Eastern Condors (1987)

Literally: Eastern Bald Eagles

Director: Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

Writer: Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

Action Director: Sammo Hung's Stuntman Association

Cast: Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, Lam Ching-Ying, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Joyce Godenzi (Ko Lai-Hung), Yuen Wah, Yuen Wo-Ping, Yasuaki Kurata (Shoji Kurata), Phillip Ko Fei, Billy Lau Nam-Kwong, James Tien Chun, Ng Hon, Ha Chi-Chun, Billy Chow Bei-Lei, Corey Yuen Kwai, Cheung Kwok-Keung

Running Time: 100 min.

Plot: Three years after the Vietnam War ends, a group of Chinese convicts are recruited by the U.S. Army to return to Vietnam. Their mission - to destroy a missile ammunition dump left behind by the Marines before it falls into the Vietcong's hands. With the vicious enemy in hot pursuit, this bunch of misfits must rely on their firepower - and themselves - to accomplish their mission, and to get out of the treacherous jungle alive.

REEFER'S REVIEW: Eastern Condors is another one of those huge cast movies that Sammo seems to like to put together from time to time. In comparison with Shanghai Express, Condors is as serious as that one was comical. Packed with HK elite, Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo Ping, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, Joyce Godenzi, Yuen Wah, Billy Chow, Hang S. Nor and Dick Wei, the world was one serving of under-cooked chicken away from losing an entire generation of kick-ass kung fu legends. Luckily, Jackie Chan and Jet Li decided to ditch or all could have been lost.

Well anyway, the familiar faces are cool to see together, even though many of the parts are not fully written. Stereotypes mostly fill in the gaps. Besides Sammo, Biao, Wah, Lam Ching-ying, and Joyce, nobody really sticks out in the performance department. And even those performances are kind of run-of-the-mill. The rest basically serve as cannon fodder for this Dirty Dozen remake.

The casting of Dr. Hang S. Nor as a retarded prisoner really annoys me. It seems like a stunt since his part really isn't needed. How many academy award winners appear in this kind of stuff anyway? From the Killing Fields to a Sammo Hung kung fu kickass movie? What a joke!! I heard Tom Green wants him for his next celluloid embarrassment.

Eastern Condors finally jumps into high gear during the last twenty minutes in a near classic showdown between the good guys and bad guys. Some of the great match-ups include Joyce vs. Dick Wei, Sammo vs. Billy Chow, Yuen Biao vs. Yuen Wah, and finally Sammo vs. Wah.

REEFER'S RATING: 7/10

NUMSKULL'S REVIEW: Cheap melodrama made cheaper by taking place in post-war Vietnam. This is not Sammo Hung's version of The Deer Hunter...it's just an HK action vehicle with everybody's least favorite was as the backdrop and, for that reason, it is more highly acclaimed that it deserves to be.

Aside from that, there's not a whole lot that can be said about this movie. It's got some fighting (but not a whole lot), it's got gunfire, it's got a couple of explosions, and it's got a woefully underused character named Stuttering Keung. What else? There's Dr. Hiang S. Ngor from The Killing Fields to lend it some credibility and to remind us all what a horrible event the Vietnam War was. Don't expect any tear-jerking political statements, though; this is an action movie, not a war movie.

This is a disappointment for Sammo Hung, but some may find it a refreshing change of pace from the "jolly fat man" Sammo. Here, he ain't jolly, and he looks like he dropped a few pounds for the role. The action sequences aren't as numerous as many of us would like, and while they're done proficiently enough, they just don't have that extra "oomph" that Sammo's stuff usually does. It's a pity. The manner in which the last villain gets polished off partially redeems things, though (say "Aah", motherfucker!!!).

Watch it at your own risk and don't pee outside...it's a good way to get ambushed, as Eastern Condors shows us not once but twice.

NUMSKULL'S RATING: 5/10

PERKELE'S REVIEW: Anybody who thinks that this is not the best war flick [with "Bullet in the Head" of course] ever to come out of HK should see this film. I mean, then they could not disagree anymore. "Eastern Condors" is one damn good piece of entertainment. But that is to expect when Sammo Hung directs a war flick with people like Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-Ying, Yuen Wah, Billy Chow, Ti "Dick" Wei, Joyce Godenzi and a hell lot of more other people [including some Oscar-winner called Dr. Huaing S. Ngraah or something like that, hell, I didn't even figure out who he was in the movie anyway]. Even two of the best action directors of all time, Yuen Woo-Ping and Yuen Kuai team up to blow up some bridges. The jungle footage is cool and exiting, Sammo's commando team disarming the enemy soldiers and kicking their asses. The film is sometimes stupid and very violent, like in that one scene where female guerilla Joyce Godenzi sticks a knife up in the one guy's ass [and the guy dies], but that doesn't bother a regular HK film fanatic, who probably has seen a lot more bizarre things than that. All this culminates in a great final showdown where the good guys take on some of the Hong Kong's best bad guys [i.e. Yen Wah, Billy Chow, Ti Wei]. The incredible match between Sammo and Yuen Wah is absolutely cool because it turns your usual good guy/bad guy situation the other way round! Good guy Sammo is big, heavy and powerful while the bad guy Wah is very skinny, light-weighted, tricky and skilled! A perfect film to cheer you up when bored!

PERKELE'S RATING: 9/10

VIC NGUYEN'S REVIEW: Sammo Hung delivers yet another masterwork in his filmography with this well crafted war epic with an all star cast, which consists names such as Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Woo-ping, Charlie Chin, Joyce Godenzi, and Oscar winner Dr. Haing S. Ngor. Ex-cons are assigned to destroy a cache of military arsenal in postwar Vietnam, with freedom offered in return. What they don't know is that there is little chance of getting out alive. Vibrant and inventive action direction highlights this piece, with some of the best stuntmen in the business showing off their stuff. Includes a superb, machine gun laden, balls-to- walls finale with fast paced choreography that is not to be missed by anyone.

VIC NGUYEN'S RATING: 8/10