Episode 232 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Fearless Hyena 2 (1983)

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One stage of Jackie Chan’s career comes to an awkward conclusion in FEARLESS HYENA 2, with producer Lo Wei taking old footage (from the first Fearless Hyena, along with some bits from Spiritual Kung Fu) along with some a few new scenes filmed before Jackie’s controversial move to Golden Harvest to create something predictably incoherent. Filled with actors doubling Jackie (in disguise), pieces that don’t quite fit together, and the introduction of Austin Wai as Tung, a mechanical genius with an automatic house, it makes for a bizarre and often baffling viewing experience without ever becoming entirely unwatchable. Have a listen and see if you agree!

Fearless Hyena 2 is currently available to stream on The Criterion Channel and is available as part of the Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar set in the Criterion Collection.

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Episode 171 – We Do Our Own Stunts – The Young Master (1980)

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On a landmark episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS, Jackie Chan has signed a huge contract with Golden Harvest which promises creative and financial freedom, and he kicks things off with the 1980 kung-fu comedy THE YOUNG MASTER! While at the same time his old boss Lo Wei wants his now-bankable star back and is willing to work with Triads to make it happen. UH OH! It’s a perilous time in Jackie’s career and will soon push him off to America for a while, but in the meantime we can enjoy this enormously entertaining, fight-filled film which features Yuen Biao, Tien Feng, Hwang In-Shik, and Shih Kien! CHECK IT OUT!

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Episode 158 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Dragon Fist (1979)

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After a lengthy, contentious working relationship, Jackie Chan’s time with Lo Wei finally comes to an end (sort of!) with 1979’s DRAGON FIST, a film that had been sitting on the shelf since well before Jackie’s SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW kung-fu breakthrough. The film features a very stoic Jackie attempting to get revenge for his master’s death, which all sounds awfully standard, but the plot gets a lot more twisty as it goes, including Jackie reluctantly working for a group of bad guys before going BER-ZERK in the final ten minutes. We also chat about some of Jackie’s complications with trying to get out of his contract, and his upcoming excursion to America. CHECK IT OUT!

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Episode 147 – We Do Our Own Stunts – The Fearless Hyena (1979)

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On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS Jackie Chan’s relationship with Lo Wei comes to an end.. sort of.. with Jackie’s directorial debut THE FEARLESS HYENA! Filled with fights (choreographed by Jackie), and featuring perhaps his best performance of the era, it’s a film that owes a lot to his recent successes (with SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW and DRUNKEN MASTER) but also shows his growing confidence and range as a martial artist and creative force. We trace the film’s history, how it affected Jackie’s relationship with Lo Wei, and go through what we’ll be covering in the first few months of 2023. CHECK IT OUT!

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Episode 125 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)

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On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS, we continue our chronological look at the career of Jackie Chan and – surprise – Jackie is famous now! After the massive success of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, Jackie returns to Lo Wei who decides to dust some unreleased Jackie features off the shelf and rush them into cinemas. The first is the supernatural kung fu comedy SPIRITUAL KUNG FU, which features five bright white “ghosts” in red fright wigs (who arrived on a meteor) teaching Jackie the five style fists, while a murder mystery plays out in the shaolin temple! Features Jackie shoving living animals down his pants and ghost busting (via urination). CHECK IT OUT!

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Episode 104 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978)

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Over 10 episodes of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS we’ve seen Jackie Chan struggle for respectability and recognition in martial arts films. There have been high and low points, but we always knew his launch to stardom was coming.. and now here it is! On this episode we’re looking at Yuen Woo-ping’s SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW, the film that was Jackie’s first step towards international stardom. But how did it come about? We look at how Jackie was leant to Seasonal Films, his first meeting with producer Ng See-yuen, his history with Yuen Woo-ping’s family and plenty more. CHECK IT OUT!

Check out the entire WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS archive right here.

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Episode 94 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Magnificent Bodyguards (1978)

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We made it! Ten(-ish) movies deep, Jackie Chan’s career is floundering. Desperate for a hit, Lo Wei pairs him with James Tien and Bruce Leung for a western-inspired fantasy action epic featuring bizarre twists, excessive face-ripping, and music shamelessly stolen from Star Wars and.. heck.. let’s make the whole thing 3D! MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS may have been Jackie’s final film before his breakthrough role in SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW, but it’s far from forgettable. Let’s check it out!

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Episode 81 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin (1978)

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On a landmark episode of WE DO OUR STUNTS we continue our chronological look at the career of Jackie Chan with his first great movie: 1978’s SNAKE & CRANE ARTS OF SHAOLIN! Directed by Chen Chi Hwa (who would later collaborate with Jackie on POLICE STORY), the film is about a marital arts student (played by Jackie) who is guarding “Eight Steps of the Snake and Crane”, a martial arts manual. Filled with excellent choreography and a sarcastic sense of humor, we’re inching ever closer to the combination of kung-fu and comedy that would turn Jackie into an international star. Check it out!

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Episode 72 – We Do Our Own Stunts – To Kill With Intrigue (1977)

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On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS, a chronological Jackie Chan podcast, Jackie is still stuck in Korea with Lo Wei who is determined to make him a star. His next attempt is 1977’s TO KILL WITH INTRIGUE, an often baffling revenge film featuring Hsu Feng as a memorably sadistic villain who falls in love with Jackie’s Lei Shao-feng! There’s plenty of other twists and turns and both odd AND impressive martial arts. Check it out!

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Episode 59 – We Do Our Own Stunts – The Killer Meteors (1976)

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On this episode of We Do Our Own Stunts we’re continuing our look at the early career of Jackie Chan with the Jimmy Wang Yu-starring THE KILLER METEORS, which features the first collaboration between Jackie and Wang Yu (though their fates would entwine a few years later) as well as Jackie playing a VILLAIN! It’s a bizarre, and sometimes incomprehensible, high-flying martial arts epic, but it’s still a lot of fun. Let’s check it out!

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