Fearless Hyena
1979/94 mins.
Released by Simitar
Rated: Not Rated(Would probably have received an "R"
rating for strong language and violence)
Starring Jackie Chan, Yen Shi-kwan, Li Kuan, James Tien, and Shih
Tien(aka Shek Kin).
Directed by Jackie Chan
Format: Single Sided/Single Layered-Presented in Fullscreen
format
Reviewed by Robby Cox
E-mail- koi@magicnet.net
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Opening Remarks: This was the first movie where Jackie Chan
finally had control of his own destiny. He was forced to make
horrible movies for the Hong Kong producer Lo Wei. Jackie finally
got control on Fearless Hyena. He wrote the screenplay and
directed. This was one of the first Kung-Fu comedies. It's very
funny, but yet has some awesome fight scenes.
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Movie Quality: Let me first state that I own about 36 Jackie Chan
films on video and DVD and Fearless Hyena is by far the best of
Jackie Chan's early work. This is the first film where you can
see the comical fights that we've all come to love. This movie
also has some seriously funny dialogue, something that it is
noticeably absent from most of Jackie's own screenplays. Let me
make this point clearer, the scripts that Jackie writes himself,
are not as good as the one's he doesn't. Anyways, this movie is
great. Jackie plays an orphan who is told not to show anyone his
Kung-Fu. So he does what any kid who can't show off his Kung-Fu
would do. He gets a job as a Kung-Fu instructor. But since he's
not allowed to show anyone his Kung-Fu, he dons disguises and
then shows off his Kung-Fu mastery. This involves Jackie dressing
like an old man and a girl. These are the best fights of the film
and show Jackie using lots of props to fight with. There is also
an awesome fight at the end of the film where Jackie fights the
man who killed his family, Jackie actually gets a clump of his
hair cut off by a sword. Let me recap the plot for you, Jackie
can't show anyone his Kung-Fu, so he gets a job teaching it, he
then has to don disguises so no one can recognize him, his uncle
finds him at the Kung-Fu school and then gets killed by the man
who killed the rest of Jackie's family, then Jackie gets revenge
on the man who killed Jackie's family. Got it? Good. Anyways,
this is an excellent old-school Kung-Fu movie and it's also one
of his best early movies.
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Video Quality: Simitar did a great job with the video on this
disc. I have the VHS version of this film, as well, and it looks
like crap. The source video is scratched and the colors look very
dull. Simitar went back and digitally remastered this film and it
shows. The colors are very bright and everything just looks
great. The video is very clear and this movie really doesn't show
any signs of it's age. You have to remember that this movie is 20
years old, but it looks great on DVD. Way to go Simitar, you
could've just stuck the original VHS movie on the disc and
shipped it to stores, but you seriously upgraded the video :)
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Sound Quality: If only Simitar would've spent as much time as
they did on the video as on the sound, this disc would be great.
The disc says that it is in stereo, but it doesn't really sound
like it. The audio sounds about like a bad VHS tape. The music
and voices are pretty clear, but sometimes they sound garbled. I
wish Simitar would have gone back and remastered that sound into
Dolby Pro Logic or DD 5.1, but they didn't. :(
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Extras: There really aren't any extras on this disc. There's a
Jackie Chan biography and filmography, but the bio and
filmography on New Line's "Mr. Nice Guy" disc blows
this one away. There's also an interview with Jackie Chan
himself. This interview is one that Jackie did at a press junket
for Supercop. The same interview is on the VHS version of Dragon
Fist, also by Simitar.
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Improve: Better sound, more extras.
RIYL: Armour of God, Mr. Nice Guy, Jackie Chan's First Strike,
Jackie Chan's Who Am I ?, Fearless Hyena II(Nowhere near as good
as this one and mainly features a Jackie lookalike)
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Overall Opinion: Fearless Hyena is a great disc for the
price($12.99), but don't expect a Special Edition or anything.
This disc is the best way to see one of the master's finest early
works. Simitar gets a serious nod for remastering the video, but
the sound could use some work. Overall, nice job Simitar.
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Movie Quality: ****
Video Quality: *****
Sound Quality: **
Extras: *
Personal Opinion: ****
Total: 16 out of 25
Final Score: 64 %