In the early 90s, after reading a glowing review of the film in a fanzine, I shelled out mucho dinero for a pirated un-subtitled VHS copy of Eastern Condors. And even though I didn't have a clue what was being said, the movie blew me away with its OTT gung-ho action, bullet-riddled battle scenes and unbelievable martial arts madness.These days the film is available on DVD remastered, fully restored and subtitled, so fans of fantastic fight action have no excuse for not checking out this marvellous movie.Director and star Sammo Hung takes the basic plot of The Dirty Dozen (a group of criminals take part in a dangerous mission with the promise of freedom if they succeed), adds a touch of The Deer Hunter and Rambo, and throws in a ton of amazing kung fu to deliver one of the best Hong Kong flicks of the 80s.Joining Sammo on his dangerous mission (into Vietnam, to destroy a hidden US munitions dump) are the brilliant Yuen Baio (as a Vietnamese profiteer dealing in smuggled goods), Oscar winner Haing S. Ngor, Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, Charlie Chin, and Sammo's real-life wife, the gorgeous Joyce Godenzi. Playing nasty bad-guys out to foil the mission are Billy Chow and the fantastic Yuen Wah. With a line up like that, and Hung calling the shots, excellence is almost guaranteed.From the moment our 'heroes' parachute into a Vietcong infested jungle, Eastern Condors is non stop brutal action and unmissable fare for those who enjoy their war films violent and unfettered by serious political comment. The bad guys are pure evil (Wah's sniggering fan-waving general is as despicable as they come) and deserve to die. End of story.And die they do: blasted by machine guns, knifed to death in guerrilla attacks, hacked by machetes, and even killed by imaginative use of jungle flora! In a blistering finale in an underground, missile laden bunker, the surviving good-guys take on the enemy in a vicious showdown that will leave you breathless. Yuen Baio and Sammo take the spotlight in the final fight against Wah and Chow, and the result is some of the best martial arts action ever committed to film. Baio's acrobatic skills are well showcased, whilst Hung, who slimmed down in order to be able to perform more incredible stunts, is on particularly fine form.Only the occasional 'silly' moment (such as the death of a stuttering character who dies when he fails to reach twenty before opening his parachute), and the rather strange nutter played by Haing S. Ngor (I'm still not sure what the point of his character was) stop me from giving this top marks.But 9/10 is nothing to be sniffed at, and any fan of the genre should definitely check this one out.

I can't say if my copy of this movie was somehow damaged or defective but it couldn't make up its mind if it was a strictly Japanese production with no sub-titles or a subtitled and semi-bilingual one.In any event, I gave up after about 5 minutes of Japanese dialogue with no subtitles. I turned subtitles on for my player but there were none.Oh, and I should add that the image quality was terrible! Like an old VHS tape that had' sat around for years after being viewed far too many times.In any event, what I did see in the 15 minutes or so I watched left me with no desire to investigate further if the problem was just my copy.

I prefer only Sammo Hung's PEDICAB DRIVER to this pic, but I'm not saying that to take anything away from the sheer brilliance of this action pic. Sammo really knows how to direct an action scene. That means he permits the audience to know where everybody is and where the "action" is moving. Unlike directors like Tony Scott, Richard Donner and Michael Bay, Sammo does not blur the dynamics of a good action scene with too many cuts and too many pointless camera moves.Sammo is solid.With EASTERN CONDORS you also get a film that looks amazing with its cool, green surfaces and filter-free clarity.The plot, though simple, is not moronic, and allows for plenty of action and lots of fascinating interplay between the characters -- especially the females.Joyce Godenzi (Mrs. Sammo Hung) met Sammo making this movie and she's really terrific in a tough, gritty part. Yuen Biao demonstrates why he was such a big star in the 70's and 80's and Sammo himself, looking lighter than ever, performs in some amazing fight sequences.If you haven't seen many Hong Kong movies, this is a great place to start. It's one unbelievable sequence after another.Then catch PEDICAB DRIVER.

This movie throws everything at you. Frenetic fights, explosions and gun play all with the usual smattering of comedy. The cast list reads like a who's who of HK cinema, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Wah, Joyce Godenzi and even famed action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping in an acting role. All are streatched to their limits in a non stop action feast.The martial arts sequences are superb, as you would expect given the talented cast. But for me the star is Yuen Wah who plays what is for me the greatest villain in cinema history. His unbelievable arrays of kicks and almost contortionist like suppleness shows that he has got to be one of the most underused talents in Hong Kong. If there is a downside to the flick it is that because it is a war film rather than a straight martial arts film, it can get a bit lost, unsure what it is that it really wants to be. The gun fights and explosions don't always gel with the fights and those fans that don't like war films may find those elements detract from the rest of the picture.