集數 : 20集

播映日期 : 6/7/92

監製 : 張乾文

編審 : 歐冠英

故事大網 :

In some ways, "Eastern Hero" is a very kiddy series. It is basically a TVB version of "Batman." But it offers some great laughs, enticing moments, very youthful Gigi Lai, very vivacious Hacken Lee, and of course, Eddie Kwan in his post-80's-non-villain role. This series is set during the Shanghai era.

Eddie is considered a hero because he always saves people from danger and punishes baddies. When he is performing his heroic tasks, he always wears black dragon costumes. So people refer to him as lung ying hup. But people don't suspect that the true identity of lung ying hup is some poor old (not literally) doctor. Eddie comes to a village in search of his missing nephew, Hacken, and opens up a clinic with his partner portrayed by Chan Wing Jun.

Eddie and Chan Wing Jun find Hacken, only to learn that his adopted father has spoiled him like crazy. Hacken's adopted father has 3 wives and one of those wives has a younger brother (a maternal uncle to Hacken). Hacken and his uncle, who is about his age, are one rambunctious bunch. To shape Hacken into a better person, Eddie takes him as his student. Hacken slowly learns to behave and respect Eddie. At this time, Eddie also gets to know the town leader's only daughter, Yeung Mei Yee. She is always sick so Eddie has to treat her a lot. They soon fall in love with each other, but Eddie is always a bit reluctant to get close to her.

Gigi appears as a curious and tomboyish reporter who is trying to reveal the identity of lung ying hup. At first, she somehow got the idea that Hacken was lung ying hup, because he pulled a prank once and pretended to be the hero. Hacken and his uncle both thought Gigi was a guy because she was dressed up like one. Soon enough, they found out Gigi was a girl and Hacken's uncle drooled over her. Gigi also discovered that Hacken really wasn't lung ying hup, but Eddie was. She started developing a little crush on Eddie. She began dressing like a "real lady" to impress Eddie, but seeing that Eddie only liked Yeung Mei Yee, she was discouraged. That's when Hacken stepped in and comforted her, and pretty soon, they started dating as well.

Eddie had some unfinished matters settle with his long-lost brother played by Chu Kong. Chu Kong suddenly appeared in town as a charitable man, always giving to the poor. But behind his good image, he actually smuggled guns and explosives to Japan. He was also interested in Yeung Mei Yee (despite the fact that he is probably old enough to be her father), which motivated Eddie to come forward and show her how much he liked her. But in some incident, Chu Kong murdered Yeung Mei Yee's dad and it got framed on Eddie. She was mad at Eddie until the truth was uncovered. Everyone then found out that Chu Kong was actually a bad man.

Eddie tried to punish Chu Kong for being a traitor to the country, but Chu Kong trapped Eddie and poisoned him. This crippled Eddie and partially whitened his hair. Hacken tried to get the antidote to save Eddie's life, but in the process, he discovered that Chu Kong was his biological father. This gave him some problems because Chu Kong had also been the one who murdered his adopted father. He broke off his relationship with Gigi. Some time later, she got engaged to Hacken's uncle, who had always liked her. Hacken did get the antidote for Eddie but it didn't cure him all the way.

Hacken then started working for Chu Kong in selling illegal weapons to Japan, which angered everyone around him. What he was really doing was to pretend to side with his father so he can attack him later. But when Eddie and Chu Kong engaged in a duel, Hacken did not want his father dead. He took the blow from Eddie which was meant for Chu Kong. After some father-son reconciliation, Chu Kong broke off the deal he had with his Japanese partner. The partner then tried to kill Chu Kong in a church, but Hacken and Eddie fought her off. When she tried to kill Hacken, Chu Kong blocked the hit and died for his son. A bomb went off upon Chu Kong's death and Eddie and Hacken escaped.

Eddie, since he was not cured all the way, was now paraplegic. He decided to retire with Yeung Mei Yee. Hacken, saddened by his father's death, also left his town, leaving Gigi to his uncle.

I was certain that Eddie and Gigi would pair up as in "The Link," but Eddie for the third time got paired up with Yeung Mei Yee (first time in "Everybody Loves Somebody," then in "Blood and Iron"). Unlike Mr. Batman who still dresses nicely and acts suavely even when he is not on duty, Eddie looked very shabby and scruffy-looking in this series when he was living a normal life, as if he didn't get any sleep for a few days. Believe it when I say he only had two outfits for the entire series. This makes a statement that he looks better as a scum! His lung ying hup costumes were corny at first but amazingly, they grew on me.

Hacken Lee really shined in here. He was such a funny charmer, dressed in cool costumes (not fair!). Contrary to how lightly and comically the series started off, it ended on a very depressing note. But the restrained use of special effects and more hand-to-hand combat between Eddie and Chu Kong (probably performed by stuntsmen) make fighting scenes enjoyable. The theme and subtheme sung by Hacken Lee is also a plus, given that he has such a powerful voice.

劇照 :