"KEEP BUSTIN'."

Eastern Condors

There’s alot of big movie anniversaries this summer. Everybody’s celebrating 30 years since the Summer of ’82 shit like E.T., THE THING, BLADE RUNNER, CONAN THE BARBARIAN. And I’ve been trying to commemorate the important summer of ’87 ones like PREDATOR and ROBOCOP. Little did I know that there was another movie, originally released July 9th, 1987, worthy of that kind of respect, but that I never saw before.

Geez, man. What have I been doing these last 25 years that was so god damn important I couldn’t be bothered to watch EASTERN CONDORS? Nothin, that’s what. Why did nobody convince me to watch this one before? This is my new favorite movie until further notice. The only legitimate reason to not watch it is if you’re worried that it will be hard to find another action movie to watch after that, because not many hold up to the EASTERN CONDORS standard of fun.

Directed by and starring Sammo Hung (with a superstar team that includes but is not limited to his partner Yuen Biao, DRUNKEN MASTER director/MATRIX choreogapher Yuen Woo Ping, and FONG SAI YUK/NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER/TRANSPORTER director Corey Yuen), this is late ’80s Hong Kong action cinema’s take on THE DIRTY DOZEN and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II. After the conclusion of the Vietnam War the U.S. government offers pardons to a team of Chinese-American convicts in exchange for going on a mission to destroy a huge weapons depot they left behind.

Why would a bunch of Chinese people go on a mission for the U.S. military? I assume the idea is that they’ll blend in better. But they try to sneak around anyway and when they’re spotted they’re identified as Americans. There are a bunch of things about the mission that didn’t seem to make sense to me – why is a guy convicted of killing a federal officer okay to be de-facto leader of the squad? Why do the Viet Cong start shooting when they see movement in the bushes – isn’t the war over?

Another funny bit: they mention that the cons will get “special training,” but don’t show any of it, and no time seems to pass, but somehow they’re all highly skilled martial artists and guerilla fighters.

But none of that matters. This is two great action movies at the same time. It’s got all the machine gun and grenade action of an American war movie, with a bunch of gigantic explosions, both of the real pyrotechnic variety and the disaster movie special effects types. But the characters move through this with the nimble athleticism of a kung fu movie. It’s not just two sides with guns opening fire on each other – one side might leap out from nowhere to grab the other side’s guns. They’ll escape captivity by flipping upside down, untying their wrists with their teeth while submerged underwater. They’ll flip and somersault and drop on an enemy from hanging upside down in a tree. It’s fun just to watch them moving around, before they even get to fight anybody.

Also, because it’s a Hong Kong movie, it’s got that thing where it’s crazy violence and there’s comedy with the characters bickering and everything but by the time it gets around to some emotional parts you realize you actually care about these characters. And these guys aren’t The Expendables, they actually are expendable. Alot of them die, and it’s sad. But they get good movie deaths – horrendous ones (don’t make the mistake of showing mercy even to a child, you don’t know if he’s a kid who gets off on playing Russian roulette with prisoners) and heroic ones (if you and your buddy are bleeding to death you might want to hang out smoking a cigarette and wait until the enemies approach so you can blow up a pile of bombs right in front of them).

Sammo is slimmer than usual in this one, and is not the comedic character he often plays. He’s more like a Chow Yun Fat character, but with martial arts skills. He wears a headband and uses a machete a bunch, maybe to look like Rambo. I’m not sure if he’s trained to eat things that would make a billygoat puke, but I do know that he has this trick where he can turn a leaf into a self-firing dart that can impale a guy’s neck.

Yuen Biao is Weasel (at least on the subtitles of the copy I saw), kind of the cool outsider among this dirty dozen, because he’s a Hong Kong smuggler they find along the way, not an official member of the team. He drives a crazy bike with balloons on it and has a funny haircut with lopsided bangs and only helps out to save his ass but ends up being maybe their best fighter.

Yuen Woo Ping is Mouse, an older more complaining guy on the team, mostly comic relief, but he runs headlong and slow motion into a hail of gunfire with the best of them. Even when he’s told not to.

But the standout character for me is “Guerilla Girl #1.” I know she actually has a name in the movie, but I forgot what it was, and it’s not on the credits. But she’s played by Joyce Godenzi, Miss Hong Kong 1984 and Mrs. Sammo Hung 1995-present. She’s a striking looking woman of both Chinese and Australian descent, but always stone-faced as she throws herself into danger. She earned my respect enough that even when her goals were at odds with what our guys wanted I found myself rooting for her.

