Operation Condor (1997)

The "new" Jackie Chan film has one ingenious, arguably brilliant 
sequence.  It happens at the end of the movie, in an old WWII wind 
tunnel, built by the Nazis and buried somewhere in the Sahara, 
along with a fortune in stolen gold.  (240 tons worth, if you can 
stand it!)  Chan's character, a super-spy adventurer with the code 
name Condor, is squaring off against a pair of mercenaries, two of 
several villains who want the gold for themselves.  The three com-
batants get tossed and turned and slammed against walls and sucked 
toward giant propellers and, at times, appear to hover in midair. 
It's a great bit that's better lit, better paced, and more meticu-
lously edited than any other action sequence in the film.  Alas, 
the rest of OPERATION CONDOR is strictly lower-grade J.C.  Wacky 
dubbing and frantic editing are the chief culprits, both of which 
may be attributable to the repackaging process.  (Chan, who also 
directed, trimmed some 13 minutes from the original, which was re-
leased as ARMOR OF GOD II in 1991.)  His sense of humor is still a 
strong selling point and, with a "story" that takes place on three 
continents, the accompanying scenery is quite nice.  I just wish 
he'd staged that motorcycle sequence better.  I couldn't tell if 
that was him in every shot or not.  (Rated "PG-13"/90 min.)

Grade: C+

Copyright 1997 by Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies in MOVIE HELL: July 20, 1997