The movie that sealed John Woo‘s reputation, and the genre with which he’d be most comfortable in the years to come, was 1986’s “A Better Tomorrow,” a gangland shoot-em-up that featured his longtime muse, tall, cool action icon Chow Yun-Fat.

But sitting on the shelf when that instant classic came out was a gonzo Vietnam War B-movie masquerading as a drug war thriller.

“Heroes Shed No Tears” was titled “The Sunset Warrior” when filming in Thailand had finished. Filmed and given a limited release in 1984, it can be deemed a part of the whole renewed interest in “Vietnam” as a subject, much of it stirred up by Sly Stallone’s first outing as Rambo, “First Blood” (1982).

It’s filled with gunplay, positively packed with ordnance, explosions and silly tropes of the trade. Heroes and villains exchange fire waving their machine guns about willy-nilly as they do. It’s amazing that any viewer would believe anybody involved hit anything, as few of these geared-up mercenaries, drug soldiers and Vietnamese troops actually took the time aim at what they were shooting at.

There’s a child in jeopardy, women imperiled, and a big novelty for a Woo film — before and since — a soapy full-body massage nude sex scene. Hey, when in Thailand…

But as daffy as it is, for a Woo completist, it’s an interesting look at how he first approached filming and editing combat. No doves fluttering into the church rafters, because there is a brothel but no church. But slow-motion shootings, brutal, long beat-down fights, bloody self-sacrifice and over the top explosions? Yup.

Eddy Ko plays a commando-turned-mercenary leading a small team into “The Golden Triangle” to kidnap a drug lord/general (Pang Yung-cheung), who looks to be holed up on the Laos/Vietnam border. About half a dozen Hong Kong mercs go in with grenade launchers, time bombs, machine guns and a flame thrower and nab General Samton over the dead bodies of scores of his Vietcong-“pajama” clad minions.

“You can’t get away once you’re in my territory,” the general sneers (in dubbed Cantonese with subtitles). “When I fight, I don’t hold back.”

With the general dropping charms off a Buddhist prayer bracelet for his army to track him, it’s pretty obvious this crew will be fighting its away across borders on its way to Thailand.

Merc leader Chang Chung (Ko) hadn’t counted on black-clad drug gangsters snatching his little boy (Ma Ying-chun) or Julie (Lee Hoi-suk), the kid’s caregiver and Chang’s too-patient girlfriend. And then there’s the Vietnamese Colonel (Yuet Sang-Chin) who loses his cool when his border crossing gets all shot up.

He and his men had just murdered a French journalist, and just started raping the journalist’s girlfriend (Cécile Le Bailly).

And when his army unit joins the drug gang in pursuit of Chang Chung’s Dirty Half-Dozen, the Col. brings in what we can take to be Hmong tribesman to “track” the elusive soldiers of fortune.

The payoff if they get this general to Thailand? Chang and his family will be able to move to America.

On this odyssey, they will fend off ambushes aplenty, loot bodies, gamble with locals and reload reload reload while building a body count the IDF would envy. Chang will cross paths with an old Vietnam War buddy, an American deserter (Philippe Loffredo) with a bordello filled with arms and wired with explosives.

It’s all rather nonsensical, as we can’t even pin down what borders they’re crossing or why this building gets blown up more than once.

As for performances, even the kid is pretty good, and Woo’s use of closeups and quick cutting showcases most of the players at the very best they can be, acting or in “action.” The fight choreography is passable and the drawn-out big finish isn’t a bust.

But the best that can be said for the script is “I’ve seen worse,” a phrase that anyone who ever saw a Chuck Norris movie can utter with confidence.

And everything notable about Woo’s technique, which was being refined as he entered his second decade as a Hong Kong action film director, is only glimpsed here and there in this last job-for-the-Golden Harvest production co. money before the artist Woo came into his own.

Rating: unrated, graphic violence, sex, nudity, drug trade subject matter

Cast: Eddy Ko, Ching-Ying Lam, Yuet-Sang Chin,
Kam Kong Chow, Lee Hoi-Suk, Pang Yung-cheung, Ma Ying-chun, Cécile Le Bailly and Philippe Loffredo

Credits: Directed by John Woo, scripted by Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Leung-Chun Chiu and John Woo. A Golden Harvest production now on Film Movement+.

Running time 1:29