OPERATION CONDOR

"OPERATION CONDOR"
(1990) (Jackie Chan, Carol Cheng) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Minor	Moderate	Minor	Heavy

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	None	Minor	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Minor	None	Mild	*Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A secret agent and three women race against several terrorist groups to find a hidden stash of WWII gold.

PLOT:: Jackie (JACKIE CHAN) is a secret agent, code-named "Condor," who's called to Europe and handed the assignment of finding a stash of hidden gold in the Sahara desert. The problem is, the gold was hidden by soldiers in WWII, no one has ever been able to find where it's buried, and only one special key will allow entrance to the hidden tomb. Adding to the dilemma are several groups of terrorists who also want the gold. Thus, Jackie must try to find it before they do. Assigned to help him is United Nations attache, Ada (CAROL CHENG), and once on their journey they're joined by Elsa (EVA COBO DE GARCIA), the granddaughter of one of the German officers who hid the gold. As they proceed on their journey through Morocco and finally into the Sahara desert, they're finally joined by Momoko (SHOKO IKEDA), a nomad who knows of the tomb's location. Along the way Jackie and the three women must fight off the groups of terrorists who want the special key, and they must also deal with Adolf (ALFRED BREL SANCHEZ), the only surviving soldier involved with the hidden gold who now wants to reclaim it for himself.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of previously released Jackie Chan movies such as "Rumble in the Bronx," and "Supercop," or are fans of martial arts films they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For martial arts action, some shootings, and sensuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JACKIE CHAN plays the secret agent who'd rather flee than fight, but if necessary uses often brutal force to take care of the bad guys. His flee over fighting philosophy along with his self- deprecating humor make him a good role model, but some parents may see his constant martial arts fighting and wild stunts as too much imitative fodder for younger kids.
CAROL CHENG plays another agent who at first is a take charge person, but later is pretty much reduced to the damsel in distress role.
Likewise, the rest of the women in the cast are portrayed in that same role.; CAROL CHENG plays another agent who at first is a take charge person, but later is pretty much reduced to the damsel in distress role.
Likewise, the rest of the women in the cast are portrayed in that same role.; Likewise, the rest of the women in the cast are portrayed in that same role.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10: Certainly one of the more entertaining Jackie Chan films to be released in the U.S., this feature was originally made in 1990 and has been partially re-edited and re-dubbed for its domestic release seven years later. Directed by Chan, this film contains his traditionally elaborate choreographed martial arts fight scenes mixed in with liberal doses of humor, that most often poke fun at himself. Not having the ego of most Hollywood action stars, Chan comes across as a likeable hero, someone that everybody can identify with, that is until he starts moving across the screen. Without special effects, wires, or stunt people, Chan delivers action scenes and wild stunts that are massively entertaining and impossible to believe. How he's survived throughout the years without killing himself from stunt-related injuries is unknown, but the out-takes during the end credit roll show that the stunts didn't always go as planned. As in all of his films, make sure you stick around for those scenes since they're just as entertaining as those in the film itself. As far as the movie goes, its silly, goofy, James Bondesque approach lends even more fun to the production, as we get to see exotic foreign locals and lots of action. The spy-related plot is simply an excuse to tie together all of the fight scenes, and while fun for a while, does grow a bit tiring by the end. Still, it provides for some wild sequences, such as a blustery fight in a wind tunnel between Chan and two terrorists, and many other perilous encounters for Chan to wiggle, scamper, and climb his way out of. If you've never seen a Chan movie before, you'll certainly be entertained by this one. And if you are a fan of his movies, you won't be disappointed as this feature showcases some of his more elaborately staged fight scenes. Sure, it often looks cheesy, what with the dubbed voices, sometimes sped up film, and goofy dialogue and plot, but all of that adds to its charm and delivers a finished product that's a tremendous amount of fun. We give "Operation Condor" a 7 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Obviously the biggest issue of concern in the feature will be all of the fighting. While a great deal of it is comic bookish in nature, some of the punches and kicks get a little rough, and there is a surprising amount of scenes involving men hitting women (who weren't involved in the fighting). There are also a few deaths, but none of them are particularly gory. A few scenes show nude women (from behind), and there's a scene where humor revolves around a never used condom. Since many boys will want to see this film, you may be cautious if they're prone to imitating on- screen action since this film is filled with martial arts punches, kicks, and other wild stunts that could be dangerous if tried at home.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Though not consumed, there's wine on the table (and in glasses) during dinner with Jackie, Elsa and Ada.