This great ensemble goes up against an excellent villain, a prissy general (Yuen Wah) who likes to fan himself and dab the sweat from his forehead with a folded hanky. He does this after some of his soldiers get blown up right in front of him, so he seems like a caricature of a military leader who doesn’t have to get his hands dirty. (SPOILER) But in the end when he gets cornered he sort of transforms into a Shaw Brothers villain, a lanky older gentlemen who’s the master of some type of mantis kung fu style. So he gives ’em a good fight.

There are too many classic moments in this movie to list them all, so many great moves. There’s a stunt where a real ox drags a cart over a bump that sends 4 actors flying. There’s one where Sammo bounces 4 times off a metal roof like it’s a trampoline (3 of those bounces in one shot) and then through straw thatching to machete fight the guys inside. But I think my very favorite thing in the movie is a little moment, and it’s right after Sammo slow-motion cliffjumps into the back of a transport truck, punches one of the soldiers off and subdues the other nine with two hand grenades.

One thing the soldiers don’t realize – not that they care that much right now anyway – is that Weasel and Guerilla Girl are running up behind the truck:

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they jump on…

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and that’s when the moment happens – the Exchanged Glance of Camaradery.

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(This scene also contains something that can only be called The Half-Suppressed Smile of Satisfaction ‘Cause You Know It’s Awesome That You’re Hanging On the Bottom of a Truck)

This movie is a straight up classic. When you think about it it’s kind of rare to have a movie like this, that’s jam-packed with incredible action sequences but also has characters that you really like. If you haven’t seen it, don’t make the same mistake I made for a quarter of a century. Let EASTERN CONDORS into your life. Give it a bounce. Jump under a truck with it.

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that this is one of those movies they used to have where the end credits have a montage of highlights from throughout the movie, like "Remember how awesome this was when this happened?" And it's the best version of that I've ever seen because the stunts and explosions and things they show are so consistently great that I kept thinking "That was awesome!" and "Oh yeah, that was awesome too!" and "Oh geez, that part too, that was amazing!"

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 at 12:43 am and is filed under Action, Martial Arts, Reviews, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

59 Responses to “Eastern Condors”

  1. Glad you’re getting into the Hong Kong movies, Vern. This is actually not one of my favorites. The jungle blow darts scene is cool and the finale is Cray Cray but it’s just no ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA or IRON MONKEY to me. And I saw it on the big screen too. I just find the pace a bit uneven.

    Maybe that’s an interesting distinction. I think people who aren’t generally into HK cinema tend to be blown away by this. Maybe it’s more to American tastes. But then HK fans love it to so its not that. Just my personal taste I guess.

    Also MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER, SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS and the MARTIAL LAW pilot.

  2. BaronBlitzkrieg

    June 20th, 2012 at 1:39 am

    All four Yuens in the same film and they all get to play awesome characters, that alone makes it worth seeing, the action is just the icing on the cake.

  3. A mangled quote from something I read ages ago about this; either from J. Hoberman or a former fave critic of mine who’s name is escaping me at the moment in piece for Film Comment back in the early 90’s; “Sammo Hung’s love song to his wife, and his bid at superstardom”.

    My favorite scene, as I alluded to you on Twitter, involves the breathstopping, awe inspiring finale; I’ve watched that ballsin leap performed by Sammo onto the platf

  4. Gaaah! Stupid fat fingers and finicky I-phone, do as I wish or I’ll Siri your ass.

    Anyway, the shot where Sammo leaps onto the platform. Not only is it a jaw dropping stunt, but the camera angle is what always leaps out at me (pun intentional, bitches). Low angle, giving the viewer a perfect view of the surroundings and the length of the jump, along with just being a boss angle (and the trickery, as I’m pretty darn sure Sammo can’t jump that high and far). Just cinematic perfction.

  5. For further jungle action, John Woo´s HEROES SHED NO TEARS is also pretty goddamn awesome. However,not even the power and excellence of Woo can match EATSERN CONDORS. That´s how good this movie is.

