“Armour of God II: Operation Condor” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Jackie Chan
Cast: Jackie Chan, Carol Cheng, Eva Cobo De Garcia, Ikeda Shoko, Vincent Lyn, Jonathan Isgar, Ken Goodman, Bruce Fontaine, Ken Lo, Aldo Sambrell, Wayne Archer, Nick Brandon, Chan Chi Hwa, Condee, Mark King, Dan Mintz, Bozidar Smiljanic, Steve Tartalia
Running Time: 107 min.
By Ro
Jackie’s Indiana Jones type character is back, but they changed his nickname from ‘The Asian Hawk’ to ‘Condor’ (thus the title) and he’s an ‘agent’ now, more like James Bond. Huh? I guess it’s not important, since plot takes a back seat to action in these movies anyway.
A rich guy (the same one who lent Jackie his daughter and artifacts in Part I) sends Jackie on a mission to the desert to recover stolen Nazi gold. He starts out with an Asian woman (who’s a desert expert) leading the expedition and the very blond granddaughter of the original Nazi in charge. They pick up a girl who’s apparently wandering around the desert to ‘find herself’. They also pick up several different gangs of bad guys intent of stealing the maps and key to the vault. As if that wasn’t enough, they also run afoul of slavers and natives guarding the entrance. Needless to say, the action and fighting are nonstop and first rate! Some of it’s so fast, I was glad I was viewing it on tape so I could rewind. And you have to give Jackie credit for creativity – fighting in a wind tunnel!!!! Another plus – Jackie dubs his own voice!
Ro’s Rating: 8.5/10
By Dead Channel
I don’t care for this movie at all. I saw it in the theater and thought it wasn’t that great, then I rented it the other day after about a year of not seeing it, and disliked it even more. I really think this movie is so weak compared to his other movies. I’d like to see more of that girl “Mamoko” though, believe that shit. BAHAH! Anyway, I think the only part I liked besides seeing Carol Chang’s arse (hope it was hers for real!) was when the younger girl (Mamoko?) calls her scorpion “little ding ding”. How funny is that?! Hah.. man what the fuck is up with that German girl’s hat?! Damn! What the fuck is the world coming to! Fuck this movie! Argh! Fuck! Kill!
Another thing, is it just me, or are the two “broads” (see my Police Story I review) on the movie poster not even in the movie? Anyway, check this one out for the end scene in the air tunnel. Quite dope. I don’t hate this movie all that much, but his other shit just blows it away. I’m a little pissed that I haven’t gotten to see the part (from the Chinese version) where Jackie is giving all the girls water and looking like they’re in sexual positions .. blah just read one of the other reviews I’m done.
Dead Channel’s Rating: 4/10
By James H.
I saw both versions of this fine film. I think I liked the HK version better, even though the subtitles were shit, the sound was mono and the picture quality was below average. When I heard the great news that it was to be released here in North America I was supremely pleased.
Alas, I didn’t get to see it in theatres, for I was at the cottage the week it lasted in my town (ONE week, it was in theatres for ONE damn week!). I eagerly awaited the home video release, then, I saw it. I was shocked and chagrinned at what them bastards at New Line cut out. There were a couple of parts that I thought were cut justly, but there were a couple of funny parts they could have left in. That’s not too bad, but what really pissed me off was that they cut one of Jackie’s best moves! Near the end when Jackie’s fighting the baddies in the Nazi place, he swings around on a railing and punches the bad guy! You have to see it to know how cool it is.
I didn’t like the fact that stereotypes ran rampant in this film, although some were good for a laugh. I also didn’t like the three bitchy women, they were annoying. The fights were brilliantly done and the car chase was (for lack of a better word) awesome! The wind tunnel bit was pretty damn cool too. The movie was good fun, so go out and see it.
James H’s Rating: 8/10
By Numskull
What, I ask, do the opinions of little old me count for compared to those of Jackie’s thousands of fans? These are quotes from people at one of Operation Condor’s theatrical showings, carefully compiled to present an accurate overview of the film for the benefit of the uninitiated.
PRE-SHOWING BUZZ:
ONE GUY SAID: “I like Jackie Chan’s movies so much, I would pawn my wedding ring to see one!”
ANOTHER GUY SAID: “I like Jackie Chan’s movies so much, I would dismember my grandma to see one!”
