Eastern Condors

Eastern Condors (Dung Fong Tuk Ying) (1987) 

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Sammo Hung

Starring: Hung, Biao Yuen, Haing S. Ngor, Joyce Godenzi, Chi Jan Ha

From: Golden Harvest

It was not the plan to see a whole slew of films from the latter half of the 1980's through the early 90's (not to mention three from 1987) in a row but here we are. As I needed to see more Hong Kong action from the 1980's through the 1990's and this has received plenty of praise, that is why this was tracked down.

It is a war film light in tone but it wasn't too silly or stupid even if it has such elements as a weird villain who constantly giggles. A group of Asian-Americans in prison are tasked on a clandestine mission into Vietnam in 1976; it is to retrieve a huge cache of weapons-including missiles-left behind so the Vietcong don't get their hands on it. They get help from Cambodian guerillas (who are ladies) and a low-level smuggler named Rat. Also, it has Academy Award winner Haing S. Ngor in a prominent role. What a life Ngor had... he was a Cambodian doctor who sent to a prison camp by the horrid Khmer Rouge, won an Oscar for The Killing Fields despite not having done any acting previously, appeared in a few other random movies like this year, and was unfortunately murdered-it was a likely botched robbery-in 1996.

Anyhow, the presence of humor and jokes does not mean that the plentiful action isn't serious. There is plenty of explosions, shootouts, stabbings and decapitations alongside the martial arts. Director Sammo Hung apparently had a much longer cut of this but it was cut down to where we don't see these prisoners receive any training-there's always The Dirty Dozen for that, I suppose-and we get to 'Nam rather quickly. What was released: an hour and a half (minus credits) of great fun, with a slimmed-down Hung to boot and an amazing leaf-related death... yes.