  6. Oh, and since future suggestions are a thing; Tsui Hark’s “The Blade”, his update and dare I say improvemt on “The One Swordsmen”. Also his “answer” to Wong Kar Wai’s “Ashes it Time”. Tsui, as per his want at the time, had an annoying habit of just not slavishly spending enough time on his films (the obvious backlighting during one night scene is “FUCKING DISTRACTING!”), but the sword fights start good, get better right quick, and the final 15 minutes is at least amongst my top 10 for greatest sustained action of all time. From a brilliant long take, deep focus that shows main players slicing and extras getting chopped to pieces, to the final showdown of two ultimate badasses who’ve read the same book…oh, and one of the guys can fucking fly. Back in the mid-90’s slaving away at a quick food establishment (Cluck U Chicken…yeah, I know, but I was in college and needed a job) I would often throw this on the combo tv/VCR, and I glommed a lot of folks onto it’s brilliance. Saw one guy, a regular, real type or job type job guy who would always pick up his order while still in business clothes, came in one night to pick up a take out, missed the first 10mins or so, turned around to watch as I was prepping his order, sat down, unwrapped his food, stayed for the whole thing, and thanked me for introducing him to an entirely new cinema. Hard as fuck to track down, I wore out my VHS, found a DVD but it was shite, and have been begging the Blu Ray gods that one of these days, this will finally and gloriously be converted to Blu.

  7. wabalicious monkeynuts

    June 20th, 2012 at 2:22 am

    Yeah, The Blade is a really great film, totally agreed. Vern, did you notice that two of Yuen Wah’s henchmen were from Fist of Legend? Yusaki Kurata and Billy Chow, aka honourable samurai uncle guy and General Fujita. Eastern Condors is jaw-droppingly good, some of the greatest, most dangerous action ever filmed.

  8. Speaking of Tsui Hark, you guys should check out his “Time and Tide(Shun liu Ni liu)” from 2000. Pretty good film with one awesome
    multi-storey action set-piece that takes place in and outside one of those tall tower-block backyards they’ve got in HK. Also, one of the
    protagonists can slide on the ground like a penguin, and does so a couple of times.

    It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but the way I recall it, it’s good stuff.

  9. The exchanged glance of cameraderie – that paragraph brought a tear to my eye. Something similar can be seen at the end of Pedicab driver when Sammo and his friend walk in on something tragic, and share the glance of brutal vengeance.

    if you’re on a HK streak, don’t forget to check out the films of Chow Yun Fat’s other director
    partner, Ringo Lam (Prison on Fire, Full Contact etc)…

  10. I remember reading somewhere that the fights in Eastern Condors were full contact. I don’t know in what way that has influenced the final product, but it says something about the dedication of these actors. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Sammo than Jackie, and even if Condors really can’t be compared to any of his other movies (maybe Millionaire’s Express), it’s a great introduction to the big man’s work for the uninitiated. For fans of Haing S. Ngor it must all seem a bit weird.

  11. even though i’ve owned it on dvd (hong kong legends RIP) for years i felt incredibly lucky to see this on film when they showed it last year at FF. it was part of a HK series where they couldnt announce any of the titles due to rights issues, (hopefully copyright holders are not reading outlawvern comments) the whole thing was curated/presented by this dude grady hendrix http://www.gradyhendrix.com who is extremely cool, funny, and incredibly well-versed about all things HK and asian cinema.

  12. I still mourn the loss of Hong Kong Legends. Never have I seen a label put out the kind of quality products for a niche market as this. EASTERN CONDORS I believe was one of the earlier ones I bought. I´ve got about 80 or so of their releases. Good shit.

  13. Saw this one on the big screen at Actionfest this year, and yeah, it was great. I love the stunts and fights and even the story and characters were great. I love Guerilla Girl’s final scene. But I think what stopped it from being a classic is again, those Tyler Perry-esque HK tonal shifts, where there’s wacky comedy but also really horrifying stuff like the aforementioned kid playing Russian Roulette and exploding heads. I don’t know why I can’t get over those shifts where they don’t tend to bother me in most American movies.

  14. Dammit, this is another one I’ve had on my shelf for years and never got around to. I think it’s because I’m not really a Sammo fan, since he tends to lean more towards comedy and I am pretty allergic to the Chinese sense of humor. I gotta be the only guy whose favorite Jackie Chan movie is THE PROTECTOR because James Glickenhaus found him just as unfunny as I do and barred him from doing his usual so-fucking-pleased-with-himself schtick. But now that I know EASTERN CONDORS trends more serious than “funny” (although I know some comic relief is inevitable in an HK movie. It’s something I have learned to accept without much complaint as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the movie) it’s getting bumped up to Priority #1.

