Dung fong tuk ying (1987)

Director:

Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

Writer:

Barry Wong (writer)

Release Date:

9 July 1987 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

An action film about a daring commando raid into Vietnam to destroy a munitions dump left behind by American marines.

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Commando | Chinese American | Russian Roulette

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	Ming-Sun Tung
Biao Yuen	...	Man Yen Chieh
Haing S. Ngor	...	Yeung Lung
Joyce Godenzi	...	Guerrilla Girl #1
Chi Chun Ha	...	Guerrila Girl #3
Ching-Ying Lam	...	Lieutenant
Melvin Wong	...	Colonel Yang
Charlie Chin	...	Szeto Chin
Kwok Keung Cheung	...	Ching
Billy Lau	...	Ching (as Lan Guang Lau)
Woo-ping Yuen	...	Yun, Yen-Hoy
Corey Yuen	...	Judy Vu (as Kwai Yuen)
Lung Chan	...	Potato Head
Wah Yuen	...	Giggling General
Yasuaki Kurata	...	General's elite soldier

Also Known As:

Eastern Condors (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (cut) | New Zealand:M (cut) | Australia:R (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

Most of the sequences in this movie were filmed for real, with the actors actually making full physical contact during the fight scenes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)

non-stop

This is the original "balls-to-the-wall" Hong Kong action film. really, once the ex-con commandos parachute into Vietnam to dispose of a hidden arsenal the US left behind during the pull-out, the action never stops. Shootings, stabbing, explosions, and wild kung fu - with almost no discernible wire-works - the film is virtually one violent confrontation after another.

which of course is the weakness of the film. Although Sammo Hung became known as a director thanks largely to an exquisite sense of the comedic, the comic touches here get swamped by the action. also, we never get to know any of these fighters very well - character development reduces to a selection of whatever cliché would fit a character if the character had a personality. None of them do. And finally I have to remark that what little drama there really is in the film, is all pretty grim.

Still, this film is not, in the last analysis, about drama, character, or humor; it sets out to be THE action film of its decade. Whether it succeeds or not is debatable; but it certainly makes the right effort for it.