-A Spanish professor invented a new type of sterilizer which can kill human sperms totally. Now that formula’s priceless, you imagine it in the wrong hands…
…This professor was assassinated before submitting it to the government… and the formula was stolen.
-That’s bad, this formula must not fall into the hands of terrorists. Or they can blackmail the whole human race.
-This is very serious, we must get men on it immediately
-I agree, but who’s competent enough for the job?
Step forward VTSS super heroes Richard Harrison and Bruce Le in this Brucesploitation tinged, chop socky action classic that reaches out to both the Euro Spy genre and the buddy cop movie to tell a delightfully trashy tale – deep fried in full fat cheese.
A serum capable of rendering mankind impotent (!) is stolen from a science lab by a gang of neo Nazi thugs. In an effort to sell it to the highest bidder, they make off to Hong Kong via Spain but not before CIA agents Le and Harrison set out to save the day, and not before Viet Cong bandit Hwang Jang Lee has decided to steal the formula for his own dastardly plans…
Also known as Gymkata Killer, Seize the Formula and uh, Dragon Bruce Le, Challenge of the Tiger is as you might expect a bonkers free for all mish mash of cross-over Kung Fu and cut price crimesploitation. Yes, there are more than several shades of Enter the Dragon in evidence and yes, the whole affair has a decidedly second hand grubby veneer, but this remains the best movie I know of to combine Kung Fu Bull fighting, weapons of mass impotency and the CIA.
In lieu of physical prowess, Richard Harrison’s job is to sleaze his way into the beds of those who can get him and his partner closer to the errant formula. The key to this tactic seems to include the incredible chat up lines: “can I come home with you” “nice little ears” and “you twisted your ankle just now – shall I take you home?” which are all whipped out to alarmingly successful responses.
The “dirty old man”s most notable effort, however, is right at the start of the film where he partakes in a truly bizarre and completely mesmerizing game of Topless Tennis with a trio of beauties in slow motion. Actually, it’s probably the moment in which he is kicked in the balls by a conniving female spy and left to wince into an armchair like an over-exerting geriatric. This may, or may not be Harrison’s finest cinematic outing (that will depend on your tolerance for ineptitude), but it’s definitely up there with his most memorable.
Bruce Le (who also directs, writes, produces and choreographs, makes the tea, walks the dog, does the dishes and everything else according to the credits) is left to do all the rough stuff and boy does it get rough…
For starters, there’s the introductory fight which appears to include Eastenders’ Frank Butcher. There’s the Le vs Bull showdown which gives the imaginative editing of Alien Terminator a run for its money and of course countless other bursts of violent, punchy energy. Best of all though is Le’s frantic showdown with genre jack-of-all trades Brad Harris, who insists on wearing a pair of oh-so 80s Aviator shades at all times – even when being repeatedly punched in the face…
Fans of Jaguar Lives and/ or Godfrey Ho’s gangster movies will lap up the fusion of over the top action with soppy and incongruous dubbed dialogue. This really is the kind of film best enjoyed in the dodgy US version. Harrison’s inclusion is unquestionably a desperate bid to tap into the Bond Franchise, but it should be said the globe-trotting gun for hire does a pretty decent (if excessively pervy) Roger Moore impersonation throughout, and compared to his forays into the Filipino Z-graders later on, this is solid, cohesive stuff .
Hwang Jang Lee‘s involvement is scant though hugely enjoyable. Old “Thunderkick” is the bad guy’s bad guy. He off’s his girlfriend, fights with his side-kick Bolo Yeung and adds a ruthless “political” slant to a film otherwise wholly ignorant of real world concerns such as the plight of post-war NVA communism.
Mindless escapism to the max, Challenge of the Tiger is classic post-pub Grindhouse gold. It probably deserves induction into the Museum of Modern Art or something. If you haven’t seen this yet, you really, really need to…
