It's 1976 and the US has pulled out of Vietnam. Officials worry over an arsenal that could be discovered by the enemy, so they throw together an expendable team of military convicts to send in and destroy it. Of the ten soldiers, Shawn (Sammo Hung) proves to be a semi-leader or at least the most adaptable, determined to survive, complete the mission, and get a pardon. The ragtag group parachute into hostile territory and meet up with some Cambodian revolutionaries and a petty black-marketeer (Yuen Biao). Their mission was written off the moment they began. With their informant appearing to be a village idiot and a traitor in their midst, they may never make it out of the jungle alive.

Eastern Condors is a manly film of manly men doing manly things like cracking one-liners after they are mortally wounded and kicking, punching, and shooting one another. The setup is simple, drop the crew into the jungle and go with the action. Director/actor/rotund Rambo Sammo Hung delivers a fine HK action war film. While the action is pretty grim and violent, it has the great HK action balance of tone- brutal action with a few jokes here and there, some colorful (not necessarily believable- but colorful) characters, and moments that veer into comic book territory, keeping things macho and mean yet lighthearted and unreal enough that the film isn't in danger of becoming The Deer Hunter.

The late Dr. Haing S. Ngor from The Killing Fields shows up as the stranded brother of the rejected commando leader, but this wasn't a movie aiming to get him another Oscar on his mantle. No, this is a film appealing do a different side of the brain. The action has a few outlandish (yet cool) moments, and the finale with Sammo and Yuen Biao taking on the chuckling anemic Yuen Wah is a flinch-fest of admirable stuntwork.

The DVD: Fox

Picture: Ananmorphic Widescreen. Wow. The moment it came out, I grabbed the HK release a few years back and was happy with the less than perfect transfer. Then, still fresh from the bootleg vhs days, expectations were low. This print is really quite good and the level of detials that is revealed was a shock to me, and I've seen this film at least ten times prior.

Really the only spottiness comes from some stock footage. Otherwise the print is very clean and the defintion has greatly improved over what fans have been stuck with (well, excluding UK importers). Colors are nice and rich, with good fleshtones and green hues that really bring out the lushness of the jungle setting. Contrast is also nice and deep. Other than the usual budget quirks of the film itself this transfer is pretty near perfect especially at the cut-rate price.

Sound: English or original Cantonese Dolby digital 5.1 Surround or DTS options with optional Enlgish subtitles. While I usually frown upon remixes, or at least the ones that don't include an original mix option, I have to say Fox did not go too overboard and did an okay job. Truthfully, the orignal HK mix was a little thin when it came to action fx, and now the film has some beefed up explosions and gunfire that are not too distractingly new and add nicely to the film. The original track still has some weakness they did not manage to clean up, including bits where the vocal track is diluted and has some dropoff. Also the "dubtitles" have a couple of flubs.

Extras: Chapter Selections— Original and new trailers, plus trailers for other Fox/Fortune Star releases.

Conclusion: Great action yarn of pure testosterone-laced HK entertainment. A very fine transfer at a budget price that makes it a must purchase for any HK action fan.