View Full Version : Early Jackie Chan films?
I've got a couple, and was wondering if there are any people would recommend I get earlier than others (opinion wise).
I'm talking his 70s films like the films he did for Lo Wei, and stuff like Hand of Death, Killer Meteors (a Wang Yu film, I know) and Magnificent Bodyguards.
Being the completist I am, I'd love to obtain as many as possible but I'd like some opinions on the subject, and for the record I have Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master.
Thanks.
TibetanWhiteCrane
02-04-2008, 07:49 PM
The only one I like of his, from that era is DRAGON FIST!
bruceleeclones
02-04-2008, 08:12 PM
My personal favs from the Lo Wei movies in order are
Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin
Fearless Hyena
Dragon Fist
Spiritual Kung Fu
Shaolin Wooden Men
Half A Loaf of Kung Fu
AlbertV
02-04-2008, 09:38 PM
Killer Meteors was pretty bad. Chan, as you would guess, played the villain and it was an attempt to relauch Wang Yu, but failed.
Magnificent Bodyguards I would recommend not just for Chan fanatics, but he gets to team with Leung Siu-Lung in the film and my favorite fight involves them using bells to defeat a band of evil monks.
Otherwise, bruceleeclones pretty much summed it up.
Hand of Death I liked. Tan Tao-Liang was the star and Chan was his partner, a spear expert. Sammo looked laughable with his buckteeth. Yuen Biao doubled for Tan on some of the more acrobatic moves.
Hand of Death I have, just threw that in as I had a mental blank, same with Magnificent Bodyguards. I had the opportunity to purchase Magnificent Bodyguards a few weeks ago, I got other movies instead though. I hope to see it somewhere again soon though.
Are those films from the Lo Wei era available to purchase at reasonable prices? I don't want to pay exorbitant sums for them at this point.
Fearless Hyena I've seen, is Fearless Hyena 2 any good or is it just using the same footage as the original (as I've heard).
Thanks for the opinions, I'll have to do some searching now!
bruceleeclones
02-05-2008, 10:15 PM
I think theres about 20mins of new jackie chan footage in Fearless Hyena 2, the rest is from other jc movies and part one.
All those ones I mentioned are from when he was under contract with Lo Wei. You should be able to pick up the old jc movies cheap, most are out on budget labels. Although the remastered versions are now getting released by hong kong legends in the UK.
I'd steer clear of Eagle Shadow Fist from his early work, as he's only got a small role in it, and it's a bad move too.
Morgoth Bauglir
02-06-2008, 05:17 AM
To Kill with Intrigue is worth seeing. Not a great movie, but I loved it.
All those ones I mentioned are from when he was under contract with Lo Wei. You should be able to pick up the old jc movies cheap, most are out on budget labels. Although the remastered versions are now getting released by hong kong legends in the UK.
Yeah, I just got their New Fist of Fury release. (As you can telll from my new avatar :cool:) That is one of the most amazing prints! They did a great job. I still have yet to see the transfer for HKL's Shaolin Wooden Men :D I'm excited for that one. Apparently DD just bought that one for release in October, frankly, I can't wait for that one.
I enjoyed the film, I just didn't like him in the film. They put him as the principal character, when in reality it was Nora Miao. She wasn't all that amazing either, it's just interesting to watch him in '76.
By the way, if you look at New Fist of Fury and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, his eyes changed. Lo Wei told him he was too ugly, so after the box office failure of New Fist of Fury he had eye surgery to make his lids wider shortly before starting with Ng See Yuen. Less 'asian' :( I always hated Lo.
kungfusamurai
02-06-2008, 07:34 PM
All of his films are worth checking out, but out of all of them, I'd say Dragon Fist is the best. If you want the widescreen versions, but not in English or original language, there are the French releases of his films. For english widescreen and/or uncut (like in the case of Dragon Fist) you should seek out the Beverly Wilshire discs. The quality is crappy, but they are like I said w/s and uncut.
I can't really say Lo Wei did a bad thing. It wasn't that Jackie had to look less asian, but you have to admit that when you compare his eyes to other leading stars, they just looked too small. I don't know about in HK, but I think a lot of people view having large eyes as being an attractive quality (sorry to those of you who don't have large eyes). Someone with small beady eyes also appears to be less intelligent or less trustworthy, for some reason. Lo Wei's decision was probably the best thing that happened to Jackie Chan, besides the name change and of course his pairing up with Ng See Yuen.
KFS
The Dragon
02-08-2008, 11:42 AM
Someone should have told Lo Harry Carray wanted his wide frames back.
:cool:
bruceleeclones - I see those versions (dubs) on ebay here all the time. If HKL's releasing them, I'll wait for a quality job.
As for Eagle Shadow Fist, I've seen it. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it (if that makes sense). Is it me or have some of these old films been retitled to cash on his fame (Not Scared To Die -> Eagle Shadow Fist, Police Woman -> Young Tiger/Rumble In Hong Kong)?
