		Year: 1986 Director: Sammo Hung Starring: Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching Ying, Joyce Godenzi Genre: Action/martial arts Literal title translation: 'Eastern Bald Eagles'

A group of Asian convicts are offered freedom by their American handlers if they can destroy a munitions dump in wartime Vietnam. The mission is officially scrubbed just as the convicts are about to parachute into the Vietnamese jungle, but by then it's too late to turn back.

This film was made during the period in which Sammo was trying to realise some very grandiose visions. I would not be surprised if this film was extremely expensive to make as judging by the sets this film looks more lavish than some American films of the same period. Sammo has adopted a short haircut for the film and also appears to have lost a lot of weight. Therefore, he is much more believable in the role of the leader of a crack commando unit. This is Sammo's version of the 'Deer Hunter' and contains some quite gruesome moments. There is not much martial arts action until the final reel but when it comes around it is worth the wait. Sammo's action direction seems to be much more hard hitting here than usual and both him and Yuen Biao are clearly giving it their all. Yuen Wah only turns up for the final fight and plays much the same character that he did in Dragon's Forever two years later. His style of flipping around and getting in a few cheap hits seems to fit well into the proceedings. This is by far the best sequence in the film which occasionally lags. At some points the only thing keeping the plot going is the magnificent scenery.

For production design alone this is clearly Sammo's best film. However, it doesn't seem to have the heart that some of Sammo's work has an abundance of. If you like your action hard hitting and in your face this is the film for you. Apparently this film performed badly at the box office in Hong Kong which is a shame because it shows Sammo to be a filmmaker who is willing to take risks and is capable of coming up with fresh ideas. Overall a classy but sometimes uneven film.