La sfida del tigre

Bruce Le stars in and directs this fairly entertaining kung fu actioner in which he and his over sexed, play boy partner (Richard Harrison) undertake an assignment to recover a top secret formula that could potentially render all men on the planet sterile(!) Shock horror! To make matters more complex, the said formula has also aroused the attentions of a number of other unscrupulous parties including a group of communists led by the one and only Hwang Jang Lee.

Cue a plethora of impromptu fights, breasts aplenty (including a truly mesmerising topless tennis match!), some Bull-Fu(!) and enough testosterone fuelled rippling muscle displays to please even a Mr. Olympia adjudicator!

Yep, all in all, whilst certainly not a classic by any means, it's good harmless B-movie fun and well worth watching at least once.

I like the West German dubbing title "The Death Fists of the Karate Tiger" much better for this KungFu knockout cascade, which was created in 1980 in a co-production between Hong Kong, Italy and the USA.

Bruceploitation star Bruce Le consistently fights his way through an outrageous plot involving the formula for a super drug that makes people sterile. Oh right! From Malaga it goes via Hong Kong to Macao. At Brucele's side is senior schlawiner Richard Harrison, who, as a CIA agent, roams through all the beds and also likes to appear bare-chested outside of the bedroom. The two heroes have to deal with terrorists and a gang of criminals. As a result, Brucele in particular gets into fights with different opponents.

Bolo Yeung, the Chinese Hercules, is crushed by Brad Harris as the super-cool bodyguard. In a particularly bizarre scene, the Czech heartthrob Josef Laufer doesn't belt out one of his schmaltzy songs, but lets his powerfully shaped chest muscles dance impressively, which is of course immediately punished by the good Brucele. Brad Harris's ultra-cool sunglasses are his undoing. But the brave Brucele gets an equal opponent in Jang Lee Hwang for the big final...

A wonderful piece of trash fun for all fans of the Bruceploitation genre!

Bruce Le (that's not a typo) stars in an action film, with a script by Bruce Le and Poon Fan. If you're not laughing yet, keep right on walking. There's nothing more to see here.

Still reading? Awesome: Fast cars, faster women, a stereotyped asexual martial artist starring along side a sex-addicted American super-agent named Richard Cannon. Seriously. The first time you see him, he's playing tennis against two topless women. Simultaneously.

Did I say action film? It's a softcore adult film. With kung fu. And Chong Li from "Bloodsport." The acting is non-existent, the dubbing is awful, and the plot has something to do with a formula that can make a man sterile, able to have all the sex he wants with no repercussions. Is that good or bad? I'm not sure. Neither is the movie.

THERE IS NO DOWNSIDE HERE. I saw this on accident, as it came as part of a double feature with "For Y'ur Height Only," starring 2'9" Filipino action superstar Weng Weng. For once, this was a double-feature with everything. And I think this movie was actually the better of the two.

Judge for yourself, won't you? You'll be glad you did.

Cheesy 80s trash kung fu classic CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER (1980) is available on a double-bill DVD with bizarre midget/spy movie FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY (1979). I've as yet been unable to track down a cheap enough copy of this amazing disc (it retails for far more than I'm willing to pay), so when I saw an old VHS copy of the film at a car-boot sale for 25p—that's about 50¢ US—I just had to stump up the cash.

Starring kung fu 'legends' Bruce Le, Hwang Jang Lee and Bolo Yeung, and ninja movie regular Richard Harrison, CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER is a poorly written and badly directed mess; and this is precisely why it is such wonderful film.

After the opening scene, in which two scientists are gunned down and their secret sterilisation formula (capable of rendering men infertile) is stolen, we are introduced to the film's heroes; top chop-socky fighter Huang Lung (Bruce Le) and perfectly coiffured mustachioed playboy Richard Cannon (Richard Harrison). Lung deals with the men, delivering flurries of kick-ass kung fu moves and Cannon deals with the ladies, seducing them with a flick of his hair and a twitch of his Magnum PI-style 'tache. As top CIA agents, it is their job to retrieve the formula before it can be used to blackmail the world!

The formula eventually ends up in the hands of tasty Spanish totty Maria (played by soft-core star Nadiuska) who, despite being seduced by Cannon, delivers it to her boss Antonio, who plans to sell it to the highest bidder.

Meanwhile, a Viet Cong bad-guy (Hwang Jang Lee) and his team of lackeys (which include Bolo Yeung and Chinese HK babe Yue Fa Booi) are also trying to lay their hands on the formula. They deliver a map of Antonio's stronghold to Lung and Cannon in the hope that the agents will break in and attack, allowing the Viet Cong to sneak in and help themselves to the formula.

With tons of female nudity, some pretty good fights, lousy dubbing, an awful script and plenty of unintentionally funny scenes (check out the badly dubbed dog), this movie is a hoot from start to finish.

Richard Harrison is brilliant as stud Cannon.When we first get to meet him, he is playing tennis with gorgeous topless women—in slow motion. Then he ambles over to a pool—full of naked babes! No woman in this movie is safe from this testosterone-charged hunk's charms, and practically all of them receive a good seeing to from him. Le, on the other hand, is content to kick ass. In one jaw-droppingly silly scene he goes fist-to-horn with a bull, cracking the charging beast on the head with a crushing blow, and towards the end of the film he goes up against a whole heap of baddies, including the legendary Hwang Jang Lee, who gets to display his amazing kicking skills.

I thoroughly recommend fans of schlock martial arts movies to seek this one out— and if you can afford it, get the double-bill DVD ( I haven't seen it, but FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY looks just as crazy!).

I'll finish this appraisal of CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER with some of my favourite snippets of dialogue. Enjoy!

RICHARD (after just meeting Maria): Can I come home with you?

MARIA: It's very hot in here. I'm going to take a bath. RICHARD: I don't want to stay here alone. Mind if I come with you?

RICHARD (In the bath with Maria): Nice little ears.

LUNG (sat at a table with Richard and a sexy female CIA agent): That tea smells good. RICHARD (looking at woman): Hmmm, so does she. LUNG: Huh, you bandit!

RICHARD (to waitress): Coke please. WAITRESS: None left. RICHARD: What else have you got? WAITRESS: Beer.

This movie is one of many Bruceploitation movies starring Bruce Le as a secret agent along with his partner Dick Cannon. Yes, that's his name. The movie has with bad acting, bad plot, and the plot itself is conveyed very incoherently. Sub-plots come and go at will, characters make decisions that don't impact the plot at all, and characters are kidnapped for no reason. With all these problems you may be asking why I gave this a four and not a one? Well, that's because as bad as it is it's still a fun entertaining movie, with nudity and a plot that makes no sense. I would recommend this movie if you're looking for a good time.