By Jason Haskins
I was a kid in the mid to late nineties and I remember being at my aunt's house when Jackie Chan swept the place. All of my random cousins were hugely into him, but I hadn't even heard of him...until they put on Operation Condor, which got me hooked. Now, he has become a colossal box office hero...though he has succumbed to Hollywood in recent years--making cheap films that have indubitably weakened his image. I will put my cards on the table and say that eighties/nineties Jackie Chan is still the man and this movie is one of the reasons why.
Jackie Chan plays Condor, a special agent of sorts who's been hired through the years for finding artifacts for the highest bidder. He's pretty much an Indiana Jones-type character. His most recent expedition has him hired to find a World War II German secret base full of their spoils of war buried in the heart of the Sahara desert. He teams up with two women--one is the granddaughter of the man whose map he is following to the gold and the other is a person hired by his benefactor to make sure that everything runs smoothly. However, Condor must find the gold before heaps of mercenaries do. It's a race against time to see who will get there first.
Operation Condor is actually the sequel to Jackie Chan's Armour of God II: Operation Condor, but due to the localization process and the complete laziness on the part of the American market this is just simply known by its surname. What you need to know, however, is that it isn't necessary to watch the original in order to understand this one--though it's highly recommended because the first film is awesome!
This is one of the best Golden Harvest films from the early nineties and I still hold this up there with some of Jackie's best films because of how fun it is and how much action is contains. Jackie has made a name for himself as being the Buster Keaton of martial arts as he incorporates physical humor into his choreography, and this film is no different. There's a lot of humor in Operation Condor and it's all pretty funny from his character's signature quirkiness to the bizarre situations he and his companions find themselves in. There's a large cast of colorful characters that they run into on their quest and it all leads somewhere rather interesting. While the story isn't the most original, it's really fun and exciting in that Indiana Jones way of adventure.
I own this on VHS and what comes along with that is English dubbing, which means that the characters are all speaking in a foreign language while English has been calibrated over it. I definitely don't like this process and thank God for DVD, where we were able to pick and choose (for the most part) how we watched our movies. That said, the dubbing in Operation Condor really isn't so bad. Jackie has dubbed his voice over in English as opposed to hiring someone to do it for him and it's not as distracting as it sounds. This isn't like the Godzilla days--the dubbing isn't THAT big of a deal, but more of a nitpick as the voice actors are pretty good and help the comedy of the film. This is rooted in 1991 so expect some really dorky moments and fashions to distract you more.
If you've never seen this or any of Jackie Chan's foreign films and only know of who he is now, then you owe it to yourself to pick this up. This is one of the finest examples of his prowess not only as a filmmaker (he directed, wrote, stunted, starred, and choreographed this motion picture), but as an entertainer. The movie has a great story that keeps you interested and a buttload of unforgettable moments including the awesome finale at the secret base where he's fighting people while a large fan is blowing them everywhere. Operation Condor is hilarious and action-packed--surely to leave a great flavor in your mouth and realize that Jackie Chan was a powerhouse guy in the nineties...this is a prime example.
4.5 out of 5 Stars
More Jackie Chan at Cinemecca:
Project A (1983)
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