STILL ANOTHER GUY SAID: “I like Jackie Chan’s movies so much, I would trade a testicle to see one…come to think of it, I did, once! Remember when SUPERCOP came out? Well, I wanted to see it really bad but I was broke, so I went to this genital dealer and he gave me $30 for my left nut! Then, after the movie, I went to the black market to look for it…I spent the whole night rummaging through all these balls, measuring wrinkles and counting hairs…finally I found it. I took out the rest of my 30 bucks, and then the new owner saw my Jackie Chan T-shirt. He said he wouldn’t take money from a fellow Chan fan and gave it back to me for free! Ever since then, we’ve been inseparable!”
RE: THE MOTORCYCLE CHASE:
SOME GUY WITH HEAD LICE SAID: “Wow! That was so thrilling, I think I lost control of my bowels!”
THE WOMAN SITTING NEXT TO HIM SAID: “Just when it was getting good, I noticed this awful smell and I had to find another seat!”
THE MAN SHE ENDED UP SITTING IN FRONT OF SAID: “Holy shit, it’s a good thing all those crates he ran into were empty, or else he coulda been seriously hurt!”
THE SUB-LITERATE, SOCIALLY MALADJUSTED TWELVE-YEAR-OLD SAID: “when jackie ran into that one guy he fell on his neck and probably broke it ha ha that was cool!”
SOME HONG KONG MOVIE KNOW-IT-ALL SAID (in a voice similar to that of the comic book store guy from The Simpsons): “It’s common knowledge that Jackie Chan, otherwise known as Sing Lung, does NOT perform all of his own stunts, contrary to what New Line Cinema and Miramax Pictures would have you believe. You see, there wer TWO units working on this film…one in Europe and one in the Sahara. Chan was wasting Golden Harvest’s money in the latter location at the time the motorcycle chase needed to be shot, so he hired a double for the entire scene but failed to admit it in public, thus duping all of his loyal fans. So, the whole “no stuntman” marketing ploy attached to the promotion of his movies in North America is nothing short of grand-scale fraud…what was that? How many times have I seen this movie? Seven or eight…why?”
RE: THE MOTEL SCENE
SOME 44-YEAR-OLD SUBURBAN YUPPIE BITCH SAID: “What kind of message is this movie trying to give to our children?!? That it’s wrong to be a member of the Middle Eastern community?!? And what about that shower scene?!? Don’t you think it would have been more appropriate if she had kept her clothes ON?!? I’m writing a letter to this Jackie Chan character, and I’m telling all my friends in the PTA to forbid their children to see this piece of filth!!!”
HER 10-YEAR-OLD SON HUNTER SAID: “Shut up, ma! My soccer game is in twenty minutes! Go bring the van around!”
TO WHICH SHE REPLIED: “Yes, dear.”
WHILE HER SIX-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BRITTANY SCREAMED: “MOOOOOM!!! Zachary won’t share his popcorn!”
RE: THE AUCTION AND ITS SUBSEQUENT BREAK-UP:
THE HEAD LICE GUY SAID: “Oh, man…my kidneys can’t take much more of this!”
MPM SAID: “Hot damn! What I would have given for a shitload of camels!!! Hey, why are my socks wet?”
SALLY STRUTHERS SAID: “It’s easy to laugh at the misfortune of the under-priveleged when you’re sitting in an air-conditioned theater, watching it all on a movie screen. But what about the millions of children trapped in poverty-stricken countries just like that one who regularly go for days on end with nothing to eat? What about the grown-ups who live their whole lives without having a proper home like you or me? As human beings, it is our duty to lend a helping hand to all the poor citizens of third world nations across the globe by…Hey! WHO STOLE MY MILK DUDS?!?!?”
RE: THE WIND TUNNEL SEQUENCE
TOM CRUISE SAID: “Holy cow! I’ve never seen or done anything like it!”
JAMES GLICKENHAUS SAID: “Boy, that Jackie Chan is something else, huh? I worked with him once, you know! ‘The Protector’! Been out on video for quite some time…I really think you’d enjoy it! Please? My kid needs braces…”
A MAN WEARING A SKI MASK SAID: “All right bitch, open the register! NOW!!!”
AFTER THE MOVIE: FOURTEEN GRATEFUL DEADHEADS SAID: “Huh?”
THE HEAD LICE GUY SAID (from behind the men’s room door): “Is that blood? Oh God no! NO!!! ARRRRRRRRGGGHHH!!!!!”
AND, A GUY IN A SPIDER-MAN T-SHIRT SAID: “Wait a minute…THAT wasn’t ‘Batman & Robin’! Oh well, at least I found this box of Milk Duds in Sally Struthers’ cleavage!”
Numskull’s Rating: 9/10
By Hendri Liato
I actually like the concept of JC riffing on Indian Jones movies. The choice is just obvious and natural. It seems inevitable that JC would do a globe-trotting adventure movie; the more reason for our beloved Jackie to do what he does best. This film has a great, wonderfully whacked-out, outlandish action sequences like the one staged in a wind tunnel and a classic (IMO) chase sequence that ends with a stunning bike leap over a harbor.
