Eastern Condors (1987)

You won't be disappointed!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering performances.

This movie is described as a cross between the Dirty Dozen, the Deer Hunter, with a James Bond ending. I have not seen the Deer Hunter at the time of writing so I am not too sure what that is about except that it deals with mates going off to the Vietnam War together. This movie is like the Dirty Dozen as it involves a group of criminals being dropped into Vietnam to find a cache of American weapons and to destroy it. True to the Dirty Dozen fashion, the crims drop like flies (pardon the cliché) and only a handful make it out alive. While they are travelling across Vietnam, they must also rescue the general's brother who is a captive and they are also being pursued by a very large number of Viet-Cong.This movie would fall into the category of a "did we win this time" film. Being made in the late 80's it appeared at a time when numerous Vietnam movies were being made in the United States, and this is Hong Kong showing the United States how a real action film should be made. This is a movie where they try to rewrite the ending of the Vietnam war so that the United States does come out victorious, rather that slinking out like they did.Eastern Condors is not a political movie: Hong Kong movies tend not to follow that line. Nor is it a movie questioning morality or exploring characters: rather it is an action movie. It is a heaps good action movie, but an action movie nonetheless. When you come to watch this movie, you generally don't look for deep themes as there are none. Rather it is showing American Cinema what action movies really are like and how they really should be made.

I broke it down: Why I think Eastern Condors in the greatest film ever made - here it goes (keep in mind this is a very personal break down):1- 100 years of film-making (give or take a few years) = Dozens and dozens of different film genres.2- Dozens and dozens of different film genres = The action genre being the greatest of all genres.3- The action genre being the greatest of all genres = Hong Kong being the greatest of all countries to make action films.4- Hong Kong being the greatest of all countries to make action films Sammo Hung being the greatest Hong Kong Action Director.5- Sammo Hung being the greatest Hong Kong Action Director = Eastern Condors being Sammo's greatest achievement. Think about this: John Woo created some of the greatest Gun-Fu moments in cinematic history, however is hand-to-hand combat is slighting boring. Jackie Chan has certainly created some of the greatest Kung-Fu moments ever, but his films become boring once anyone picks up a gun. Sammo Hung is the only filmmaker who can blend both elements of Gun-Fu and Kung-Fu in one movie and make each style equally entertaining to watch. Eastern Condors is the best example of this. Another reason why: EASTERN CONDORS IS THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE!

This movie is awesome, it's another one that takes my breathe away every time I see it! The action just flows, Sammo has never looked fitter, even as a kid he wasn't this slim! Yuen Biao shows why at one time no one could touch him in the acrobatic action. Again, I'm a little biased with this film as the first time I saw it was my first experience of Hong Kong action on the Big Screen (happy days at the Scala, Kings Cross, Thank you Rick Baker et al). From the very start, when the late, great Lam Ching Ying (RIP, he went too early) scales the Flag Pole to the final slow zoom out hillside shot this film will hold you to your seat (unless you hate action). It's an action film fan treat all the way. SEE THIS MOVIE NOW! (preferably in subtitled form as some humour gets lost in translation!!)

A gang of convicts are offered a choice: stay in jail, or take their chances on a dangerous mission into enemy territory, and win their freedom if they survive. Sound familiar? Of course it does, 'Eastern Condors' is 'The Dirty Dozen', remade Hong Kong style.Technically, by Western standards it's not the best of movies, with some bad cuts, color matching problems, step-printed slow motion, and my Chinese DVD has some pretty awful compression artifacts in places. Other things that might offend Western audiences are the (typical for HK) politically incorrect treatment of women, and a certain amount of anti-Amercanism, though that's entirely redeemed by the last few lines in the movie.If you can look beyond all that it has some great visual direction by Sammo Hung, plenty of comedy, great martial arts and acrobatics, cute guerrilla girls (and I've always regarded the M60 machinegun as the ultimate female fashion accessory 8-)), interesting and unusual characters, impressive stunts and all the imaginative action scenes you'd expect from Hong Kong; in particular, the brilliant final martial arts showdown with the Laughing Vietnamese General, one of the most memorable characters in the movie.So if you're an action movie fan with a sense of humor and don't mind the subtitles or the technical limitations which go with a relatively low budget (I'd guess the movie cost about the same as Titanic's catering) it's well worth a look; one thing they definitely didn't skimp on is bullets and explosives!