Champion Operation- 哈林行動 (1986)

 CHAMPION OPERATION (1986)

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So, we are going from one op to another.  OPERATION SCORPIO to CHAMPION OPERATION.   Oh, you have never heard of CHAMPION OPERATION!?  Well that's for shame!  'CHAMP-OP' (a reworking of the title that I, myself, coined because I'm cool and wont to do.  It's a curse suffering such flights of whimsy) is probably one of the greatest HK shooters you have never heard of.  So now we're gonna rectify that.

A few short months before John Woo's action melodrama epic A BETTER TOMORROW changed the face of HK cinema for the foreseeable future, CHAMPION OPERATION graced HK theaters for a robust 7 days.  Directed by go-to cinematographer Lau Hung-cheun (the man's shot flick for John Woo, Tsui Hark, Chang Cheh and Ringo Lam) and action directed by the totally off the meter Jackie Chan Stunt Team member, Chris Lee Kin-sang (think POLICE STORY bus scene- head vs. pavement = actual coma!!!), CHAMPION OPERATION is as exciting as it is full of nasty grit.  Churned out assembly line style like only the finest of Walmart apparel, CHAMP-OP unfortunately suffered a sheltered fate. No more room at the inn for such action fare?  Tut-tut. 

A bit of an aside, we finally closed on our house and started the big move-in.  As I was packing up my storage unit today I came across my Ocean Shores VHS of CHAMPION OPERATION.  Below is the crappy-cool title card from the VHS. 

Entirely worthy of the tippy top of your 'to watch' list, seek this out any way you can.  Beg, borrow, steal....or download.  A little birdy told me that he knows a guy who knows a guy who runs a HK movie blog with a yellow background that may or may not have uploaded this gem to a certain website.  I don't know if it's true or not but I'd say it's worth the search to find out.