Eastern Condors (1987)

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

Director:

Sammo Kam-Bo Hung

Writer:

Barry Wong

Stars:

Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Biao Yuen, Haing S. Ngor

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung	...	Ming-Sun Tung
Biao Yuen	...	Man Yen Chieh
Haing S. Ngor	...	Yeung Lung
Joyce Godenzi	...	Guerrilla Girl #1
Chi Jan Ha	...	Guerrila Girl #3 (as Chi Chun Ha)
Ching-Ying Lam	...	Lieutenant Lam
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

Storyline

A motley group of Asian prisoners held in the US are given one chance for freedom. They are to go deep into Vietnam and destroy a secret depot of missles that the US left behind during the pull-out. The group, led by Lt. Lam and convict Tung, hook up with a trio of female freedom fighters and a happy go lucky martial artist named 'Rat'. The entire group is captured by the VC because one of them is a double agent, but they escape, cross an un-crossable bridge, and get to the secret base just ahead of the VC. By this point nearly all of the original group is dead, and it's up to Tung and Rat to fight the VC's leader, a bizarre giggling man who's lightning fast with martial arts.

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Plot Keywords:

exploding body | vietnam | commando raid | martial arts | commando | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

9 July 1987 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Eastern Condors

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company, Paragon Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sammo Hung hired a personal trainer to help slim him down so he could more easily perform some of the acrobatic kicking combinations which he had devised for the project with his stunt team.

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Alternate Versions

Dubbed version changes characters names making all of the soldiers Chinese in origin while Cantonese version has some Vietnamese. Dubbed version also lacks a scene with the Lieutenant climbing a flag ole near the beginning and 2 brief instances of violence during climax.

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Connections

Referenced in Remo, Rambo, Reagan and Reds: The Eighties Action Movie Explosion (2014)

User Reviews

Simply: THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE!

I broke it down: Why I think Eastern Condors in the greatest film ever made - here it goes (keep in mind this is a very personal break down):

1- 100 years of film-making (give or take a few years) = Dozens and dozens of different film genres.

2- Dozens and dozens of different film genres = The action genre being the greatest of all genres.

3- The action genre being the greatest of all genres = Hong Kong being the greatest of all countries to make action films.

4- Hong Kong being the greatest of all countries to make action films Sammo Hung being the greatest Hong Kong Action Director.

5- Sammo Hung being the greatest Hong Kong Action Director = Eastern Condors being Sammo's greatest achievement.

Think about this: John Woo created some of the greatest Gun-Fu moments in cinematic history, however is hand-to-hand combat is slighting boring. Jackie Chan has certainly created some of the greatest Kung-Fu moments ever, but his films become boring once anyone picks up a gun. Sammo Hung is the only filmmaker who can blend both elements of Gun-Fu and Kung-Fu in one movie and make each style equally entertaining to watch. Eastern Condors is the best example of this. Another reason why: EASTERN CONDORS IS THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE!