Eastern Condors is one of Hung's best (Eastern Condors (DVD))

Member Name: Jay Pendragon

Product:	Eastern Condors (DVD)
Date:	26/01/01 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lots of fighting

Disadvantages: hard-to-read subtitles

When I was a young boy of 11, growing up in the vast wasteland of Austin, Texas(well I'm still here, so go figure!), one of my few solaces was Hong Kong film. I used to frequent empty film halls on college campuses and go to the midnight showings(being the only anglo there wasn't the most comfortable of circumstances); I lived it like a religion till I turned 18 and somehow grew out of it, what with the increasing commercialization of the genre it is deader than a door-knell but... It is, obviously a subject I am comfortable with and very knowledgable wherebouts; and as Sammo is one of the bigger gems in the genre, here goes...

This film was released around 1986/87, sometime during the golden age of that whole Jackie Chan/Sammo Hung/Yuen Biao craze which gripped HK along with those delightful little John Woo/trenchcoat/good brother-bad brother films. Eastern Condors is, like most HK products in the 80s, a delightful amalgamation of elements derived from any number of American films( remember, what counts is the "style" of the thing: thats the ticket, lads!); 'Eastern Condors' is NOOOO different, putting an eastern twist on such films as 'Rambo:First Blood II', 'the Deer Hunter', 'Apocalypse Now' and 'the Dirty Dozen'. Hung, being the underrated MASTER of all things dryly humorous and shockingly brutal puts all these somewhat passe sources to good use in the entertaining yarn about a group of seven(if I recall, its been sooo long since I've seen it) convicts sent to the Vietnam jungle for some reason or another (I think it was either to retrieve bombs hidden by the viet-cong or rescue some famous war-exile): but as in most asian action films, the plot comes secondary and takes a polite step-back to make way for mediocre acting, breathtaking stunts and a whole lotta kung fu!

Sammo Hung( the elder of the three kung fu brothers) stars along with his opera troupe brother Yuen Biao(known mostl
y for his status as Hung's side-kick and low-budget martial arts star), along with a few other guys who I can't recall the names of but are just fab in their own right. The main protagonist is Yuen Wah, an underrated and incredible martial artist in his own right(Wah, many might recall was that bad-ass Mongolian guy who kicked Biao's ass in the very groovy 'Iceman Cometh'), being here a cliched bad guy who commands an army led by Billy Chow, Sammo's protege.

Anyhow, the convicts land in the jungle but get cut off from the Americans who comissioned them; this leaves them stranded, but they nonetheless strive on, hooking up with the eccentric Biao in a village and a bunch of craziness ensues involving mind-blowing fight scenes, impossible brawl scenarios and acrobatics. Hung, who lost thirty-five pounds for this role(Golden Harvest actually made him gain it all back!) has never looked sleeker and more in control of hisself. And although some scenes are torn directly from the films they're supposed to be "homaging", it is still worth checking out for anyone even curious about the evolution of HK film on the timeline of movies.

This is one of Hung-Kam-BO's best, albeit darkest; along with 'Pedicab Driver' and 'Millionaire's Express', this is a knock-down,drag-out not soon forgotten. And, if you can, experience it on the big screen: that fight scene at the end between Hung and Wah is incredible.

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