Condor’s Nest (2023) Review 



Condor’s Nest (2023) Review


Ten years after the conclusion of World War II, an American pilot crosses South America in quest of Condor's Nest, a Nazi stronghold.




Movie info:


Will Spalding (Jacob Keohane), an American combat veteran, has located the sadistic Nazi Colonel who killed his bomber crew during WWII in a remote area of South America. But when he discovers the Condor's Nest, a hidden Nazi headquarters, he is in for more than he anticipated.


Overview: 


Rating:R (Brief Drug Use|Violence|Language)

Genre: Action, War

Original Language:English

Director: Phil Blattenberger

Producer: Dan Black, Phil Blattenberger, Jacob Keohane

Writer: Phil Blattenberger

Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2023, Limited

Release Date (Streaming): Jan 27, 2023

Runtime: 1h 43m

Distributor: Saban Films



Trailer: 






With Jacob Keohane from Gallery and Sideshow, Al Pagano from Ask for Jane and Ode to Passion, Corinne Britti from Take Care of Emily and Route 80, Jackson Rathbone from WarHunt and Hurt, James Urbaniak from Advantageous and The Occupants, Arnold Vosloo from The Harrowing and Stranglehold, Bruce Davison from Itsy Bitsy and Await the Dawn, and Michael Ironside from Await the Dawn, Condor's (Terminator Salvation, Bloodthirsty). It tells the story of an American pilot who travels to South America decades after World War Two in search of a Nazi officer, only to discover that there are more than just a few stragglers living there quietly.


The Plot: Certainly, this is a novel that encourages a sense of foolish escapism, with reality taking a back place to the fun that Blattenberger's end product so closely resembles. Though the plot is straightforward, it is dreadfully muddled, and the movie isn't quite sure how it wants to play.


Army gunner Sergeant Spalding (Keohane) and his crewmates of a B-17 are shot down over the blazing skies of Europe during World War Two and left to fend for themselves until they could go to the frontline and find relief. No one is surprised when Nazi Colonel Bach (Vosloo, the best part of the movie) and his troops find the flyboys and kill everyone but Spalding, who is concealed from the adversaries because they are behind enemy lines. The plot of Condor's Nest has a decent enough draw, but it quickly unravels as the action shifts to 1954, a decade later, and Spalding is in Argentina seeking personal vengeance.


Spalding's journey, based on coerced information, becomes absurd in the wrong ways when he meets atomic bomb expert Vogel (Pagano; solid), who, after being detained while en route to Soviet leader Astakhov (Ironside), agrees to take him to "the Condor's Nest" in Bolivia, where Bach and other assorted Nazis, including Schrude (Davison) and the supposedly dead Himmler, reside (Urbaniak).


That's OK, but the route there is littered with plot devices and annoying side characters like Ziegler (Rathbone). I could not possibly list them all here. By the time the movie arrives at the nest, there is little chance that Condor's Nest would produce an interesting plot due to the presence of another competing party in the form of Israeli huntress Rahn (Britti), who seeks more immediate fulfillment.


The bizarre aspects that ought to have been included earlier aren't introduced by Blattenberger until after this never-ending series of discoveries, inquiries, and repetitions. Afterward, it's too late.


The Characters: Condor's Nest is at odds with itself regarding the heroes and villains because it is caught between the first act's potential for psychological analysis and the third act's madness.


Due to his lack of activity at the introduction (before the plane is shot down, all he is depicted doing is sitting and staring blankly as his crewmates labor) and violence during his mission, Spalding isn't much of a hero and might face more criticism than support. He beats up locals in a bar, tortures former Nazi event planners (not military strategists, literally event planners) to gather the knowledge he wants, and makes a death warrant for every German in Argentina, Nazi or not, to find Bach. If Blattenberger had attempted to assess Spalding's mental state, this might have been acceptable, but this never occurs. Even though Nazis are terrible, Spalding isn't any better.


