Leofwine_draca Sammo Hung's epic Vietnam war movie is a three-genre effort that seamlessly combines hard-knuckle martial arts action with battle shoot-outs and typical Chinese comedy. It's a great, fast-moving film with plenty of action to recommend it for genre fans; all of the Vietnam movie clichés are present and correct, and used to good effect. From underwater cages to jungle warfare and a bridge that needs to be traversed, Hung is in his element and the result is an eminently rewatchable film that stands as a minor classic.Hung famously lost a load of weight for this role and he's never been better as the lean, mean, death machine, and the machete seems to be his weapon of choice this time around – lopping heads and limbs is par for the course for Sammo in this movie. He's supported by an exquisite Yuen Biao, acting at the peak of his career, and both men are top-notch in the many martial art fights that punctuate the movie. An effective supporting cast fleshes out the rest of the roles, from Lam Ching-Ying as the heroic colonel to Haing S. Ngor (straight from THE KILLING FIELDS) as a village idiot. Also on hand is Yuen Wah as the scene-stealing giggling general; he's a particularly nasty piece of work in this one, and enjoys punishing people's muscles and bones (when you watch the film, you'll see what I mean).The plot is taken straight from THE DIRTY DOZEN and there are some great tragic deaths that would benefit any war classic. The violence is also a lot harder than usual for a Hong Kong flick, with some truly cringe-making moments. Lots of people are shot, lots of buildings are blown up, and the twists and turns in the movie's plot are endless, so you can never predict what's going to happen at any one time. As is typical for a Hong Kong flick, the finale is a huge set-piece in a munitions warehouse, featuring Biao and Hung battling it out with the ubiquitous Dick Wei, Billy Chow, Yasuaki Kurata, and Yuen Wah's surprisingly sprightly mega-villain. EASTERN CONDORS is a perfect treat for action fans and really can't be bettered.

dworldeater Eastern Condors has few equals in the action genre. Directed and starring Sammo Hung, Sammo turns the action to eleven in this hybrid of modern action and kung fu. Also appearing is Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah as the ever reliable villain. E.C. is Hong Kong's answer to The Dirty Dozen where a group of Chinese/American criminals go on a suicide mission to destroy a missile ammunition dump left behind by Marines in Vietnam. The tone is lighter than John Woo's Bullet In The Head, but is taken serious enough to care about the characters, move along the story and sell the abundant and insane action scenes. There is enough bonebreaking martial arts, crazy stunts, as well as a barrage of machine gunfire and explosions to please the most jaded of action fans. Overall, Eastern Condors more than delivers and I always enjoy re watching this action classic.

Michael Neumann Hong Kong action movies can be hard enough to swallow under the best of circumstances, but this post-Vietnam War variation (i.e. rip-off) of 'The Dirty Dozen' lacks even the guilty pleasures of its predecessors. The hard-boiled heroes, all of course handpicked from military prison (and numbering less than a dozen: several don't survive past the opening credits), are dropped by parachute into the jungles of Southeast Asia with orders to blow up an abandoned U.S. weapons dump before it falls into Communist hands. Predictably, this particular semi-dozen take most of their cues from Rambo's revisionist warmongering, with the only surprise being an unexpected, brazen theft of the notorious Russian roulette scene from 'The Deer Hunter', gratuitously reproduced almost shot for shot. The film doesn't, thankfully, take itself very seriously (you'll notice nobody simply falls down after being shot: a martial arts trampoline somersault is always required), but it lacks the visual nerve and narrative panache of the best dumb-fun action adventures. And yes, the Hiang S. Ngor mugging his way through several scenes is the same Academy Award winning actor from 'The Killing Fields'.

Bogey Man Sammo Hung's action film Eastern Condors (1986) tells the story of group of Chinese convicts, who get a chance to get free if they accept to go to deadly mission to Vietnam to destroy one American weapon stock before Vietcong finds it. The group arrives there, but soon learn there are spies among them and everything is not quite as it looks like. What follows is plenty of martial arts and gun fire mayhem.This film has great cinematography and editing and the action scenes are definitely intense, as can be expected from Sammo Hung and other talents who worked on this film. There is plenty of kung fu and different weapons they make in the jungle, and then there's plenty of the usual fire fights and bullets. The last 20 minutes have been said to be extremely over-the-top action, but I don't think it is so strong and intense, but maybe after seeing films like Heroes Shed No Tears I had little too high expectations.The main problem with Condors is its stupidity and naive elements as the whole thing is not too believable and the film glorifies war too much. Also, the underlining attitude towards Western culture and America is too gratuitous as characters say things like "Westerners are so stupid" and so on. The characters are not deep but very shallow and uninteresting. The film doesn't have any soul and thus becomes a delight to the eye only.I appreciate clever action films very much and Hong Kong has produced very much of those films, too. Eastern Condors offers very fast action and martial arts, but lacks the depth and message this kind of film should and could have. Still I found this worthwhile to watch since I like Eastern cinema much and can also forgive some of their films' mistakes and flaws easier than some other films'. Many will without a doubt think this is among the greatest action films ever, due to its kinetic and occasionally brutal action, but anyone waiting for little more intelligent or symbolic piece of cinema will slightly disappoint. Still I think 7/10 is the right rating for this film. If you're interested in this kind of Asian adventure, I'd recommend John Woo's Heroes Shed No Tears, which is much more interesting film and has really incredible action scenes and also symbols borrowed from the Japanese Baby Cart films.