As for Fearless Hyena 2 I may steer clear of it, unless I give in and get the boxset from HK that has Fearless Hyena 1 with it.
Morgoth - I'll have to check that out.
Thanks, everybody!
PS. I did notice the eyes.
The Amazing Psycho Per
02-09-2008, 02:59 PM
I can't really say Lo Wei did a bad thing. It wasn't that Jackie had to look less asian, but you have to admit that when you compare his eyes to other leading stars, they just looked too small. I don't know about in HK, but I think a lot of people view having large eyes as being an attractive quality (sorry to those of you who don't have large eyes). Someone with small beady eyes also appears to be less intelligent or less trustworthy, for some reason. Lo Wei's decision was probably the best thing that happened to Jackie Chan, besides the name change and of course his pairing up with Ng See Yuen.
:confused: That's one of the stupidest thing I have ever heard! You don't actually believe that an eye surgery helped his carreer!!! Who the f*** cares what size his eyes are!?!
By the way you should definately stay clear of Fearless Hyena 2... I believe, personnaly, the most watchable movies Jackie has made in that era (of course except DM and SITES) are Snake and crane arts of shaolin and Fearless Hyena, the rest is pretty forgettable or sometimes painful to watch.
AlbertV
02-10-2008, 04:49 AM
I have to agree. Fearless Hyena II was beyond crap. The only new scenes worth mentioning aside from Jackie Chan in the teahouse were scenes involving Austin Wai from Five Superfighters (as Jackie's cousin), Hon Kwok-Choi, and Yen Shi-Kwan and Kwon Young-Moon as the bad guys. As for the finale, they recycled the first film's finale between Chan and Yen and intercut it with Wai taking on Kwon.
Horrible...
In that case I'll definitely skip it.
Was I mistaken in hearing/reading that Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin was getting a Dragon Dynasty release as well as Shaolin Wooden Men?
If not, it shouldn't be too hard to find given some searching..
EDIT: it is.
kungfusamurai
02-11-2008, 12:40 AM
:confused: That's one of the stupidest thing I have ever heard! You don't actually believe that an eye surgery helped his carreer!!! Who the f*** cares what size his eyes are!?!
You may not believe it, but physical appearance in the movie industry is everything. Do you seriously think Jackie Chan pre-surgery would have had the same mass appeal? That's not saying people with small eyes are unattractive. But it can work in one's favor if they do some slight adjusting to their physical appearance, especially if they're hoping to attract a wider audience. And the practise or belief wasn't just isolated to Jackie. If you look at most of the big name chinese movie stars, few or none of them had or have eyes like Jackie did. Whether they had surgery to alter their appearance I cannot say... Anyway, I'm not saying it was something that made or broke his career. It was just one of many factors that came together to work in his favour.
KFS
daisho2004
02-11-2008, 05:07 AM
I seen nobody mentioned "The Young Master" which I thought was pretty good, more of a comedy but it had some good fight scenes in it. Definitely worth adding to your collection.
Just watched Fearless Hyena 2....disappointing...the end fight was atrocious! I was really upset about it.
I seen nobody mentioned "The Young Master" which I thought was pretty good, more of a comedy but it had some good fight scenes in it. Definitely worth adding to your collection.
I've seen a dubbed version, it is a great film. Just waiting to find a subbed dvd over a dubbed one.
AlbertV
02-16-2008, 10:20 PM
I have a subbed version of the film. I have the Universe Video and Laser (Hong Kong) DVD of the film.
Morgoth Bauglir
02-17-2008, 07:53 AM
I prefer the dubbed version. The voice acting is top notch, the music is fits the movie perfectly, and Jackie sings a song at the end.
I found Spiritual Kung Fu for a dollar last week, not a bad movie for a buck. : D
Not at all.
Are the HKL releases of these out yet?
Not at all.
Are the HKL releases of these out yet?
to be honest, Im not really sure
They've already got New Fist of Fury, Shaolin Wooden Men AND Spiritual Kung Fu! :D They're the bomb!
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.545329/qx/details.htm
bruceleeclones
02-19-2008, 01:34 AM
Hong Kong legends have so far released:
Fearless Hyena
Snake and Crane arts of shaolin
New Fist of Fury
Shaolin wooden Men
Dragon Fist
Spiritual Kung Fu
Magnificent Bodyguards
Hand of Death
Hong Kong legends have so far released:
Fearless Hyena
Snake and Crane arts of shaolin
New Fist of Fury
Shaolin wooden Men
Dragon Fist
Spiritual Kung Fu
Magnificent Bodyguards
Hand of Death
Tell me, in order of best to worst. I know my choices, but there's still some left to buy :D
Hong Kong legends have so far released:
Fearless Hyena
Snake and Crane arts of shaolin
New Fist of Fury
Shaolin wooden Men
Dragon Fist
Spiritual Kung Fu
Magnificent Bodyguards
Hand of Death
Will have to track them down, wonder if they're all out here in Australia yet though?