Vogel and Rahn aren't a step above the lead. Rahn is incredibly short-sighted, aiming to accomplish the same thing as Spalding without the necessary planning. She desires to assassinate Vogel and track down further war criminals, but she is adamant about assassinating her top informant before she has even learned anything from him. Vogel isn't much better either because he's merely a distant link in the chain of command and a terrible representation of a snake who would trick anyone to survive.


The Nazi characters, which fit into the B-movie scenario and have a wide spectrum of personalities, at least show that the director had fun when developing them. Every Nazi archetype is equally repugnant, from the believable stern and unwavering leader Bach to the psychotic Himmler to the comically squabbling Schrude. They come the closest to memorable characters in Condor's Nest without the need for development or motivation.


The Adventure: Blattenberger tries for a country-hopping excursion but ends up with a dull travelogue as a replacement. He is motivated by the journey of discovering pockets of war criminals in unexpected places.


Condor's Nest begins with the unanswered questions surrounding Spalding's return from 120 miles behind enemy lines instead of trimming down the drawn-out opening to illustrate the same thing in less time to make room for Spalding's search. Additionally, the extreme cut to a decade in the future leaves the source of information that led him to Argentina similarly neglected. Maybe he drove back after finding a car. Perhaps the Nuremberg trials triggered him. These specifics ought to be there, but they aren't.


Not only are the scenes from the 1940s uninspiring, but the major voyage to the location of the title also suffers from poor screenplay and coincidence. Everyone that Spalding kidnaps or interrogates has some sort of connection to the Nazis and information that would help him carry out his objective, proving that he must have the best contacts in the world.


And the Irish luck, as even those who are unwilling to let go of their former countrymen have items and notes that point them in the direction he needs to go. This level of coincidence is lessened by Vogel's familiarity with some of the other Germans living in South America, but the lack of a sense of discovery prevents the movie from ever feeling like an adventure. There is no challenge; it's like having a neon sign over a hoard of a billion dollars.


The core of Condor's Nest is left unfulfilled due to similar-looking locations and the script's obvious hand, which prevents an organic uncovering of terrible plans in the works. A third-act switch-up transforms Condor's Nest into an unremarkable actioner.


The Technics: Blattenberger and crew are relatively inexperienced feature filmmakers, so they are allowed to make some mistakes, but this picture is rife with poor decisions and the inefficient use of screen time. There is a lot to puzzle over, even for a low-budget picture.


Condor's Nest doesn't have as much of a pace problem. Instead, there should be concern over how the movie's 103-minute running time was used. Spalding and the bomber's flight crew's introduction take up the entire first 20 minutes, wasting money, time, and resources that could have been used to build characters, add additional action sequences and location changes, or just trim the fat from the film. There is a title card as the plane crashes and another title following this scenario, making for a confusing beginning in more ways than one.


The scale will change in line with how short this movie is. Except for the final assault, a few establishing shots, and the first few sequences in Argentina, the film was primarily shot in Peru (the rest was in Texas and North Carolina). Similar obstacles mean that the action's reach is, at best, constrained. The movie falls short of its promises despite all the rhetoric of tens of thousands of Reich holdovers.


Since Condor's Nest never manages to reach the serious deconstruction of the fascist flight to South America or the B-movie-fiction of this same idea, it is just a lackluster adventure movie with no one to root for and little to see. The supporting cast's strong work and the period setting only go so far.


CRITIC REVIEWS FOR CONDOR'S NEST


  • This movie has a slight boys-playing-war vibe, but for viewers who grew up reading vintage "Frontline Combat" and "Sgt. Rock" comics, that could end up being more endearing than silly.

  • An uninspired, formulaic, and clumsy boring. You can get a sense of what Condor's Nest is like if you can picture dull, awkward, and tedious Inglourious Basterds without the thrills and tension.

  • Condor's Nest is not a very horrible movie, although a comic book adaptation could have been more entertaining.