  15. ron, careful friend, I know you mean well, but you are not only blowing the whistle, you are naming names. Be cool. I am sure you misspoke, and what you meant to say was, “I will not say how, but I was lucky enough to see this screened theatrically recently”. I am not trying to be a dick, but if someone who owned those prints was nice enough to screen them, you don’t want to misspeak and get their prints taken away or worse. You would also potentially being ruining the chance of them screening other similar prints in the future.

  16. Great film & review. This is one of Sammo’s finest films (if not his best). It may be is crowning achievement as a director, and it is one of his best performances as well. Sammo is a tremendous talent, but I always preferred him as a director and fight coordinator than as a performer because of how silly his screen persona tends to be. However, in this one Sammo is deadly serious, and he leaves what little comic relief there is to other members of the cast. Yuen Biao, is also great in this and has some of the best action of the film. Really, this is an outstanding film across the board, the action, production values, filmatism, and performances are all topnotch.

  17. neal2zod, for the most part the tone of the film is really serious, but I love the gag about the stuttering guy on the team. The fact that it is so out of place with the tone of the film makes it even more hilarious to me. However, as serious and dark as this film is for a HK production of the time, I think the film was originally much sillier and cartoonish. I mentioned it in another thread when discussing this film, but the Blu-Ray features a number of trailers for the film on the disc and at least one of the trailers features all kinds of wacky slapstick action with the team while they are in prison that is not even in the film. Also, as Vern mentioned in his review there is a lot left unexplained in the film especially in the beginning and I don’t think it is by design, I think it is because they cut out all of the scenes of the team’s time in prison. I would be curious to see the cut scenes to get an idea of what Sammo’s original vision was, but I am glad they left them out. One of my favorite parts of the film is how effectively is sets up the premise then just dumps the team into the shit.

  18. Mr Majestyk – Don´t worry about chinese humour in EASTERN CONDORS. Its surprisingly straightfaced. No unnecessacry 20 minutes perv scenes like in the Lucky Stars movies. Go watch it,already!

  19. The Original... Paul

    June 20th, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    Wow, I will check this one out at the first opportunity.

  20. This is high on the Sammo list, but I still think Pedicab Driver is his best movie.

  21. Fred, I forgot to mention it earlier but I have to disagree with you. I don’t think IRON MONKEY is anywhere near as good as EASTERN CONDORS. CONDORS is not without its faults, but I think it is a superior film in every way. The action in CONDORS is better than IM in quantity & quality. CONDORS, is also a much better crafted film with superior visuals & direction. In addition CONDORS has an earnestness to impress that is hard to resist you don’t see in IRON MONKEY. With CONDORS Sammo wants so hard to out “Dirty Dozen” THE DIRTY DOZEN, out “Rambo” RAMBO, and make a film on par with the scale & scope of any Hollywood war film made up until that point that the mixture of ambition and skilled execution makes it hard not to love. I am not knocking IM. I think it is a good film, but not in the league of CONDORS.

    I am curious which do you prefer better IRON MONEY or THE LEGEND OF FONG SAI-YUK?

  22. One of my favorite films. I second the recommendation of HEROES SHED NO TEARS too.

    Regarding the lack of training scenes: If you watch one of the film’s trailers they have footage of the team training that got left on the cutting room floor. Which is fine by me as I’ve always found the endless training scenes in THE DIRTY DOZEN kind of a bore.

    Of all the amazing things about EASTERN CONDORS, I think my favorite is the sappy song played over the end credits while they replay some of the film’s more violent scenes.

    Oh yeah, EASTERN CONDORS was also the film that finally convinced Tarantino to write a men-on-a-mission War movie…so we have Hung to thank for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS too.

  23. Charles, Iron Monkey vs Fong Sai-Yuk? It depends on if you’re a Donnie Yen or a Jet Li fan, doesn’t it? If you put a gun to my head I think I would go for Monkey. It’s faster, slicker and better directed. And the end fight is just jawdropping.

