The time is 1975 and the USA has withdrawn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.
My rating for this film: 8.5