movies. There's a lot of fighting scenes in this one so if you like your martial arts this should be right up your street.
One of Jackie's earlier films, but it stands up against his later work. The plot is pretty typical of the Wuxia genre, but the action is amazing.
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