BLOOD/GORE: While a few people are killed, including two who are riddled with machine gun bullets, there didn't appear to be any blood or gore.
One terrorist has a rather massive scar on the side of his face.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: All of the bad guys have the stereotypical bad attitudes associated with movie villains.
In a very brief scene, a large, obese tribal woman has been picked out for Jackie to marry and her appearance and size are used for humor.
Since he's a spy, Jackie does break into a home and pokes around for clues.
In several scenes, the terrorists hit women who've done nothing to provoke the attack and one man calls a woman "bitch."
Two of the terrorists are portrayed as people of Arab descent for those concerned with such portrayals.
Some desert thieves abduct Elsa and Ada and then auction them off to the highest bidder.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some may view the many fight/action scenes as tense, but most are played purely for the action and/or for humor.
Jackie and the others find a cave full of human skeletons that might be scary to the youngest of kids.
Jackie and the women try to open the vault door (the previous attempt killed two terrorists) and for some this may come across as tense.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine Guns: Used by the terrorists to threaten or fire at Jackie and the others.
Machine Gun: Fired out of control by Elsa, thus riddling a hotel with bullet holes and causing everyone to duck for cover.
Spears: Thrown by tribes people at Jackie and others.
Machine Guns: Used to riddle two terrorists as they attempt to gain access to the heavily protected underground vault.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: There's a great deal of martial arts fighting and other physical stunts performed by Chan throughout the movie that many kids might try to imitate, and that would be very dangerous to those who tried.
Phrases: "Bitch" (toward a woman), "Idiot," "Imbecile," and "Shut up."
Since he's a spy, Jackie does break into a home and pokes around for clues.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A few scenes have very minor suspenseful music in them.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 3 damns, 1 hell, and 1 use each of "God" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Elsa runs to the bathroom, sits and pees (heard but not seen), and then is seen in her underwear many times as Jackie tries to hide from her sight. Later, Jackie pulls her towel away from her body (perhaps showing a split second or less of brief rear nudity) to momentarily distract a bad guy he's fighting.
Ada's bare butt is seen as she showers.
A hotel worker offers a condom (instead of an after dinner chocolate) to Ada and Jackie after he sees her in a towel and Jackie in the room. The man then says "very good sleep" implying how they'd rest after sex and mentions that the condom is strawberry flavored. Later, while trying to get Elsa to leave their room (due to terrorists hiding there), Ada tells her that they've got "business" to take care of and shows her the condom.
In an attempt to distract the bad guys, Elsa pulls off Ada's towel, briefly exposing her bare butt.
Some desert thieves abduct Elsa and Ada and then auction them off to the highest bidder. The auctioneer says that Ada is an "oriental sex kitten" and that Elsa has "a big behind that you can really sink your teeth into."

SMOKING: Jackie's boss carries around an unlit cigar.
Some terrorists on the street smoke cigarettes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: How people would be hurt if they tried the stunts and/or fighting that Chan does.
Women are hit by the bad guys in this feature (often brutally).

VIOLENCE: While a great deal of the violence listed below is comic bookish in style, some of it is meanspirited and brutal, and a few people are killed, and thus the extreme rating.
There's a tremendous amount of martial arts fighting between Jackie and the bad guys. Some of it borders on brutal, especially when the terrorists forcibly hit Jackie. Also, there are several scenes where the women are also brutally hit by the bad guys (all of which are too numerous and essentially similar in nature to list scene by scene).
There are also many scenes where guns are used to threaten or fire upon other people (all of which are too numerous and essentially similar in nature to list scene by scene).
In addition, there are other minor incidents such as Elsa smacking Jackie on the face, or people being kicked in ways that are less brutal and/or harmful than the above scenes.
There are also scenes where property is destroyed or where cars and others vehicles are damaged or destroyed during chases.
A terrorist falls several stories to the street below when Jackie inadvertently knows him from a window ledge.
Ada bites into a bad guy's arm to get him to let go of her.
Jackie throws a hair pin that impales a bad guy.
Jackie and the women return to a desert camp to find several lying in the sand dead.
A skeleton is found with a knife in its back, and there's talk that the other dead WWII soldiers were ordered to take poison to kill themselves.
Jackie is briefly shocked as he tries to rewire some electrical lights when the power is turned back on.
The bad guys repeatedly slam Jackie, who's trying to climb up a flag, into a wall.
The three women beat up several men by hitting them with helmets.
Two men are riddled with bullets from machine guns as they try to enter an underground vault.
There's a great deal of fighting in a wind tunnel, where Jackie and two bad guys are also repeatedly blown back into walls by the wind.
Parts of an underground fortress blow up and collapse.

Reviewed July 16, 1997

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.