moviemaking is a lot like being the general manager of an nfl team in the post - salary cap era -- you 've got to know how to allocate your resources .
every dollar spent on a free - agent defensive tackle is one less dollar than you can spend on linebackers or safeties or centers .
in the nfl , this leads to teams like the detroit lions , who boast a superstar running back with a huge contract , but can only field five guys named herb to block for him .
in the movies , you end up with films like " spawn " , with a huge special - effects budget but not enough money to hire any recognizable actors .
jackie chan is the barry sanders of moviemaking .
he spins and darts across the screen like sanders cutting back through the defensive line .
watching jackie in operation condor as he drives his motorcycle through the crowded streets of madrid , fleeing an armada of pursuers in identical black compact cars , is reminiscent of sanders running for daylight with the chicago bears in hot pursuit , except that sanders does n't have to worry about rescuing runaway baby carriages .
but like the lions star , jackie does n't have anybody to block for him .
almost every cent that 's invested in a jackie chan movie goes for stunts , and as chan does his own stunts , the rest of the money goes to pay his hospital bills .
this leaves about 75 cents to pay for things like directors ( chan directs ) , scripts and dubbing and supporting characters , not to mention the hideous title sequence .
this also explains why the movie was shot in odd places like morocco and spain .
( chan 's first release in this country , " rumble in the bronx " , was supposedly set in new york , but was filmed in vancouver , and in the chase scenes the canadian rockies are clearly visible . )
heck , jackie does n't even have enough money for a haircut , looks like , much less a personal hairstylist .
in condor , chan plays the same character he 's always played , himself ,
a mixture of bruce lee and tim allen , a master of both kung - fu and slapstick - fu .
jackie is sent by the un to retrieve a cache of lost nazi gold in the north african desert , and is chased by a horde of neo - nazi sympathizers and two stereotypical arabs ( one of the things i like about jackie chan movies : no political correctness ) .
he is joined by three women , who have little to do except scream , " jackie , save us ! " , and misuse firearms .
the villain is an old nazi whose legs were broken in the secret base so that he has to be carried everywhere , and he 's more pathetic than evil .
en route , we have an extended motorcycle chase scene , a hilarious fight in the moroccan version of motel 6 with the neo - nazis , and two confrontations with savage natives .
once at the secret desert base , there is a long chop - socky sequence , followed by the film 's centerpiece , a wind - tunnel fight that 's even better than the one in face / off .
this is where the money was spent , on well - choreographed kung - fu sequences , on giant kevlar hamster balls , on smashed - up crates of bananas , and on scorpions .
ignore the gaping holes in the plot ( how , exactly , if the villain 's legs were broken , did he escape from the secret nazi base , and why did n't he take the key with him ? ) .
do n't worry about the production values , or what , exactly , the japanese girl was doing hitchhiking across the sahara .
just go see the movie .
operation condor has pretentions of being a " raiders of the lost ark " knockoff , but one wonders what jackie could do with the raiders franchise blocking for him -- with a lawrence kazdan screenplay , a john williams score , spielberg directing and george lucas producing , condor might be an a+ movie .
however , you 've got to go with what you 've got , and what you 've got in jackie chan is something special -- a talent that mainstream hollywood should , could , and ought to utilize .
what you 've got in jackie chan is something special go see the movie