Imperial German DVD Synopsis (Angel Force): Private detective Moon Lee, also known as the 'Lady Exterminator' because of her fearsome martial-arts, works with Interpol to bring down one of Asia's largest drug trafficking rings. The remaining gangsters set a group of experienced killers, the 'Beast Kingdom' on her and the others involved. The FBI responds and provides Moon with one of its best agents, Max Mok. He should ensure her safety from now on. Moon has no idea that Maxis actually investigating the head of Interpol, who is the actual mastermind behind the drug cartel... (86 Mins)

 

Views: While its plot may seem pretty simple at first and low on production values, Mission Of Condor is a decent early 90s Hong Kong action-thriller that's big on cast, big on action, and still as entertaining over 3 decades later! Like many Hong Kong action films of this period, the film tells the tale of good vs evil as a female cop and her partner are sent to take down a gang of drug traffickers – but as expected, their mission is filled with double crossings, revenge, and murder. Initially making over 2 million HKD in its first week, Mission Of Condor was also known as Mission Kill in the States, and was released in Germany as Angel Force – which was an odd move by the distributors considering that its main star, the incredible Moon Lee, would star in a film of the very same name immediately after this production for director Hua Shan; the same man behind classics such as Super Inframan, The Flying Guillotine 2, Crystal Fist, Sun Dragon, and Kung Fu Zombie. Interestingly, that Angel Force would also be his last directorial effort!

 

Mission Of Condor is produced and directed by Charles Lee Chiu – a popular bit-player and actor who appeared in over 100 productions from the late 60s until the early 2000's including Shaw Brothers films such as The Shadow Whip, King Boxer, Delightful Forest, Heroes Two, Killer Clans and Spiritual Boxer, as well as kung fu classics like A Tooth For A Tooth, Superior Youngster, Eighteen Jade Arhats, and others. The late 70s would see him make him make his directorial debut with the martial-arts comedy Ways Of Kung Fu starring the great Leung Kar Yan, with the pair following that in the better Cantonen Iron Kung Fu, and soon after again with Two On The Road. Over the years, Lee would direct 60 features including films such as Kung Fu From Beyond The Grave with Billy Chong, A Punch To Revenge with Yukari Oshima, Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung and Kung Fu Kid both starring Chin Kar Lok, Marked For Murder, the Street Kids series, and a number of IFD films including Thunder Of Gigantic Serpent, the American Commando series, the Thunder Ninja Kids series, Full Metal Ninja, and more...

 

Here, Lee manages to pull together a top cast of Hong Kong stars starting with the incredible Moon Lee Choi Fung. Made in 1990, Mission Of Condor would be the last of five productions Ms. Lee would star in that year which included the awesome Fatal Termination, fantastical Revenge Of Angel, brilliant New Kids In Town, and hilariously entertaining Nocturnal Demon. Although she had made quite the impression with her early appearances in films such as Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain, The Champions, Those Merry Souls, and Mr. Vampire 1 & 2 – Moon Lee would capture the hearts of action fans when she starred in the epic Iron Angels in 1987 alongside the equally talented Yukari Oshima. During the next 6 or 7 years that followed, the pint-sized powerhouse would be in high demand for femme fatale martial-arts flicks that often saw them both co-star in films such as Dreaming The Reality, Kickboxer's Tears, The Big Deal, Mission Of Justice, Beauty Investigators, Angel Terminators 2, Death Triangle, and Avenging Quartet. While she never quite received the bigger budgeted projects or bigger roles as actresses such as Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, or Anita Mui, Moon continuously proved herself time and time again as both an incredible martial arts action-star and an accomplished actor – loved by many, if not all, fans of Hong Kong action cinema.

 

Starring alongside her is the handsome Max Mok Siu Chung as Stephen Chow, the FBI agent sent to help. Like Moon, this would also be the last production of 1990 for Max who had twice the work with no less than 10 titles on the go including The Fortune Code, The Outlaw Brothers, Family Honour, Never Say Regret, and That's Money among them. Having made his big screen debut as the leading man in Chor Yuen's ghostly kung-fu fantasy The Enchantress only 7 years earlier, Max very quickly became one to watch going on to star in many hit films such as Holy Flame Of The Martial World, Magic Crystal, Last Eunuch In China, The Dragon Family, Pedicab Driver, and many more including Jet Li's Once Upon A Time In China series. The great Eddy Ko plays the hitman known as Mutton, set up for a fall after an assassination attempt on Moon Lee goes wrong. Making his debut in the late 60s, Ko went onto star in around 140 features and worked with a number of his Mission Of Condor co-stars many times throughout his career, as well as director Lee Chui. Like those before him, this would be one of many productions that year alongside titles such as The Iron Butterfly 2, Never Say Regret, and Vampire Settle On Police Camp – going on to star with Moon Lee immediately after this in the fantastic, Dreaming The Reality. And the prolific Simon Yam stars as gang boss Lion, the drug dealing gangster who hired Ko to take down the cops. Having starred alongside Moon in the brilliant Fatal Termination earlier that year, Mission Of Condor would also prove to the last production of the year for model-turned-actor after starring in films such as Return Engagement, Killer's Romance, Full Contact and Bullet In The Head among others.

 

Super-kicker Ken Lo, who had only been in the business five years although had already made quite the impression as a go-to bad guy and member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, stars as Panther – another killer-for-hire under Simon Yam and partner of female assassin, Wild Cat, played by the beautiful Takajo Fujima who had just starred with Moon Lee in Killer Angels and also appeared in Hong Kong films such as Crystal Hunt, Cheetah On Fire, Erotic Passion, Stuntwoman Ah Kam, and more. They are joined by familiar faces such as Kwan Hoi San – the prolific star who made his film debut in 1949, although is probably better known to fans in the west as Jackie Chan's captain in Project A – along with Suen Kwok Ming, Tenky Tin, and Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Lee Jun Git, Hon Chun, Jack Wong and Mak Wai Cheung co-star with westerners Bruce Fontaine, Jonathan Isgar, Mark King, and Ken Goodman also appearing throughout. Director Lee Chui himself makes a cameo as a drug dealer at the start of the film, with fight choreographer Douglas Kung Cheung Tak also popping up throughout. As well as starring in a number of films over the years, Kung has delivered some fine action on films such as Sammo Hung's Kung Fu Chefs, Point Of No Return, City Cops, Princess Madam and Wushu, doing another great job here in Mission Of Condor with plenty of exciting fight action on offer. It's also worth noting his talents as a director in his own right, with Kung at the helm of fight filled fun titles such as Chinese Heroes, Undiscovered Tomb, Snake Charmer, and Shaolin Vs Evil Dead 1 & 2 starring the great Gordon Liu and Fan Siu Wong.

 

Although released at the height of the popular girls-with-guns/femme fatale sub genre of Hong Kong cinema, Mission Of Condor has never truly been as appreciated as other genre classics like Iron Angels, Dreaming The Reality, Yes Madam, Angel Terminators, and Inspector Wears Skirts for example, yet it's only fair to say that it still delivers some memorable moments of fight action, typical Hong Kong humour, fun performances, and a wild final 20 minutes that will keep any true fan of Moon Lee and Hong Kong cinema very happy – no matter which title you happen to catch it as!

 

Overall: While not perfect, Mission Of Condor is an entertaining action-thriller with plenty of fun fight scenes and a great cast!

 

Imperial DVD Extras: Trailers