A group of Asian prisoners is recruited, trained, armed and sent to Vietnam to destroy a cache of American weapons left behind after the Vietnam War, before the Vietcong discovers its locati... Read allA group of Asian prisoners is recruited, trained, armed and sent to Vietnam to destroy a cache of American weapons left behind after the Vietnam War, before the Vietcong discovers its location.A group of Asian prisoners is recruited, trained, armed and sent to Vietnam to destroy a cache of American weapons left behind after the Vietnam War, before the Vietcong discovers its location.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
- Ching Tai-Hoi
- (as Lan Guang Lau)
- Guerrila Girl #3
- (as Chi Chun Ha)
- Judy Vu
- (as Kwai Yuen)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSammo 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.
- Quotes
Ching: It's the Americans's fault. They got us into this. Idiot Americans, fucking America, goddamn America!
Ming-Sun Tung: When this is over, where do you think you'll go?
Ching: Back to America!
- Alternate versionsAll UK versions had to be cut by 22 secs to remove real animal cruelty to conform with the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937. The casualty was the scene in which Yuen Biao rips a snake's head off. This cut was waived for the Eureka Entertainment release of 2019.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)
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.
- Bogey Man
- Aug 6, 2002