Lo Wei Movies

Four years after his rift with actor/director Jackie Chan, triad-linked Hong Kong producer Lo Wei hired Chan Chuen to direct this paste-up sequel to The Fearless Hyena, consisting primarily of outtakes, found footage, and hastily conceived linking material. James Tien, the grandfather in the first film, plays Old Chan, who must run from his home along with his reprobate son Lung (Chan) when the Heaven and Earth Society declares war on the Yin Yang Clan. The pair looks for Lung's uncle, another member of the clan, and enters rigorous training to prepare themselves for their impending battle with the Heaven and Earth forces, led by the original film's General Yen, Yam Sai-kun. Chan Hui-lau co-stars with Austin Wai and Dean Shek. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Chan Chuen directed this story about the many problems besetting Hong Kong youth when they reach that "energetic" age of 21. One poor rich kid has parents who do not really care much about him and another suffers under considerable stress, yet another fellow has to live down the stigma of his mother's profession (she is a high-class hooker), and although a young auto mechanic is not economically in the same rarified strata as these wealthy scions, he likes to hang out with them anyway. This world seems almost too secure to last for long, but the bored young men continue in their pursuits of auto racing and disco dancing as though nothing else mattered. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Jackie Chan stars in this uncharacteristically somber early work helmed by the legendary martial arts director Lo Wei. When kung-fu master San-thye is killed by the nefarious Chung Chien-kuen (Yam Sai-kwoon) of the Patience family, his student Tang How-yuen (Chan) takes San-thye's widow and his daughter (Nora Miao Ker-hsiu) with him on his quest for vengeance. Once Tang tracks down Chung, he reluctantly agrees to give his master's killer three days time to prepare. When he returns, Tang learns that Chung sawed off his own leg rather than fight the strapping lad. Though deeply disappointed, Tang has other things to worry about. The villainous Wei clan has poisoned San-thye's widow and holds the only known antidote. Eventually, the family convinces Tang to help them fight the Patience clan. Yet when their activities grow ever more devious and dishonest, Tang finds himself caught between the two warring clans. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Jackie Chan's first directorial assignment is a showcase for its courageous star, whose considerable reputation rests on his near-masochistic willingness to accept incredible amounts of physical punishment in order to entertain an audience, and, as the title suggests, his ability to laugh about it. Chan plays Shing Lung, a talented but lazy young fighter who disobeys his grandfather's orders not to fight. This proves costly, as the brutal General Yen (Yam Sai-kwoon) is slaughtering all of Shing's grandfather's anti-Ching clan. As soon as Yen hears of Shing's unique fighting style, he hunts down the grandfather (James Tien) and kills him. Shing has to take various jobs (including one as a second-hand coffin salesman) and disguise himself as a pauper and a woman until he is ready to fight the general. Chan Hui-lau plays the crippled master known as the Unicorn, who trains Shing in a deadly form of fighting called "emotional kung-fu," which uses laughter and tears as secret weapons. After a lengthy training sequence in which the long-suffering Chan does 14 sit-ups upside-down without a cut while loudly slamming his back into a tree after each, Shing finally takes on the general and his trio of assistants. For this film, Chan returned to producer Lo Wei's studio to fulfill a contract, then refused to work for the studio again. The producer managed to cobble together a paste-up sequel, Fearless Hyena 2, but was so incensed at Chan that he reportedly used his triad ties to put out a contract on the star, forcing Chan to work in Taiwan for some time rather than returning to Hong Kong. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Directed by Lo Wei, Killer Meteors is based on a serial by Gu Long, and marks one of Jackie Chan's earliest roles -- namely, the villainous Hua-Wa Bin, one of the two men in the world well versed in a top-secret weapon. Led to believe that his own wife poisoned him, Hua-Wa Bin (Chan) hires "Killer Meteor" Mei Hsi-Ho (Wang Yu) to kill his wife and retrieve the antidote for the poison, despite the fact that Mei has always been his personal nemesis. Complications ensue when it turns out that Hua-Wa's wife is being guarded by a gang of some of the world's most skilled warriors around. Not only that, but her elite bodyguards were armed with a mysterious weapon capable of vaporizing anyone who crossed their paths. Before long, Hua-Wa is forced to jump into the fray in hopes of saving his own precarious existence. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Jackie Chan stars in the martial arts action film Shaolin Wooden Men. Little Mute (Chan) refuses to speak after seeing his father murdered. He becomes the pupil of an ex-convict who teaches him kung fu. Eventually he studies Gliding Snake and Drunken Master styles at a Shaolin Monastery. After completing the exhausting 108 wooden men test, Chan is ready to get his revenge. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A group of bumbling low-lives antagonizes the Tattooed Dragon in this chop-socky bit called, strangely enough, Tattooed Dragon. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

One of the best action films starring the legendary Bruce Lee, this movie features the martial artist as Chen Chen, who returns to his former school in early 20th century Shanghai when he learns that his beloved instructor has been murdered. While probing the man's death and seeking vengeance, Chen discovers that a drug smuggling operation, a rival school, and simmering racial tensions between Chinese and Japanese locals are factors in the nefarious dealings at his alma mater and in his master's slaying. Chen's got his work cut out for him as he takes on assassins of both races, and even a towering Russian. Variously titled The Chinese Connection and The Iron Hand, Fist of Fury features stunt work by a young Jackie Chan (who served as Lee's double). The film was remade two and a half decades later as Fist of Legend (1999), with Jet Li in the role of Chen. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Fist of Fury director Lo Wei keeps the action flowing and the body blows flying in this epic tale of revenge and brotherly love featuring Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon swordsman Cheng Pei-pei. The same killers who murdered Yen Lai's father have overrun the Teng Lung Manor, and now Lai's only hope for revenge is to reunite her five brothers. But her siblings have all been separated since childhood, and brining them back together promises to be nearly as formidable a task as defeating the nefarious Lung-Chen feng and his gang. As the fight gets underway, however, old bonds are soon strengthened through the mutual hunger for revenge. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide