In 1976, 12 Chinese illegal immigrant criminals are hired by the US Government to go into Vietnam and find a secret missile stash and destroy it before the Vietcong army finds it. If the group succeeds they will be granted pardons for their crimes, $200,000 and a ticket to wherever they want to go.

The scenes on the transport plane at the opening of the film is where we get to know about these Chinese criminals and their personalities. They may be hardened criminals but they bicker with each other like school children. The underlying humor in the film is apparent from the start. The leader of the mission calls out that they should all just relax because it will be another three hours before they arrive at the jump point. Theres a serious time lapse because in the very next scene, the group are told to get ready to jump. One of the men is a reject who cant speak correctly, he just stutters. Before the men jump out of the plane they are told that they must count to 20 before they pull their parachute cords on the way down. They all jump out ok, but before Col. Lam makes his jump, he is told that the mission has been called off. He tells the man to just explain he didnt get the order in time. On the ground, the group have to rendezvous with three Cambodian guerilla women who will be showing them where to go. When all the men land, they find that the stuttering one has been hurt badly, one of them runs over to check him out and all he says is "s-s-s-six-six-sixteen" and he dies, I guess he didnt get to 20.

The group hide in a small hut on a river where they wait to move out. Before they know it, the Vietcong show up and this is where we witness the first real action sequence of the film. Grenades fly, machine guns blast and the kung fu kicks and flips are exploding everywhere. The group make it out and take refuge in a town where they meet a loudmouthed salseman named "Rat" Chieh (Yuen Biao) and his mentally challenged brother Yeung (Haing S Ngor). The two join the group and tag along on the adventures ahead of them.

One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Ming (Sammo Hung) uses palm leaves and creates these deadly darts to shoot into the VC's necks. Theres also another great scene where Ming jumps off a 60 ft cliff and lands on a VC truck perfectly. Its a really fun, but an unrealistic sequence that has that old school kung fu flavor. It actually reminded me alot of the high jumps Sonny Chiba did in The Steeetfighter series. Some of the jungle battles with "Rat" vs. the VC soldiers is just top notch for kung fu choreography. When he kicks one of the VC in the head, even though its slow motion, he connects and it sure looks hard and brutal.

The film continues to take us through all sorts of twists and turns, like the group being captured by the Vietcong and put in a Deer Hunter style Russian Roulette game, a traitor inside the group that gets picked off and a deadly bridge confrontation that kills 2 of its members. The group finally find the underground missile base and get ready to set up explosives to destroy it, but soon the enemy are right behind and they have to fight them before they can escape. The finale at the end of the film puts the remaining members of the group against the strange Giggling General (Yuen Wah) and his soldiers. Yuen Wah's performance as the Giggling General is one of the big highlights of the film. He constantly fans himself, dabs the sweat from his face, giggles, screams orders or kicks ass with his kung fu skills. The last fight with Yuen Wah and Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung is some of the best onscreen kung fu action Ive seen. Just amazingly put together and its tied in with some big laughs as well.

THE FINAL WORD: If you're a fan of Hong Kong action films, Eastern Condors is definitely a must see. This film has something for everyone: high energy kung fu action, explosive gun battles and sidesplitting humor, you really can't ask for anything more. CULT CLASH highly reccomends Sammo Hung's HK "Men on A Mission" classic Eastern Condors!

The U.S. Pentagon sends a group of Chinese prisoners as decoys for a secret mission to destroy a munitions dump the U.S. Army left in Vietnam when it pulled out. When a plane carrying the actual commandos crashes, Hung and Yuen lead the unsuspecting criminals on the mission of their lives. They get caught up with gorgeous Vietcong rebels (led by Miss Hong Kong, Mina Joyce Godenzi), meet a cruel and giggly general (Yuen Wah) and get tortured to within an inch of their lives.

Even action maestro Yuen Wo Ping ("The Matrix", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") gets a cameo role in this exciting, adrenaline-packed testosterone-charged bash through the jungles.

Review: Few will be surprised that it took a Hong Kong director to fully exploit the war genre’s potential for stunts, gunplay, and hand-to-hand combat. Sammo Hung’s homage to The Dirty Dozen (1967) contains plenty of all the above, albeit to the cost of character development and political criticisms; traits that are traditionally considered the genre's measuring sticks. It is however perhaps unfair to simply judge Eastern Condors as either a war film or action movie, as the film is definitely an attempt by Sammo to blend the two genres. To aid the generic fusion, Eastern Condors features several war film clichés such as a POW camp Russian roulette scene and a defiant last stand to hold a position. Plot-wise, the film demonstrates a traditional Hong Kong action film structure of ‘story, action, relief, story, action, relief, etc.’ which incidentally is also very noticeable in John Woo’s under-appreciated war film Windtalkers (2002). The story itself is from the outset relatively simple, however there are a number of surprises served up to keep things interesting, often punctuated with some relatively shocking violence such as one of the principle cast having their hand severed by another. The conflicting goals of the characters also add to the volatile tone of Eastern Condors, as well as propelling the film's narrative when it otherwise threatens to descend into simply a matter of survival. Thematically, the film feels familiar which isn’t surprising when you consider Eastern Condors is essentially a “Vietnam flick.” The group often question what they are fighting/dying for, while US military efficiency receives some inferred criticism. However, on the whole, the film's artistic aspirations are clearly superseded by the film’s action scenes and the sense of camaraderie portrayed by the cast.

