CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER
- Year: 1980
- AKA: Gymkata Killer(s)
- Starring: Bruce Le, Richard Harrison, Hwang Jang Lee, Kong Do, Bolo Yeung
- Directed by: Bruce Le
The synopsis from the box:
"Officer Huang Lung (Bruce Le) of the Hong Kong police is given the task of tracking down a group of terrorist before they can hold the world to ransom. His dangerous mission takes him from Europe to the rat infested slums of Hong Kong, where rival gangs of Viet Cong and Chinese take on the Challenge of the Tiger. It's a race against time as Huang Lung meets out his own brand of justice, only to be meet with bigger and greater dangers around every alleyway."
Huh? Who wrote this and could they be any more vague? From the sounds of it, it looks like they only watched the first 10 minutes of the film and tried to wing it with clichés after that. Bruce Le and Richard Harrison stars as Huang Lung and Richard Cannon, respectively. They are special agents for the C.I.A. on a mission to stop terrorists from gaining a secret formula for a concoction that could sterilize the entire male race.
I will go on record and say this is hands down Bruce Le's best film. It has everything you could want in a film: fights, car chases, nudity, bull fighting and slow motion topless tennis! Yes, you read that right...slow...motion...topless...tennis! The opening ten minutes of this film featuring this bit is quite possibly the greatest opening ever committed to celluloid. After a scientist and his assistant are killed, we are introduced to special agents 005 and 006. One is a hardcore fighting machine; the other is a cavorting playboy. I'll let you guess who's who. Yeah, you got it right! Bruce Le kicks major ass, while Richard Harrison sees a lot of it. Of course, the villains are only one step behind or ahead of them through out the entire movie. And when those villains are composed of the likes of Hwang Jang Lee, Kong Do, Bolo and some muscle bound white dude, you know you are in trouble.
Seriously, this is one of the best examples of cinematic lunacy in the history of film. It is clearly on the same level as the Bruceploitation classic CLONES OF BRUCE LEE. There are so many madcap scenes in this film. One great example is when Bruce Le goes to a bullfighting arena and gets into a fight with a bull. Of course, being the martial artist that he is, he cracks its skull in half. Harrison doesn't do much except make it with the ladies and get into trouble. Of course, Le then pops up to save him every time! I wish I had a friend like that. If you are looking for a zany hour and a half of wrong-headed cinema, this is definitely the ticket. Highly recommended!
Reviewed by William.