Title: Fearless Hyena (1979)
Alternate Title: Revenge of the Dragon
Genre: Action Comedy
Plot Synopsis
Ching Hing-lung lives under the watchful eye of his ailing kung fu master grandfather, but he neglects discipline and drifts into gambling and street brawls. He later accepts an offer to teach at a struggling martial arts school, unknowingly drawing the attention of dangerous enemies from his grandfather’s past. When tragedy strikes and the family’s hidden legacy is exposed, Hing-lung must train under a mysterious master and face down those who destroyed his lineage.
Cast and Crew
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Director: Jackie Chan
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Writers: Jackie Chan, Wei Lo
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Cast:
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Jackie Chan as Shing Lung
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James Tien as Ching Pang-peì
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Dean Shek as The Coffin Seller
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Lee Kwan as Tee Cha
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Chan Wai-lau as Unicorn
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Yen Shi-kwan as Yen Tin-fa
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IMDb Link: Fearless Hyena (1979)
Reviews from Letterboxd
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Rafael “Mister Movie” Jovine – ★★★★☆
“All in all, while it can get a little silly and it starts a little slow for me, once it hits and finds its footing, it’s a hell out of fun.” -
Timelord007 – ★★★★☆
“‘The Fearless Hyena’ is Jackie Chan’s directional debut & what it lacks in its wafer thin plot it more than makes up for with its fight sequences which truly are spectacular, tonally the movie’s all over the place with the overuse of comedic humour one minute to murderous bloody carnage the next but this is a solid kick ass kung fu flick & delivers plenty of entertaining hokum.” -
Justin Decloux – ★★★★☆
“This movie is so relentlessly unfunny it sort of comes round the other side.” -
theironcupcake – ★★★½
“I also appreciate that Fearless Hyena was Chan’s debut as a director of both action and acting, so all things considered he still does pretty well; I wish that the fighting-in-drag bit played better for me, considering what we’ve later come to learn about Chan’s misogynist views and the oft-discussed abandonment of Etta Ng Chok Lam, the daughter he had from an affair in the late 90s — this tends to be described as an example of homophobia since Etta identifies as a lesbian, though I gather he has denied her as family since her birth — but I can still try to separate the art from the artist when I want.”
Meta Description:
Jackie Chan’s directorial debut blends martial arts and comedy in a revenge-driven tale of a wayward student who must reclaim his legacy and battle his grandfather’s ancient foes.
