If Bullet in the Head was the Heroic Bloodshed version of the The Deer Hunter, this is Heroic Bloodshed version of Rambo: First Blood Part II or Missing in Action. A merciless and full throttle merging of 80s American maximalist war-actioner ugliness and the absurdist kinetic bombast of a Hong Kong stunt spectacular, shifting tones almost at random between what feels like almost a parody of a macho jingoistic Hollywood action product, a somber and grisly Vietnam war drama, and a slapstick martial arts ballet.

This strange and unhinged concoction is courtesy of everyone’s favorite plump action-comedy acrobat Sammo Hung, who made a name for himself for being a large loveable goofball whose graceful fight choreography, mesmerizing stunt coordinating and skillful pageantry could easily stack up against if not best any of the contemporaries the Hong Kong martial arts industry had to offer, even his good pal Jackie Chan who had a more movie star ready look. Sammo’s specialized contribution here coming in the form of the astonishing action craft yes but also his commitment to ensemble-driven collaboration, separating this from the usual chiseled action-star focus of a Stallone or Norris vehicle (which is where you normally have to go to find politics and violence this tastelessly entertaining, a movie like Red Scorpion came to mind a few times), and taking more inspiration from the men-on-a-mission subgenre (things like The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare) where the star moments are spread amongst an entire crew of likeable actors whose charming camaraderie made it more painful when the sudden and brutal bursts of gruesome and cruel destructiveness comes for them.

There was part of me that was a little disoriented by seeing such talented martial artists like Corey Yuen and Yuen Woo-ping forced to spend most their screen time doing macho machinegun-toting squib-heavy war setpieces, but Sammo incorporates enough slow-motion kung fu flipping/kicking and bizarre details (Cambodian Guerilla ladies knifing people in the ass, death by unpulled parachute/coconut leaf implement, Sammo leap-frogging his way to an artillery massacre, the Deer Hunter Russian roulette scene being orchestrated by child soldiers, gross gore gags like the machete dismemberment or grenade stuffed into an exploding head, etc.) to keep you on your toes even during those, and the Vietnam missile silo bunker version of a Ken Adam Bond lair finale between him, Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah as the manically giggly VC general doing crazy splits and fan work in his Dr. Evil fit is an absolute facemelter. Quite easily one of the most fluid and sharp extended martial arts setpieces I’ve seen from Sammo.

Full discussion on ep 373 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.