The action in Eastern Condors is definitely the film's main attraction offering a range of stunts, explosions, gunplay, and martial arts. The action is occasionally, and at times perhaps excessively quite brutal for a film that still has its fair share of lighthearted moments. Also, the reliance on gunplay at times squanders some of the martial arts talent of the film's magnificent ensemble cast which includes Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, Yuen Wah, Joyce Godenzi, Dick Wei, Billy Chow, Chin Kar-lok, Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, and of course Sammo himself. One memorable scene sees Sammo bound across some metal sheets, dive through the bunker roof and dice the enemy with a machete before finishing off the entire platoon with a heavy duty, mounted machine gun. Sammo noticeably lost a substantial amount of weight for the film and is subsequently back to his athletic peak. While such scenes are initially ‘cool,' to his credit Sammo makes the effort not to irresponsibly glamorize war and its accompanying violence. As he guns down the enemy Sammo uses a poignant freeze frame on a close up of his grimacing face while his screaming continues, making for a surprisingly mature image alluding to the ‘madness of war.'

Credit also goes to Yuen Biao who, in my opinion, impresses the most physically as it is he who is responsible for the film's more scintillating kicks and tumbles. Yuen Wah also makes his notable physical presence felt despite working within a uniquely camp, yet menacing, main villain (complete with one of the most irritatingly-fiendish cackles you're ever likely to hear). The action is spread fairly evenly and builds to a typically explosive and satisfying finale featuring some kung fu fan’s fantasy match-ups such as Sammo vs. Billy Chow and Yuen Biao vs. Yuen Wah. As mentioned earlier, the film's premise does not make the best use of the choreography talents available. Subsequently, the martial arts, although far from sloppy, is slightly removed from Sammo’s usual standard of exemplary choreography. Eastern Condors is no Prodigal Son (1982). That said, there is still plenty of fast-paced (and often full-contact) throw downs to enjoy while the jungle backdrop is used very well by Sammo to create several new and unique ideas such as the ‘stem dart.'

Some of the humor in Eastern Condors is understandably black and may not be to everyone's taste. For example, one of the group fails to open his parachute as his speech impediment prevents him from counting to the necessary number before pulling his cord. While the cast treat this as a tragedy, audiences may still regard it as cheap joke that's out of place in this type of film. Also, some of the film's violence may prove to be stronger than what most people would expect from Sammo. Yet, the disturbing images within the film such as child soldiers playing Russian roulette with the lives of their prisoners paints a horrific, yet real and responsible rendition of war. This lends a refreshing seriousness to the work of one of Hong Kong's most jovial filmmakers.

Sammo’s weight loss in the film reflects the undeniable, all round effort put into this production, while his change in shape is also suitably complemented by a change in Sammo’s onscreen character. Gone is the jolly, rotund Sammo from the likes of Encounters of a Spooky Kind (1981). Here, he is both leaner and meaner, a trained killer with a dark and troubled past. In Eastern Condors, the trademark scar across Sammo’s upper lip that he once received in a real fight has never looked so appropriate.

But, as I said before, the emphasis in Eastern Condors is on the action, and it delivers it in spades. This is one of those rare movies where it's hard to pick out your favorite sequence because they're all so good. Sammo and Yuen Biao do the majority of the fighting (as well as doing some amazing stunts), but most of the cast gets in a few licks during the movie. It was really cool seeing guys like Corey Yuen and Yuen Woo-Ping showing their stuff onscreen, versus the behind-the-scenes work they do now. Of course, most of the guys get killed off until a final confrontation between the remainder of the force and the Vietnamese bosses, which is a stunning fight, and like the rest of this movie, should not be missed by any martial arts/action fan. Eastern Condors is definitely one of Sammo's best films and comes highly recommended.

The time is 1975 and the USA has withdrawn from Vietnam, but left behind a huge cache of weapons hidden in the countryside. So a select group of Asian-American prisoners are chosen to go into Vietnam and blow up the armaments. They are parachuted in country and fight their way across Vietnam to their destination. Along the way there are some great moments and terrific performances from Sammo (looking pretty lean and very tough) , Yuen Biao as a slightly loony Vietnamese peddler that joins up with the group and Joyce Godenza as a fierce Cambodian guerilla helping the crew. Also showing up is Lam Ching-Ying (Mr. Vampire) as the group commander and in one of the strangest casting decisions the great Dr. Haing Ngor (The Killing Fields) as the crazy Vietnamese.

The scene of Joyce coming out of the water to attack the gunboat and killing them all with a knife is a classic. The look on her face is unforgettable. Another great scene is Sammo and Yuen silently killing an entire platoon in the jungle with various methods (my favorite being the lethal projected leaves from Sammo!). There is a lot of gunplay throughout, but in the finale everyone conveniently runs out of ammunition and we get Sammo, Yuen and Joyce facing off against Yuen Wah (for some reason playing a Vietnamese commander as fey as possible), Dick Wei and Billy Chow. Some incredible acrobatics from Yuen that never fail to amaze me.

In terms of martial arts...
This is a war movie sprinkled with brief martial arts sequences, which tend to be kick-boxing-oriented. Biao's kicks look pretty good, and Sammo is his versatile self. The finale contains the only sustained martial arts. Here, villain Yuen Wah is excellent and fast. Biao, true to form, gets overpowered. Sammo's moves are nearly as good as in "Pedicab Driver." The martial arts that are in this movie are superb. However, its martial arts rating is lowered because the overall emphasis of this movie is not martial arts.
MARTIAL ARTS RATING: 3/5