Armour of God (1986)

Movie Info

It’s the things that make you go boom!

Jackie (Jackie Chan) is a former musician turned treasure hunter going by the name of Asian Hawk.  When his former band mate Alan (Alan Tam) contacts Jackie about his kidnapped fiancée Lorelei (Rosamund Kwan), Jackie agrees to help retrieve pieces of a legendary armor known as the Armour of God to barter for her freedom.  Forced to team with Count Bannon (Bozidar Smiljanic) and his daughter May (Lola Fomer) who owns the Armour of God pieces, they must infiltrate the enemy’s hideout and rescue Lorelei from the Grand Wizard (Ken Boyle)…and find the Armour of God in the process!

Riding in little cars with my friend is fun!

Directed and partially written by Jackie Chan and Eric Tsang, Armour of God (龍兄虎弟 or Lóng Xiōng Hǔ Dì) was a 1986 martial arts action film.  The movie was released in the United States as Operation Condor 2:  The Armor of Gods in 1999 on video as a sequel to Operation Condor (which was released in 1997), but Operation Condor actually was this film’s sequel Armour of God II:  Operation Condor which was released in 1991.  The film was relatively well received by critics and a box office success.

I saw Operation Condor when it came out in 1997 in the United States as Jackie Chan was finally making his mark after the successful release of Rumble in the Bronx.  I (like most in the United States) didn’t know that the film was a sequel and did not see the original until recently.  Though I think Operation Condor is a better film, both this film and Operation Condor are some of the better Jackie Chan films.

I’m obviously a villain…can’t you tell from my villainy look?

The movie goes for an Indiana Jones style adventure, and Chan’s humor blends in well with that theme.  The film even copies Indiana Jones’ format by having Jackie have a “pre-adventure” that somewhat relates to the story (he steals the sword of the Armour of Gods from natives).  Unlike Indiana Jones, the story isn’t as strongly formatted and has to make way for a lot of fighting and stunts for Chan.  It does work, but it pales in comparison to a real Indiana Jones film which try to develop story as well as character (well maybe not Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).

Jackie Chan (as in all of his movies) is the real thrust and drive of the movie.  Chan’s energy and style keep the movie alive and going.  I don’t proclaim Jackie Chan to be the best actor of all time.  He hams it up to the camera and overacts through most of his films, but his charm and energy come off the screen and it is nice to see an actor having fun…plus, you get the weirdest group of women fighters of all time!

Simply worth watching because of these ladies!

As with other Chan films, the stunts come out as the primary event of the movies.  You can always tell a difficult stunt in a Jackie Chan film in that they replay it multiple times from the other camera angles…generally in slow motion.  It is a little gratuitous, but it does let you really see the stunt.  Chan actually almost killed himself in this movie when he fell in a simple stunt and fractured his skull.

Amour of God or whatever you choose to call it is a fun little movie.  It isn’t the best action you’ll see, and it is unbalanced, but Chan keeps it lively.  As mentioned, Armour of God is actually the first movie in the series and followed by Amour of God 2:  Operation Condor…at least originally it was.

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