  24. Charles, excellent question. I prefer MONKEY to FONG SAI YUK. FSY has some great fights, particularly the standing on heads scene, but most are badly shot from low angles so they’re a tad harder to watch.

    Fair enough on the CONDORS comparison. Funny thing is I don’t think the quantity of action is that high. I remember the jungle seige and the finale but nothing else stands out. maybe it was too much shooting versus fighting.

    TIME AND TIDE is fucking great!

  25. I would say FONG SAI YUK. I was never that impressed by IM. However, since I own both films your guys praise for IM has inspired me to rewatch it back to back with FONG SAI YUK. It has been a while since I watched IM, so maybe I will warm up to it this time around.

    Fred, you may be right that IM has a comparable number of martial arts fight scenes compared to CONDORS, but CONDORS also has lots of shoots outs, explosions, and badass guerilla warfare like when Sammo uses the leaf as a deadly dart. I was taking all of those elements into consideration when I said CONDORS has more action.

  26. Charles, do you own Fong Sai-Yuk 2 also?

  27. Oh and I almost forgot, I am on Team Jet. Donnie is great in the IP MAN films and has had some memorable screen fights over the course of his career, but outside of IP MAN he has been underwhelming as an actor and he does not have the screen presence Jet has.

  28. No, I don’t own FONG SAI YUK 2. It has been a while since I have seen it, but I don’t remember liking 2 as much as the original.

  29. In my opinion Yen was always better as a bad guy in the old days. Fong Sai-Yuk 2 is a bit lighter and funnier, but overall a good sequel (I think they were filmed at the same time). I have both on dvd, but Asian ones so the quality aren’t that good.

  30. Charles, I count the blow dart sequence and the finale. The shoot outs and explosions in between don’t register in my memory. Funny story though, I was underwhelmed by IRON MONKEY until the Tarantino rerelease. Then I was like, “How did I miss this?”

    It’s possible I need to watch EASTERN CONDORS six times until I realize it’s good. That worked for LICENCE TO KILL and DIE HARD 2.

    Has no one seen MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER tho? I believe it’s readily available. I really liked the MARTIAL LAW series too. It gave us a good Sammo fight each week, maybe more influenced by Jackie, but he could still move.

  31. Fred, have you seen MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG?

  32. Even more so than Jackie, Sammo has leaned on some very dubious comedy over the years. But like Jackie’s movies Sammo’s all have at least one extremely good fight. Take Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon for example. For most of it’s running time it’s like a entry in the Aces go Places series, but the last fight is so good it’s worth buying it on dvd and watch again and again.

  33. I saw MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER. The only thing I remember about it is that the slapstick made it kind of an ordeal. A title that amazing deserved better.

  34. pegsman, Sammo is one of the alll time best fight choreographers. As you pointed out even his disappointing films have at least some great action.

  35. Charles, I have not seen MERCENARIES. Maj, BUTCHER has a calligraphy scene that Sammo’s not even in and it’s incredible Yuen Wu Ping work. I don’t remember slapstick but I’m probably just used to it and it’s been maybe ten years since I saw it all the way through.

    I really want MARTIAL LAW on DVD. I even asked Carlton Cuse about it one time I interviewed him.

  36. Fred, MERCENARIES FROM HK is awesome. I have gushed about it a couple of times on this site, but it is a cult classic in the making. It just hasn’t found its audience yet. It has never been released on DVD in the states and the import DVD is out of print, but you can find it on VCD and at least for a while somebody had posted the entire film on Youtube. I would double check and post the link but I can’t access Youtube from this computer. It is a wacky early 80’s men on a mission movie that features all of the stars that were under contract to the Shaw Brothers at the time led by Ti Lung (A BETTER TOMORROW I & II), and it is full of crazy stunts and action. It is not a polished and skillfully crafted film like CONDORS, but it is pure unapologetic exploitation film making. I could go on and on about all why the film is so awesome, but it will be more enjoyable if you discovered them for yourself.

  37. It’s still on YouTube. I haven’t seen it so I think I’ll download it and watch it tomorrow.

  38. Cool, let me know what you think.

  39. For anyone interested I posted and embedded link to MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG on Youtube in the forum. Here is the link: https://outlawvern.com/forum/the-films-of-cinema/mercenaries-from-hong-kong/

    I apologize in advance for my multiple failed attempts at posting the video. It took me a while to get it right.

