Bullet Points: Heroes Shed No Tears (1984)

There are movies out there that hold a power over people based on a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s a nostalgic feeling that you get when you watch it, or maybe it brings you back to a different time. Other times the film might represent a point of your life where you really found yourself connecting to a picture in a specific to you kind of way. Then sometimes a film hits you differently because it’s one that has eluded you through decades of hard-core action fandom. A movie that appears so cool but is so rare and hard to find that you’ve never just “come across it”. Heroes Shed No Tears is that type of movie for me. In all of my years of watching action movies both foreign and domestic, I had still not had the opportunity to take it in in all of its glory. There is no better time than the present and I am a living breathing embodiment of that idiom.

Synopsis: The Thai government hires a group of Chinese mercenaries to capture a powerful drug lord from the Golden Triangle. The mercenaries manage to capture the drug lord, but soon find themselves pursued by his forces, and the forces of a bitter Thai officer. The Chinese mercenaries are vastly outnumbered, and as their numbers begin to dwindle, their desperation pulls them into a corner as their enemies close in on them. via IMDB

• 99 Problems: The Golden Triangle, that little place where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet up, is a hotbed for the narcotics industry. The text at the beginning of this film tells us that this area is responsible for 75% of the world’s illicit drug trade. That is a wild statistic if true but one that sets in motion our story. A group of Chinese mercenaries who have various reasons for taking on the mission set off to capture a Drug Lord with a heavy contingent of nameless men ready to die for him.
• Just say no: Drugs are bad, mmkay? Even worse, Chung (Eddy Ko) and his men are now on the run from the drug lord’s troops who seem to just keep respawning. Chung makes an even greater mistake when they stop to pick up his lady friend and his son. I can imagine that getting into a massive gun fight would be even more tense if my family was watching from 6 feet away.

• The Colonel: Things take a turn for the worst when Chung and his men run into a pissed off Colonel who recently fucked up his eye and developed a vendetta that is guaranteed to drive him crazy. His character is as stubborn as my mother but far more deadly. He kills indiscriminately but he’s not afraid to build alliances as long as they’re all in agreement on who the real enemy is.
• On the run and outgunned: No matter how many people Chung and his men kill there are still enemies all around. The Colonel and his solders, the local tribal dudes in red headbands, and the continued annoyance of the drug lord’s men. Getting the drug lord out of there is not an easy job. What makes it even more difficult is when Chung’s buddy Chin can’t stop gambling! While the scene of him gambling in a small town is somewhat humorous, it messes with the pace of movie while still telling us all about why these guys would take on such a dangerous mission. Chung, for instance, is doing it to get his family to the great US of A.

• Surrounded by jungle and bad guys: I thought there would be no reason to want to hang out in this most dangerous of places but Chung’s old war buddy (which army did they fight for?) Louis (Philippe Loffredo) has it all figured out. He’s a cool little shack in the middle of the jungle where he sits around smoking weed and banging it out with his harem of women. It sounds more like a description of the cover of a rap album from the mid 90’s instead of the lifestyle of a Vietnam War vet but that’s what we have to work with. Louis isn’t without his problems, though. He essentially has his entire life rigged to explode at any moment and being that this is a John Woo movie you can pretty much guarantee that it won’t disappoint.
• No place for a child: We’ve seen what later John Woo movies like Face/Off does with children in its action scenes and it must have all come from his experiences on Heroes Shed No Tears putting this young kid through hell. It may not be Lone Wolf and Cub levels of torture on a child but this movie doesn’t take it easy on the young lad. Physically and mentally is how this boy is messed up and who wouldn’t want to take some time off after seeing your dad strung up to die with his eyes sewn open?

• A pretty great life: The few short minutes we get to spend with Louis reinforced my thought that this is the best kind of life.
• A pretty great death: He lived, he smoked, he plowed, he died. That is the saga of Louis.
• Explosive finale: The entire film leads up to one outstanding finale. What’s left of Chung vs what is left of The Colonel and his allies. I honestly can’t remember if there were doves flying in this one but there may have been nowhere for them to fly safely as most of the sky was full of flames. It’s a last stand at the Alamo situation for many of the men and like any good action film it comes down to fisticuffs between the two leads.

The Verdict: Heroes Shed No Tears was highly anticipated for me. I have seen a number of random gifs from it but had little knowledge of the film other than it was directed by John Woo and contained an obscene amount of violence. That violence, of course, comes mostly from the shootouts and explosions left in the wake of the Chinese mercenaries on their mission but also in a very awesome and unexpected brawl to end the film. Heroes Shed No Tears doesn’t connect with the viewer as much as many other 80’s war films might. When I watch Platoon and Uncommon Valor I can’t help but come out of it feeling like these men are changing into something inhuman. HSNT has a slightly different feeling like most of these men are already inhuman and just doing the best with what they have. Eddy Ko rules and the action sequences are both insane and outrageous. I had a blast, especially knowing that it was John Woo’s “first real movie”. Fans of this genre don’t want to miss this one…especially since it came out almost 40 years ago!