The movie, Eastern Condors, is an action movie with street fight elements, martial arts, war massacre, and black humor all merged into one spectacular down-and-dirty film. The movie focuses on a band of ragtag Asian inmates, who are granted the freedom shot, and touches on matters of redemption, loyalty and survival in the savage environment of Vietnam. Lt. Lam and the notorious prisoner Tung are the leaders of the group on the brink of danger, disclosure, and non-stop conflict. The tone of the film alternates between the realism of grim action and the almost cartoonish excess of high-action usually tinged with the bravado humor that keeps the audience interested even during the bloodshed scenes.
That which I found most astounding about this movie is the raw energy and not apologetic expression of chaos. This colorful assortment of personalities cuts both ways- the feisty female warriors and the easy-going laissez-faire martial artist Rat making the story jump, including even though the situation is rather dire. Their desperate fight against Vietcong and eventual trip with a weirdly swift martial arts master provide sufficient adrenaline and entertainment. Action scenes are innovative and bloody and tend to cross borders of how the traditional war films, so the audience can experience the mayhem and the hysteria of being in such a situation.
More dirty than tough, the title of the movie, Eastern Condors, is a film that is definitely not embarrassed about its free-swinging farce nature. The camera work picks up the crowded jungle setting, as well as the blinding action and fighting, and the music enhances the beat that will not stop throughout the film. It can be described as a film that people come out of with a feeling of exhilaration and reflection and a reminder that in even the worst times there is a little bit of humor, courage, and sheer willpower that can shine through the darkness. It is an intense, uncanny praise of strength and confusion of war, that resounds with the feature of wild adventure and gritty comradeship.