Some people complained about the negative stereotyping of Arabs in this film; I say they are way too cartoonish to be taken seriously. On the other hand, the attempt at bathroom humor is head-scratchingly bad. Not to mention juvenile. The intercontinental female leads — Eurobabe (Spanish? Italian?) Eva Cobo De Garcia, Chinese Carol Cheng and Japanese Ikeda Shoko– are all suitably gorgeous.
But we don’t have to see them go through gratuitous physical anguish played out as comic relief, do we? Jackie’s self-aggrandizing mode (“Jackie, help us!”) is turned way up for way too long over the course of the film. It is a complte missed opportunity to be one of the greats.
Hendri Liato’s Rating: 7/10 (an excellent 9 without the bathroom jokes)
By Dan-O
This is one of those movies you either like or hate like poison, or, a movie you feel almost embarrassed for enjoying so much. I’m a proud member of the latter club. The cornball plot about the Nazi gold absolutely stinks the joint right out, the characters are tracing paper thin, only with about half as much intellectual depth, the Arabian villains and every other (usually non Chinese) ethnic group “represented” in this flick is stereotyped up the ass, and the ending, minus the wind tunnel sequence, which was great, was a big, juicy suck sandwich (which actually sounds good in a certain way, but…..anyway….you know what I mean).
But then again, when I first saw this movie during it’s VERY disappointing U.S. theatrical run, I walked out of that darkened room, after the credits of course, with a big, silly, goofy, ear to ear grin on my puss (face, you sicko). Why? Was it the jaw-dropping beauty of the short haired Scandinavian looking lass Jackie yanks the towel off of first? Is it the so-stupid-you-laugh-in-spite-of-yourself humor? Maybe it’s the bizarre dirtbike chase sequence that is so complex it must have soaked up a huge chunk of the budget for this film. How ’bout that windtunnel thing (the other big budget chunk)? It was hilarious, original (as far as I know), and something only Jackie would have the cahones to try! Could it have been the fight on the shifting platforms that made me nauseous from vertigo just watching it? Or maybe, possibly, it was the always fun to watch outtakes, where everyone alternately laughs then goes “Oooooh, oucharoo! That hurt!”. Yeah, no crap!
When the outtakes began to roll (in the theater), an older woman, probably in her late 50s, sitting across from me got up out of her chair with palpable waves disgust emitting from her eyes, and stormed out of the theater. God, what I wouldn’t have given for the guts to drag that hag back inside, forcibly plant her back in her seat, point at the screen rolling the outtakes and say “Look up there, see that? That fall looks like it hurts, doesn’t it? Those people are taking him to the hospital! See, he did that for you. He tried his goddamnedest to entertain YOU, you ungrateful cow you. How DARE you snarl at this movie! There is more sincerity in one frame of this film than in all of your miserable, shriveled, blackened little heart!!”
Hey, I was having a rough week. I’m feeling much better now, really!
Bottom line: Candied corn can be good for you sometimes (at least if it comes from Jackie Chan, that is).
Dan-O’s Rating: 9/10 (I’m phasing out the cute ratings, kiddies. Get used to it.)
By The Great Hendu
(The following should be read in a voice similar to the guy who does the TV ads for monster truck shows) It’s here. The greatest action film of the week. Let’s get ready for Condooooor! (upbeat dance music plays in the background)…Jackie Chan stars in this unnnnnbelievable showcase of action, action, ACTION! Fight after fight, stunt after stunt, we ask ourselves, “How much more can he do, when will it end?”, and the undenyable answer is never, never, NEVER!! Machine guns going off everywhere, Nazi wind tunnels the size of a gymnasium, yet nothing stops him. So go see this movie, Friday, Friday,FRIDAY!!! (or whenever you can get down to the video store).
The Great Hendu’s Rating: 8/10
By Aloho
I finally tracked down the original version. Operation Condor has better sound mixing. In the original, circus music plays during the finale. One great scene that was cut is entitled the waterbottle scene. Jackie, the three women, and the two arab type are in the desert. Jackie has his water pouch under his jacket with tubing attached. Jackie stays close to the each woman to give them water and not let the arabs know. From the arabs view, they are in sexual positions. It’s very funny. A small part of the wind tunnel was cut and scene in the beginning where Jackie, Eva, and Ikeda bump into eachother. By coincedence, they join together in the last half of the movie.
