The Fearless Hyena (1979) + Fearless Hyena II (1983) [The Criterion Collection]

The Fearless Hyena / Xiao quan guai zhao (1979) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079315/

Director: Jackie Chan
Writer: Jackie Chan, Wei Lo
Stars: Jackie Chan, James Tien, Dean Shek

An auteur emerges as Jackie Chan—working for the first time as director, in addition to serving as cowriter, lead actor, and martial-arts choreographer—takes full charge of his on-screen image. Perfecting the archetypal Chan character, he stars here as a rapscallion student of his martial-arts-master grandfather (Hong Kong cinema legend James Tien) who uses his kung-fu prowess to fight challengers for money—until a personal tragedy forces him to get serious. Experimenting with various lenses and camera setups, Chan maximizes the action’s visual impact, while unleashing some of his most innovative fight choreography in a stunning, whirlwind display of “emotional kung fu.”


Fearless Hyena II / Long teng hu yue (1983) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085864/

Director: Chuan Chen
Writer: Wei Lo
Stars: Jackie Chan, Dean Shek, James Tien

By the early 1980s, Jackie Chan’s popularity made him box-office gold. Thus when, midway through filming the sequel to his hit The Fearless Hyena, Chan walked off the production to defect to rival studio Golden Harvest, producer Lo Wei opted to complete the film with the help of stunt doubles and recycled footage. The result—the tale of two lazy cousins (Chan and Austin Wai Tin-chi) who join forces to avenge the deaths of their fathers—may not be pure Chan, but there are plenty of loony pleasures (including our hero fighting an adversary with his feet!) to be had.



Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar:
Originally tapped as a potential successor to Bruce Lee, Hong Kong martial-arts phenom Jackie Chan soon established his own unique screen persona, blending goofball slapstick and bone-crunching kung fu into intricate feats of supercharged athleticism. Tracing his rise from breakout star to full-fledged auteur, these six unabashedly silly, unstoppably entertaining early-career highlights find Chan refining the lovably mischievous image that would make him a global icon, while also assuming greater creative control over his projects—first as his own martial-arts choreographer, and later as a writer-director who set a thrilling new standard for daredevil action comedy.

Extras:
- Audio commentary on "The Fearless Hyena" by Hong Kong cinema expert and producer Frank Djeng
- Interview from 2005 with Hong Kong cinema critic Paul Fonoroff about producer-director Lo Wei (9:49)
- "The Fearless Hyena" trailer 1 (4:44)
- "The Fearless Hyena" trailer 2 (2:05)
- "Fearless Hyena II" trailer (3:50)