The Fearless Hyena (笑拳怪招) is a 1979 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Jackie Chan, produced by Hsu Li-hwa, and written by Jackie Chan. The film stars Jackie Chan, James Tien, Dean Shek, Lee Kwan, and Chan Wai-lau, with music composed by both Frankie Chan and Chen Hsua-chi. It was theatrically released in February 1979 for Hong Kong and distributed by Lo Wei Motion Picture Co., Ltd. and Fortune Star.
Background:
“In this directorial debut, Jackie plays Lung, a talented fighter but prefers to spend his time loafing around and picking fights, despite orders from his grandfather (James Tien) not to fight. Unknown to him, a brutal general (Yam Sai Kun) has been slaughtering all the people from his grandfather’s clan. When the general recognizes Lung’s style of kung fu during one of his street fights, he hunts down Lung’s grandfather and kills him.
A grieving Lung plans his vengeance and is aided by crippled kung fu master who imparts to him a new kind of “emotional kung fu”. Mentally and physically ready, Lung finally seeks out the wicked general to see justice done.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, August 2020.
Jackie Chan has had a very successful career throughout the past couple of decades, and it’s amazing to see how many films he was involved in that honestly I feel are not as well known as his Hollywood acting roles. His work in Hong Kong cinema has a ton of classics, great action and fun entertainment throughout.
UK distributor 88 Films continues to bring the best possible release they can make for Hong Kong cinema. Their recent titles Crime Story, Miracles: The Canton Godfather, and The Protector have all sold out on their 3000 unit first print run and those had only lasted at least 4-6 months since their initial release. 88 Films other titles featuring Jackie Chan like Armour of God II: Operation Condor, Dragons Forever, and Heart of Dragon will honestly sell out at any moment now. And let’s not forget the other titles in the Hong Kong cinema catalogue like John Woo’s Heroes Shed No Tears and the upcoming Jet Li’s The Master to add a variety into the mix.
The Fearless Hyena is Jackie Chan’s first directed film and was given a number of names for international releases such as “Revenge of the Dragon” for America. This is one of many films that did get a UK release years ago and it’s nice to see it return with a 2K restoration on the Blu-ray format. It was previously distributed by Kiseki Films, Prism Leisure Corp. Plc, and Revelation for VHS, followed by Eastern Heroes and Hong Kong Legends for DVD.
First Print Edition Contents:
88 Films follows a trend similar to Arrow Video and Eureka Entertainment where they offer a first print edition that includes an o-card slipcase and a couple of physical extras to go with the package.
For The Fearless Hyena, we have first print items that are very similar to 88 Films’ earlier releases from the Jackie Chan line-up like Dragons Forever and Heart of Dragon, which involves a nice detailed booklet with artwork, illustrations and more information on the behind-the-scenes and etc.
The SRP is £24.99 and has 3000 unit print run. Once the print run is out of stock, they’ll re-release the film without the O-card slipcase and booklet.
Physical Contents:
- Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring unique artwork by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
- Booklet by Andrew Staton
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 10th August 2020
88 Films’ Blu-ray release for The Fearless Hyena has one version of the film compared to other Jackie Chan releases, running at 98 minutes from its original Hong Kong cut.
Audio options include Cantonese with English subtitles, as well as the classic English dub in both mono and a 5.1 surround mix. The Cantonese audio is available in both its original mono form, and an alternative version that uses the Japanese “Crazy Monkey” music cues from its Japanese release.
The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Cantonese (Original) DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Cantonese (Alternative) DTS 1.0 English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2:35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Trailer
- Japanese Trailer
- TV Spot
Unboxing Photos:
And here’s a quick look at my 88 Films Jackie Chan so far:
Final Notes:
The Fearless Hyena is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The first print edition is available to order on Amazon UK and the official 88 Films website.
The Normanic Vault 
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