This Chinese take of THE DIRTY DOZEN was originally released in 1986 as DUNG FONG TUK YING. The film was directed by martial artist and legendary director Sammo Hung. It was the best Chinese war movie ever filmed (not that there was a whole lot like in the US). The film borrows some elements from A BRIDGE TO FAR, PLATOON, DEER HUNTER, and MISSING IN ACTION and beefs it up with lots of hard hitting martial arts action and HK film style and energy. The film is told from an American point of view, and actually starts out in America. The commandos, though Chinese, are fighting the Viet Cong in the name of the United States Army. The movie is also better than some of the American war movies put out in the eighties and still holds up well today. The film also features the martial arts skills of Yuen (WINNERS AND SINNERS) Biao.

The Viet Cong (VC) are searching their jungle for an abandoned munitions depot left behind by the Americans after their withdrawal from Viet Nam. The depot houses megatons of missiles and weaponry and if found by the VC, they could use these weapons on their neighbors. The American forces decide to send in a trained commando squad to destroy the weapons depot before the VC finds it. But knowing that they have a mole in their security, they also need to recruit a decoy team of commandos who are considered expendable. Chinese American immigrants that are in jail for various crimes are offered a pardon and $200,000 each if they volunteer for the mission and survive. The Lieutenant (Ching Ying Lam) recruits the prisoners and assigns Tung (Sammo) to be in charge. The team is flown in over Viet Nam to begin their decoy mission. Just as the would-be commandos start parachuting into the jungle below, the Lieutenant receives word that the real commandos plane has problems and the mission is to be aborted. But having had half the team jump out the plane already, he bites his lip and throws out the rest of the team and jumps himself.

Soon the team hits the ground and regroups. Nobody except for the Lieutenant and Tung know the mission is aborted, so they keep it quiet so as not to break the team’s morale. They meet up with a band of tough female Cambodian guerrillas led by the shapely but deadly Joyce Godenzi. The squad is forced to take refuge in a small town. There they meet Rat (Biao), a black marketer whom they nearly start a fight with. But soon the VC comes looking for them and Rat reluctantly joins the commando team. Before too long the team is easily captured by the VC; it seems as though they have been betrayed by one of their own. The team must find a way to escape, defeat the giggling VC General (Yuen Wah), and locate the munitions depot. An impossible task indeed.

Though there are some touches of Sammo Hung’s brand of humor, but this is first and foremost a war film. And what war film is complete without violence? This film has got the highest body count I’ve ever seen in a movie. The following is only a small sample of the mayhem on the DVD:

Sammo peels back jungle reeds and uses the core as weapons, puncturing the necks of the VC soldiers.

Four VC soldiers are ruthlessly stabbed by the Cambodian Guerrillas, one of the them right up his ass.

VC soldiers force a young boy to shoot a GI in the head.

Sammo clings to a tree using two knives, and when a VC soldier walks underneath him he releases himself from the tree; the knives sinking deep into their target.

Sammo beheads a VC Soldier.

In a single shot in view of the camera without cutting away, Sammo slashes a VC Soldier with a machete, and a piece of cloth comes off the soldiers back, but he does not have a scratch on him.

The Cambodian guerrilla leader gets her hand sliced off, and the VC soldiers mutilate her stump.

This is not a feel-good movie. Besides the war and mayhem, the film has highly acclaimed kung fu battles. The characters who are proficient with the martial arts don’t use guns, they prefer hand to hand combat. There is a climatic fight with Tung and Rat against the giggling general and his crack troops and it is one of the best fighting scenes I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen quite a lot). Yuen Biao is amazingly quick and agile. Because of his bulk, Sammo Hung has more power in his strikes than anyone. Even Yuen Wah’s skinny general’s kung fu style is bizarre, but extremely fluid.

SIGHT

The widescreen 2:35.1 cinematography looks great. There is incredible detail in the images. The lush jungle scenes are striking. The combat and martial arts scenes look crisp. The color schemes are jungle colors mixed with military browns, olives, and grays, and the transfer does these colors justice. A little grain is visible in some scenes but most people won’t even notice it. This transfer does not look as polished as more recent HK films like BRIDE WITH THE WHITE HAIR. The colors are genuinely bright and appear accurate. Contrast and brightness are good with decent shadow detail. A few of the night action scenes appeared a little soft. But for a foreign film from the mid eighties, its looks pretty good. Not perfect, but very good. The English subtitles appear beneath the letterboxed image and are easy to read.

SOUND

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is also very good considering the age of the film. Don’t expect LUCASFILM THX quality sound and directionality though. The mix is fairly active and particularly lively during the fight scenes. The forward soundstage has most of the activity with the rears speakers adding jungle ambience or echoing the flying bullets. There is little rear speaker right to left activity; they are mostly supporting or echoing the forward soundstage. Frequency response is good, but the bass is inconsistent at times. Sometimes when you expect high bass, say during cannon fire, but you don’t get it. Although when another character strikes an opponent with their fist, there is more bass than needed. A small complaint, however. Still, it’s an enjoyable mix. The score is used sparingly for dramatic effect and does not get much action in the mix. Cantonese and Mandarin dialogue sounds natural and is limited to the center channel.

FEATURES

The trailer for EASTERN CONDORS clocks in at 3:14 and is letterboxed at 2.35.1 and is in Dolby Stereo Surround. Also included are trailers for other films directed by Sammo Hung including PRODIGAL SON (3:52, 2.35.1, stereo), and WINNERS AND SINNERS (40 seconds, 1.85.1, stereo). There are also star bios for Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung.

CONCLUSION

An ambitious war film that has everything that makes films great: Passion, beauty, heart, violence, sorrow and humor and in all the right places. The film is near flawless and will leave you in a state of euphoria when you witness the explosive grand finale. The martial arts scenes and stunt work are highly poetic. If you have never seen a modern Hong Kong film, this is a perfect introduction to the genre. And thanks to Tai Seng, the DVD is easily available in a superior widescreen transfer complete with a raucous DD 5.1 soundtrack. Well what are you waiting for?

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