The opening sequence is great, and that’s why I love the Armour of God series. Couple of insignificant fights in the middle. A great chase takes place in Spain having Jackie manning a motorcycle. Good stunt. Good action sequence. A thing that really stood out during the pursuit is when Jackie hits a guy who is mopping. This guy flips over and lands on his neck. I am sure he was sent to the hospital. The wind tunnel thing is very unique
Aloho’s Rating: 10/10
By Clint
This movie ranks # 3 on my all time JC movie list. I don’t think I can really explain why. All I know is that I have watched this movie over and over and over again, and I still love it as much as the first time. The action is so fast that if you blink, you’ll most likely miss an outstanding maneuver. This movie is somewhat goofy when you really examine it, but I kinda like goofy. The infamous why-did-they-take-that-out-of-the-american-version water bottle scene, the towel pulling scenes, the condom scene, and the wind tunnel scene are all real funny.
There are two brilliant fights in the base at the end, one of which JC hangs on to a large pipe while it’s rolling; the wind tunnel fight, while not that great with the hand to hand fighting, still entertains you more than a Rumble in the Bronx ending or a Mr. Nice Guy ending, or a Thunderbolt ending, or even a First Strike ending. You notice a pattern? Those are Jackie’s last 4 movies, none of which contain the entertaining finale one would expect from him. What gives?
Now back to Operation Condor review already in progress. Why did they take that cool punch where he goes in between the bars and blasts the dude in the gut in the U.S. version? I’ll let them get away with the water bottle scene, it was a little racy, but there was no need to leave that out. Oh well, complaining won’t do anything about it. So I will end my review.
Clint’s Rating: 10/10
By Andrew
Some people, when going to the movies, expect certain standards: the plot is what matters, actors exist to move the plot along, and the denouement involves good triumphing over evil and everyone living happily ever after. Operation Condor is not a film for these people. In this film, action and comedy are the central themes, the plot exists to string these sequences together, and the denouement is as important as those little unpopped kernels at the bottom of the popcorn bucket. This film elevates action and comedy to a new level. There is a near perfect fusion between the blink-and-you-miss-it fighting sequences and some of the best situational comedy I have ever seen. (oh yeah, there are some really cool stunts too)
I, like most true Chan fans, can ignore most plot deficiencies and see this film for what it is- an awesome barrage of lightning quick comedy fused with action. Detractors may tell you that this flick steals too much from Indiana Jones and James Bond. So what if it does? You’re not going to think “James Bond” when you see one of Jackie’s cool treasure hunting gadgets, you just think “COOL, WHERE CAN I GET ONE OF THOSE!” If the ending were a little more complete this might just have been my favorite Chan film of all time.
Andrew’s Rating: 9.5/10
Dr. Guajardo
The film was reportedly shot in 3 continents, eight months, and cost around $80 million. The plot revolves around agent Jackie (Condor) being sent by the Spanish government to recover lost Nazi gold buried in the Sahara. Of course, Jackie isn’t the only one after the gold. Two different sets of villains are also after it as well including two bumbling idiots. Along the way Jackie sides with 3 beautiful women to help him recover the gold. I think this is a first for Jackie but the three ladies are wimps compared to Michelle Khan (Supercop).
There are plenty of action scenes in this film as well as humor. The quality of the action and humor, in my opinion, was superior to Chan’s most recent effort, ‘First Strike’. The fight scenes are plentiful and excellent, in particular the finale where Jackie duels with the goons in the hidden Nazi bunker and in a huge wind tunnel (the wind tunnel alone looks like it cost a fortune!). The film may not be ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ but I’d like to see Harrison Ford try some of the stuff Jackie does!
Dr. Guajardo’s Rating: 9.5/10
By Vic Nguyen
This film starts off on the right foot, great action in the beginning, but it starts to slow down. Jackie plays an adventurer code named Condor, this time he is summoned by Bannon again to get a valuable stash of gold from World War 2. He is helped by two of his female aids. Some great action and funny comedy, but boredom sets late in the movie.
Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 7/10
By Michael
I have to admit, I liked this film. I’ve read many negative reviews about this movie, and wondered why? Operation Condor is a perfect sequel to the first one. This movie has a perfect balance of action, stunts, and humor. Who couldn’t resist seeing Jackie pulling towels off his female assistants? The wind tunnel finale is a blast to watch. Be on the lookout for Jackie’s bodyguard (the main bad guy in DM2) in the wind tunnel fight. I think he died some of his hair red. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie over his previous U.S. releases. I think it beats First Strike in every catagory (fights, stunts, humor, etc..) I desperately want Jackie to make another sequel to this movie, along with a DM3.
Michael’s Rating: 10/10 (For the fights, stunts and those girls:) )
