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龍騰虎躍 (1983)
Fearless Hyena Part II


Reviewed by: Masterofoneinchpunch
Date: 09/25/2006
Summary: That long-haired hippie


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. Though if you did buy this film you are either a Jackie Chan completest and/or have masochistic tendencies to watch mediocre cinematic blunders (like me) so dubtitles are the least of your worry.

Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: mrblue
Date: 10/08/2003

A horrible, horrible film. Chan got so pissed at Lo's inept direction that he walked off halfway through filming, but Lo finished anyway, using a stunt double and unused footage from the first film. The plot has something to do about two brothers getting revenge on a gang for killing their dad. Even diehard Chan fans should avoid this one.


Reviewed by: Inner Strength
Date: 01/12/2002
Summary: Pretty bad

Not much to this at all, supposedly a sequel to the original, but the story is not continued, or even about the same characters. Waste of time, comedy was very minimul and was more aimed at a serious kund fu movie, which is less than average.

Rating (out of 5): 2

(This rating is based on the year & genre, so don't think it's based as a comparison on new releases etc.)


Reviewed by: STSH
Date: 09/15/2001
Summary: Half and half

The first half is a complete waste, and is little more than padding. There is practically no action, nor does Jackie do anything but weak comedy. Nor is there much in the way of character development.

The fu starts around the 45 minute mark, and is of a pretty good and entertaining standard.

The construction of this film is simply awful. According to I AM JACKIE CHAN, the film had only been partly shot when Jackie left Lo Wei, and JC was unable to stop the release of the completed product, which was made up with offcuts of the original and extra footage shot later. And it shows.

Far inferior to the original, which also wasn't one of Jackie's great works. If you watch the first half without fast-forwarding, you're either a masochist or have too much spare time. Life's too short ! Jump to the 45 minute mark and enjoy.

Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: SBates
Date: 01/20/2001
Summary: Used Footage from part one!

This movie isn't terrible, even though it uses much footage from part one for the fight scenes, and uses a Jacky double for many scenes (I guess Jacky had his falling out with Lo Wei during the filming). Quite a pointless story, but there are enough funny bits and fight scenes to move things along, and the villainous duo of Heaven and Earth (played by Yen Si-Kuan and an actor I don't know) are suitably nasty. **1/2


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

Almost the same movie as the first "Fearless Hyena", except throw in some guy that can make pretty cool traps using pulleys and levers.

(7.25/10)



[Reviewed by Dale Whitehouse]


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

Marginal improvement on the first film with Jackie this time out to seek revenge for the death of his father.

(3/10)



[Reviewed by Dave Warner]


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

Sequel to the first film Chan and his brother out to avengethe death of their father in this continuing story of the clash between rival gangs the "Ying/Yang" and the "Heaven and Earth".

(3/5)



[Reviewed by Elliot's Guide to Films on Video]