  40. Too much Guinness this weekend, Charles. I didn’t get around to watch…anything really. But it’s high on my list.

  41. I am an hour into MERCENARIES and I agree. It´s a helluva movie. it basically has everything you could ask for. The fight scenes are nowhere near as impressive as CONDORS, but the movie is just so much fun to watch. Thanks for the tip AND the link. Its always fun to discover hidden gems like this.

  42. I gotta watch this movie.

  43. Maximilain – there’s a French DVD of THE BLADE that’s immaculate.

    Someone managed to put custom subs on it and copies are out there.

  44. Shoot, I am glad you liked it. I agree that the fight scenes in MERCENARIES are not that impressive especially compared to CONDORS, but as you also pointed out MERCENARIES is so much fun it hardly matters.

  45. I finally got around to watching IRON MONKEY & FONG SAI YUK again. I was hoping that I would warm up to IRON MONKEY this time around and see something in it I missed when compared to FSY but it just doesn’t do it for me. I still enjoy CONDORS & FSY much more than MONKEY. I do agree that MONKEY is technically superior and the action is better staged & executed compared to FSY, but I like the characters in FSY better. There is also a playfulness to FSY that is missing in MONKEY.

  46. You are talking about the 1993 version of Iron Monkey and not the original?

  47. Yes, I am talking about the 1993 version. I have not seen the original.

  48. Okay, just checking, because I find the remake to be very light and comical. The original is dead serious.

  49. I agree the 1993 version on MONKEY does have some comedy and light hearted parts in it, but I think FSY feels more playful because the humor is more persistent and for my tastes funnier. MONKEY really only has one comedic scene, and that is when (SPOILERS) the Iron Monkey disguises himself as a representative of the emperor to mess with the corrupt Governor. For better or for worse (depending on your tastes) FSY has significantly more comedic scenes including the great bits with (SPOILER) Fong’s mother pretending to me Fong’s brother and seducing the governor’s wife. Those scenes alone are funnier than anything in MONKEY. However, in the end I think it is just a matter of taste. I like the charters in FSY better, so maybe that is why the film plays better for me. There is nothing negative I can say about MONKEY. I wish I liked it more, but for whatever reason it just does not do it for me.

    PS: It also does hurt that the bad guy rips a guys face off at the beginning of FSY. That is worth extra points in my book.

  50. You really should check out FSY 2, it’s even funnier.

  51. Your right, I do need to check it out. After watching FSY again and comparing it MONKEY I recognize that part of what makes FSY work for me is how much I enjoy Fung’s entire family and in-laws. Even if part 2 is not as good as the first, I would just be happy to spend a little more time with the characters.

    Also, sorry this should read, “It also does NOT hurt that the bad guy rips a guys face off at the beginning of FSY. That is worth extra points in my book.”

  52. By the way, have you seen Ringo Lam’s BURNING PARADISE, where a young Fong Say-yuk is captured by an evil cult?

  53. No I have not, but it sounds good and I like Ringo Lam. FULL CONTACT & CITY ON FIRE are 2 of my favorites.

  54. Matthias Colberg

    August 19th, 2012 at 2:22 am

    It’s good that some people still remember the good old movies produced a very long time ago. And I think that some people still appreciate those kind of movies because they are certainly classics.

  55. I was an extra on this film at LCC lakeside correctional centre in Lethbridge Canada. I was actually a guard at a youth facility on the other side of town and myself and another corrections guard caught wind of the production and signed up for work as extras. We did not impress the casting director with our physical prowess or lack thereof, so we ended up having our heads shaved and cast as inmates. I probably have a dozen humorous stories to share including a rather scary encounter with a federal inmate from drumheller correctional centre that we scammed in a card game between scenes. What I do recall is a lot of miscommunication btw the directors and Canadian extras. Sammo was also pretty well taken care and we only saw him for a few minutes each day. I would like to get my hands on the DVD and see the cut material including the cafeteria scene.

  56. Oh wow, it was filmed in Canada? Yeah, any story you feel like sharing I would love to hear. Did you ever spot yourself in the movie?

  57. BURNING PARADISE is really good. We have all seen countless films with the burning of the Shaolin temple and the persecution of Shaolin monks. In this movie we get to see the imprisonment of the Shaolin monks in a hellish prison. Real good shit.

  58. Awesome thanks!

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