The time is
1975 and the USA has withdrawn from Vietnam, but left behind a huge cache
of weapons hidden in the countryside. So a select group of Asian-American
prisoners are chosen to go into Vietnam and blow up the armaments. They
are parachuted in country and fight their way across Vietnam to their destination.
Along the way there are some great moments and terrific performances from
Sammo (looking pretty lean and very tough) , Yuen Biao as a slightly loony
Vietnamese peddler that joins up with the group and Joyce Godenza as a fierce
Cambodian guerilla helping the crew. Also showing up is Lam Ching-Ying (Mr.
Vampire) as the group commander and in one of the strangest casting decisions
the great Dr. Haing Ngor (The Killing Fields) as the crazy Vietnamese.
The scene of Joyce coming out of the water
to attack the gunboat and killing them all with a knife is a classic. The
look on her face is unforgettable. Another great scene is Sammo and Yuen
silently killing an entire platoon in the jungle with various methods (my
favorite being the lethal projected leaves from Sammo!). There is a lot of
gunplay throughout, but in the finale everyone conveniently runs out of ammunition
and we get Sammo, Yuen and Joyce facing off against Yuen Wah (for some reason
playing a Vietnamese commander as fey as possible), Dick Wei and Billy Chow.
Some incredible acrobatics from Yuen that never fail to amaze me. Godenza
who has since become Sammo's wife says very little in the film, but burns
with intensity and made me a fan of hers.
Some weaknesses in this film, but it grows
more on me every time I see it and it is worthwhile for many classic moments.
And I didn't even mention the decapitated hand, which is a shock to the system.
Needless to say not too many of them survive.
