User reviews

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.

The second movie compared to the first, is not as good as the first, even though Jackie is good and they try to devise new tricks, eg, Jackie defeats a guy with a pair of slippers, and there is a hilarious shirt tugging twisting scene.

However, the movie still falls a little flat.

Martial rating 6 out of 10

Overall Rating 4 out of 10

There some good bits pieced together from outtakes and other films; but this is not Fearless Hyena II, there IS no fearless Hyena II.

After Jackie Chan finally got out of his contract with Lo Wei, Lo Wei too the le4ft-overs from Chan's last film with Lo Wei's production company (fearless Hyena, obviously), which Chan himself had written and directed, and pasted it together with no rhyme or reason other than to make some extra dough.

A more cynical hack than Lo Wei could hardly be imagined.

Fearless Hyena is an excellent film.

This "II" thing - total junk. Skip it.

The Fearless hyena II as being reviewed here is Fearless Hyena I in Holland which was distributed by Prime Time. This is a big mistake, because Fearless Hyena I (II in Holland) was done by Jackie himself (fighting scenes) and in nr II he was doubled some times and there were even scenes cut and pasted from part one.

This is the last Lo Wei film that Jackie worked on. He walked out in the middle of the filming and as a result, the film was finished with a Jackie look-a-like and existing footage from Fearless Hyena. The various plot lines are connected by the thinnest of threads and come together to a mildly climactic final fight (which most of is taken from Fearless Hyena). This film is only recommended if you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon and you watch it with your eyes closed and your ears plugged.

I only saw this for my idol Jackie Chan. But even before I decided to rent it I knew it wasn't going to be very good since Jackie plays a villain.

The first thing any viewer would notice is that the cover is very misleading. According to the cover Jackie is star of this movie, even though all he has is a supporting role. In every scene, I found myself trying to catch glimpses of Jackie, but of course he was only a supporting actor.

Now keep in mind, I've seen many of Jackie's movies including some of the oldest ones. But even with that impartial opinion the fighting just wasn't very good either. It could stem from the fact that Director Lo Wei just wouldn't let go of the past. He was the man who directed the classic martial arts film 'Enter the Dragon' starring the legendary Bruce Lee. In a way, this was just another attempt to make Jackie into another Bruce Lee clone. He was even given the name 'Sing Lung' (already a dragon) for his movies with Lo Wei productions.

Another problem with this movie is the big mole Jackie had to wear on his face. I've read his book 'Jackie Chan: My life in Action' and he never mentions what the decision for that was. This could make viewers uncomfortable or something of that sort whenever they see him. I know I couldn't ignore it.

By the end I really wouldn't be able to recommend to anyone. Unless you're like me since I'm starting a Jackie Chan movie collection. And this would be a very important part of it since this was Jackie's last unfinished film with Lo Wei Productions and was released only after Jackie became a big time star in Asia under another production company. This made Director Lo Wei, who had hit some very hard times by then, finish the movie using a look-a-like and stock footage of others movies that could be used.

If you'd really like to see it, I would say rent it first then decide what you'd like to do.

Final Score: 3/10

(1983) Fearless Hyena II DUBBED MARTIAL ARTS PERIOD PIECE COMEDY

After the success of first "The Fearless Hyena" movie, (the director of some Bruce Lee films- Fist of Fury and The Chinese Connection) films by the name of Lo Wei or Wei Lo took the opportunity to copy and then paste sequences from the first "Fearless Hyena" film or use the extra scenes that weren't used on the first one to put this second one together, and then calling it a sequel to the "1979" blockbuster hit. Advertised on the poster as Jackie Chan being in this film when he clearly has "nothing" to do with this sequel or project what-so-ever, for he had no intentions making a sequel at all! Jackie Chan of course tried to prevent this from happening by taking Lo Wei or Wei Lo to court and unsuccesfully wasn't able to do anything about it! Anybody who have "not" seen the first, should be able to enjoy this film, but anybody who has seen the first "Fearless Hyena" should be able to recognize what scenes were reused and vice versa. All I can remember was that the ending of this sequel was directly copied and then paste from the first one! Also if you can afford to waste a dollar for curiosity sake then by all means! Zero stars.

Jackie had well and truly left the Lo Wei Motion Picture Co when this hodgepodge was put together, a mindless cash-in that mixes scenes of Chan with that of a disguised double, creating a truly awful sequel that bares little resemblance to its successful predecessor. Some actors return (Yen Si Kuan seems to have come back from the dead) with the story concerning the Heaven and Earth fighters who wipe out any combatants of rival styles, of which includes Jackie's father and summarily the former seeks vengeance – but it's all pretty bad stuff, proof if proof be needed of this being Lo Wei's last grab at credibility which ultimately concludes as a wasted exercise. Thankfully the real Jackie Chan went on to live, and work, happily ever after.

Don't even bother starting this movie. Bunch of nonsense.

This is not really a sequel to Fearless Hyena, but, a reboot of the first movie. There are so many controversies behind this movie. Even Jackie Chan himself wanted this movie not to release. Not really a good movie.

Compared to Fearless Hyena this movie lacks almost everything that made its predecessor so good. Granted it has a few pleasing fight scenes, but after that it's complicated plot lines and characters, makes the movie hard to watch. I can understand why Jackie left the movie halfway through. The obvious double for Jackie and the footage from the original Fearless Hyena make the final fight scene laughable. Watch Fearless Hyena before watching Fearless Hyena 2. The movie isn't a complete waste, there are several amusing sequences, but overall the movie is a flop.

jackie didnt want this film released, and hes only really in it a little of the time. so i hated it. jackie should have ot his way and this should have never been released. because chan is the man and is always right. by the way, this is a terrible movie. if it had chan more, i might have liked it more. if chan would have endorsed it, i might have liked it more. but he isnt, and he didnt, so im with him all the way.

This was a somewhat disappointing companion to the original Fearless Hyena made in 1979. There are too many plot lines that finally come together at the end in the movie's only martial arts action. I must say that this half hour scene almost makes up for the rest of the movie, but I find myself demanding more of Jackie Chan. The same characters from the first movie are back, but in a totally unrelated story and in different roles. This is still a good enough movie, but given the quality of its namesake I expected a little more out of it.