Condor's Nest promises us a trip across South America on an old-fashioned Nazi-hunting adventure and in spite of some deficiencies it delivers.
We're thrown into war-torn Europe in the film's opening scene, as the story's protagonist, Will Spalding, watches German colonel Martin Bach (Arnold Vosloo, more on that in a moment) gun down his entire platoon. Through an act of cowardice, Will alone survives.
Jump ten years later to Argentina and Will's killing runaway Nazis left and right, all in pursuit of that same Martin Bach. Enter an Israeli spy and a two-faced atomic scientist and things get complicated quick, a shaky alliance between the three culminating in a raid on a neo-Nazi fortress know as the Condor's Nest.
There's a lot of good things about this movie. It's well-paced, visually expansive, and its various arcs are compelling, if uninventive. There's even a few great things about it: its lead ensemble (Jacob Keohane, Al Pagano, Corinne Britti) is an absolute joy to watch, and Arnold Vosloo brings an incredible amount of presence to the role of the heavy. Add to that the movie's many notable character actors, from Michael Ironside to James Urbaniak, who help drive along the plot.
The bad? Well, it just wasn't terribly inventive. It's a stylized thriller that doesn't attempt to break any new ground. It could've been an 80's World War Two movie. And that's not a bad thing - in fact, I believe it's a strength - but if you're looking for something totally original you won't find it here.
Plot summary
A decade after the fall of Nazi Germany, an American aviator travels across South America in search of war criminals and encounters more than he bargained for.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Entertaining thriller with an 80's pastiche
Flawed but mostly watchable
If Paramount Pictures places a movie in theaters there's some expectation of size and scale, especially for a movie that bills itself an action-thriller, but Condor's Nest falls short.
Story: 6/10. Nothing original here, a very standard revenge story that gets a few extra points for surprising me at times.
Performances: 7/10. This is the movie's strong point. Arnold Vosloo makes a great baddie. Newcomers Al Pagano and Corinne Britti bring deeply-needed color to an otherwise grim spectacle. Michael Ironside and Jorge Garcia have surprise cameos that drive the story along even if they aren't particularly memorable.
Production: 3/10. Perhaps expectations were too high, but I had a hard time believing the car chase was real, that the plane was really crashing, that we were really in the 1950s. The cinematography is on point but even that can't save it from low-budget malaise.
Final score 5/10.
Great time watching nazis die!
I am not big into world war 2 films but thought I would give this one a go. It's not really a WW2 flick cause most of it happens 10 years afterward and is a revenge flick. Will Spaulding who witnesses his whole platoon get murdered by Colonel Bach of the SS heads to south America to hunt for any Nazi that can get him to Bach. Along the way he meets nuclear physicist, Nazi guy, Albert Vogel who says he can get into the Nazi if he aids him and his mission. With awesome cameos, by Jackson Rathbone, Michael Ironside James Urbaniak, and Jorge Garcia, this is a really cool film with a super satisfying ending.