Eastern Condors

Starring: Joyce Godenzi; Angela Mao & Yuen Biao Director: Sammo Hung

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Dolby Digital 5.1 - Cantonese
• Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
• DTS - Cantonese
• DTS - English

Product Description:

EASTERN CONDORS is director Sammo Hung's high-energy version of THE DIRTY DOZEN. To win their freedom, a group of hardened Asian convicts agree to go on a suicidal mission to Vietnam and destroy an abandoned ammunitions dump before the Vietcong discovers it. Along the way, the men run into a trio of female freedom fighters and a freewheeling martial artist named Rat, played by Hung's Peking Opera "brother," Yuen Biao. The film borrows liberally from other Vietnam war movies (the Russian roulette scene from THE DEER HUNTER, for instance), but there are plenty of imaginative turns, including an instance when Hung uses leaves as deadly projectiles. As is typical in Hung's films, the action choreography is fluid and energetic. Hung's wife, Joyce Godenzi, plays one of the Cambodian guerrillas, Oscar-winner Haing S. Ngor (THE KILLING FIELDS) appears as a mentally deranged peasant, and Yuen Wah (Hung's and Biao's other stage brother) gives a quirky performance as the relentless commander of the Vietcong forces.

Plot Synopsis:

Sammo Hung's EASTERN CONDORS is a fast-paced Hong Kong version of THE DIRTY DOZEN. The U.S. military sends a group of convicts back to Vietnam on a mission to destroy an abandoned ammunition dump before the Vietcong discover it and use it for their own purposes.

Plot Keywords:

Action | Drama | Soldiers | Vietnam

Exerpts:

"We've been living in hell all our lives. How could we be going to hell again?" -- Grandpa's last words to Judy

Production Notes:

• Theatrical release: July 9, 1987 (Hong Kong).
• EASTERN CONDORS grossed HK $21.6 million, making it the 10th highest grossing film in Hong Kong that year.
• Sammo Hung was hurt in the scene in which he jumps from the hill onto the truck.
• Yuen Woo-Ping, most widely known as the fight choreographer for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and THE MATRIX, has directed more than 30 Hong Kong films. He makes a rare acting appearance here and in Hung's SPOOKY SPOOKY.

Cast and Crew: