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Eastern Condors (HK 1987)
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Director: Sammo Hung
Producer: Leonard Ho
Screenplay: Barry Wong
Action Choreography: Hung Brothers
Cast : Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Lam
Ching-Ying, Joyce Godenzi, Billy Chow, Yuen-Woo Ping.
Synopsis : (http://www.fandango.com)
Asian POWs get a chance at freedom when the United States offers
them a mission to destroy a secret depot of missiles in Vietnam. |
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Review
by Martin Cleary
Regarded by myself and many Hong Kong action cinema fans as one of
Sammo Hung's best films, Eastern Condors is – surprisingly for Sammo
- an unusually serious and intense film. Best described as an
eastern 'Dirty Dozen', this Vietnam movie reworks several elements
and ideas of Hollywood war films into an unmistakably unique
Hong-Kong style. The film combines gunplay and dazzling
martial-artistry with ease. Set three years after the end of the
Vietnam war, Eastern Condors follows a group of convicts whose
mission is to find and destroy an ammunition dump left by the US
during the war. The group consists of a mish-mash of characters,
from the wise (but cowardly) Grandpa, to the tight-lipped Sammo. The
group themselves have no idea what their mission is, they only
believe that the mission must be
better than spending their lives in jail. They are all told that if
they survive the mission then they will win their freedom and
$200,000. To give away any more plot details would be unnecessary,
as what follows is a combination of the expected (i.e.
seen-it-all-before because they've nicked
it from another film) with the genuinely unexpected (good plot
twists and amazingly performed). The film is perfectly cast and the
interplay between this group of misfits is engrossing. Supporting
performances are especially strong, with an intense Joyce Godenzi
(in her film debut) and Iron Monkey director Yuen Woo Ping as
Grandpa who gives the film alot of heart. At the end of the day the
film is, of course, dominated by the two heavyweights (in one case,
literally) of the film - Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Sammo looks the
fittest that I can ever remember seeing him on film, and (despite an
annoying 80s hairstyle) Yuen Biao proves yet again that he is one of
the most underated martial-artists in cinema. The film is tense
throughout, and there is a lot of action, most of which is very
brutal. There are still
glimpses of Sammo's child-like sense of humour and Yuen Wah’s camp
villain is excellent – he manages to combine humour with a lethal
dose of fighting skills. Personally I think that the action-packed
finale is one of the best ever filmed. There can't be much higher
praise than that. Eastern Condors is a classic film which has stood
the test of time well (except maybe that haircut!). If you haven't
seen it, then I highly recommend that you do so!
Stills
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Overall :
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Notable Scenes: |
-Sammo’s
upside-down tree attack
-Yuen Woo Ping’s suicide mission
-Big Sammo versus Skinny Yuen Wah
-The big, violent finale |
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DVD Review : Eastern Condor (Universe)
by Martin Cleary
The Universe disc provides a good transfer of the film, it’s
slightly dark but of a pretty good quality. The english subtitles on
the disk are good throughout, the only real problem is the subtitles
on the english sections of the film. There are two conversations in
english at the beginning of the film, and the subtitles give an
different version of what is actually being
said - which is annoying. This is a minor problem, and not too much
to worry about. The disc contains biographies of both Sammo Hung and
Yuen Biao, and also contains a rare advert for the film itself. This
trailer contains shots of prison scenes which are cut from the
finished film. Also included are trailers for ‘Winners and Sinners’
and ‘The Prodigal Son’, although the
quality of these is not quite as good.
DVD Info :
Universe Release
Content : One Disc
Format : Letterbox
Format: Letterbox
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin
Audio: Stereo, 5.1
Subtitles: Chinese traditional / simplified, English, Japanese,
Indonesian,
Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese
Region: All
Presentation (Cover / Menus): 5/10
Picture: 7/10
Subtitles: 8/10
Special Features: 4/10
Disc Overall: 7/10 – An excellent film on a simple but decent
disc. Classic Sammo! |
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