Review: Operation Condor – Armour of God II (1991) / Cert: 15 / Director: Jackie Chan / Screenplay: Jackie Chan, Edward Tang / Starring: Jackie Chan, Carol ‘Do Do’ Cheng, Eva Cobo / Release Date: November 11th
The all-kicking, all-fighting, all-action spectacle that is Jackie Chan hits HD in this re-issue of one of his best action comedies.
In true Indiana Jones fashion, Asian Hawk Jackie (Chan) is tasked to help find stolen gold hidden in a bunker in the Sahara desert by the Nazis in WWII. Along for the ride are his agent partner, Ada (Cheng) and the granddaughter of the bunker’s chief, Elsa (Cobo). With various groups also looking for the gold, the team constantly have to fight to survive.
Like with any of Chan’s best films, right from the start you know what you are in for. Plot details and even acting plays second fiddle to the glorious set-pieces, which come thick and fast. Whether it’s a high-octane fight sequence, with Chan as always doing his own stunts, or an equally tense and tightly choreographed moment where he is avoiding being seen by a showering young woman, it’s hard not to have fun. The violence is of the slapstick variety (bordering on The Three Stooges), in which no one (until the very end) gets really hurt and not one person can shoot straight nor hit their target. For far-fetched adventure with old-fashioned attitudes (it does push the PC boundaries on occasion) you can’t go wrong.
The Blu-ray release, from MediumRare, is of satisfactory condition, and certainly an upgrade on previous releases, and features the option of viewing in the original language, with 5.1 sound (merely stereo for English).
Extras: Action Chan, Comedy Chan – two short compilations taken from various Chan movies. Although the quality is sub-par for DVD, for Blu-ray criminal.