Is there a reliable place from the UK that I can order them from (play doesn't ship here :()?
Will have to track them down, wonder if they're all out here in Australia yet though?
Is there a reliable place from the UK that I can order them from (play doesn't ship here :()?
Best place period is HKFlix.com :cool: That's where I get 'em.
Monk Sante
02-20-2008, 04:59 AM
Try CDWOW they carry these films on the Hong Kong Legends label for a good price. :cool:
gravedigger666
02-20-2008, 09:18 PM
Best place period is HKFlix.com :cool: That's where I get 'em.
awful prices for mostly crap movies.Not much imagination needed to guess which is better purchase;2 Shaws or one old jackie flick:rolleyes:
awful prices for mostly crap movies.
Wow, I'm actually laughing at how wrong you are. Most DVDs on HKFlix have lower prices than their competitors.:rolleyes:
Prices aren't bad there. Wow. May have to pick some up ASAP.
gravedigger666
02-21-2008, 05:39 PM
It depends if you are rich or not..I`m still student,waiting to make money one day.So from $25 to $29 for those movies is not worth it.$10 maybe OK price as those old chans are not good.+I have HK legends of Dragon Lord and Police Story picture quality is not that great either if same with other chans they are worth even less.
Dragon Fist may be worth getting though and I think it`s maybe 1st jackie was choreographer?End fight where Jackie teams up with walking stick dude is good one.
I got Shaolin Wooden Men and New Fist of Fury (HKL) today for $18 (Australian) each.
Not a bad price, but I see what you mean, Gravedigger666.
Monk Sante
02-23-2008, 08:15 PM
Most of Jackie's films from this era are worth getting IMO.
The intro alone makes "Snake Crane Arts of Shaolin" worth getting. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUSG4lkbE8I
:D
Fearless Hyena - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eanvDmCZ62o
Spiritual Kung Fu (this is not the HKL version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJh56G4D-o
gravedigger666
02-23-2008, 08:35 PM
that is excellent intro..What is name of Jackie Chan movie where he has scar in his face?It was made before Snake In Eagles Shadow.
Was Hand of Death filmed around the same time as New Fist of Fury? Noticed Jackie has the 'moustache' in both films.
The Dragon
02-24-2008, 02:52 PM
Most of Jackie's films from this era are worth getting IMO.
True. Because he is now a legend himself, it's great just to have his body of work to appreciate what he's done for the genre. I know I respect the hell out of his early work, when everyone busted their arses, and you had to genuinely know your craft to get anywhere.
Today's Pop Tarts, er- I mean pop stars,:p seemingly are thought of as real action stars. WTF?!!!
Robotech_Master
06-05-2008, 08:06 PM
To Kill with Intrigue is worth seeing. Not a great movie, but I loved it.
Different strokes, I guess. After watching it once, back in my college years, I've always thought of it as "To Kill with Boredom" ever since.
I've seen a dubbed version [of The Young Master], it is a great film. Just waiting to find a subbed dvd over a dubbed one.
At one point I bought a DVD of this out of the cheapie racks somewhere (dollar store maybe), and later discovered it was a hard-subtitled (non-anamorphic) widescreen, probably copied from a laserdisc. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, though I probably should get around to it. All in all, not a bad acquisition for the price, and certainly better than multi-generational VHS.
Robotech_Master
06-05-2008, 08:10 PM
By the way, it seems as though one used to be able to find cheap Jackie Chan films everywhere—two-for-$10 VHS boxes of early Jackie Chan movies (the Lo Wei titles + Police Story 1) that were in every video store and Wal-Mart.
You don't find those anymore, even on DVD, and I kind of miss them. I wonder what happened—did the rights suddenly become worth a lot more money in the wake of his finally breaking into American film in the '90s, and end up in the hands of more "legitimate" importation studios instead?
I believe so. Either that or Fortune Star got wind of it...
Robotech_Master
06-06-2008, 02:33 AM
I think the cheapie Chan packagers are getting desperate. I saw a "Jackie Chan 4-pack" in Best Buy the other day that featured:
Killer Meteors (where Jackie played the bad guy)
a Jackie Chan Lo Wei fight scene compilation
a movie starring Jackie Chan's sifu
a movie starring Jackie Chan's father (as a cook)
Um, yeah.
My personal favs from the Lo Wei movies in order are
Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin
Fearless Hyena
Dragon Fist
Spiritual Kung Fu
Shaolin Wooden Men
Half A Loaf of Kung Fu
That's exactly the list I was thinking of...;)
I just watched snake and crane arts of shaolin after having it lying around for few months and it was damn good. And the leader of the Tang clan was pretty as hell :p
In my opinion it was more entertaining than snake in the eagle's shadow
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