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For Your Height Only/Challenge Of The Tiger (Mondo Macabro) DVD Review

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    Ian Jane
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  • For Your Height Only/Challenge Of The Tiger (Mondo Macabro) DVD Review



    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: November 15th, 2005.
    Director: Eddie Nicart/Bruce Le
    Cast: Weng Weng, Anna Maria Gutierrez, Tony Ferrer, Beth Sandoval/Bruce Le, Richard Harrison, Nadiuska, Brad Harris, Hawng Jang Lee, Bolo Yeung
    Year: 1980/1980
    Purchase From Amazon

    For Your Height Only/Challenge Of The Tiger - Movie Review:

    Mondo Macabro offers up a double dose of Dick Randall produced psychotronic cinematic bliss!

    FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY:

    I have a confession to make. I love little people in entertainment. Whether they be of the wrestling variety, slapping asses in an orgy like in The Nude Princess, or hanging out in Jamaa Fanaka's Penitentiary films, I find that they almost always make for cinematic gold. Whether or not that makes me a jerk is debatable, but I know that I'm not alone in my love for the films of the little people that God has put on this Earth - and this production from the Philippines proves it.

    For Your Height Only introduces us to Agent 00 (played with no small amount of enthusiasm by the mysterious though talented Weng Weng) - one of the government's top secret agents. He's as deadly with a jetpack and a machine gun as he is a hit with the ladies. When you see him in action, you'll understand completely WHY the government would want such a stylishly dressed and dangerous man on their team.

    But why has the government called Agent 00 into action? Well, it seems that Dr. Von Kohler, creator of a powerful new bomb, has been kidnapped by a sinister organization with no name but run by an evil son of a bitch known only as Mr. Giant. Agent 00 is the only one who can get the Doctor back, but in order to do that, he's going to have to use all of his high tech gadgets such as his remote control boomerang hat, his poison detector ring, his sunglasses that allow him to see through clothing (which also comes in handy when he's scoping out chicks), and of course, his cardboard jetpack. He also has all manner of colored leisure suits that he's able to change into at the drop of a hat.

    Agent 00 gets his 'in' with Mr. Giant's gang when he convinces a foxy lady involved with the despicable group to aid him in his quest. He also gets it on with her in grand fashion using the always-dependable pick up line, “Hey, do you want to do it?” It's during this scene that he takes off his shirt and we realize how out of proportion his massive nipples are in relation to the rest of his body (which is approximately three apples high, give or take an apple).

    SPOILERS (scroll past this part if you don't want to know how it ends)!!

    With chickiepoo's help, Agent 00 works his way into the compound where he single handedly eliminates almost all of Mr. Giant's gang, ultimately working his way to the heart of the operation and throwing down with Mr. Giant himself, who also happens to be a little person.

    END OF SPOILERS (ok, start reading again now!)

    Throw in a few discotheque scenes in which Agent 00 shows off his dance skills (which are, quite frankly, fucking great!), a few floozies who are unable to resist the little guy's charm, an army of thugs who don't seem to be able to button up their polyester shirts past their bellybuttons, and you've got yourself one Hell of a movie, my friend!

    But what really makes the film work is Weng Weng himself. The man. Content to display an identical vapid facial expression whether he be making love to a beautiful woman, dancing across the floor at a nightclub, or fatally shooting down those rat bastards who are foolish enough to engage him in deadly mortal combat, his total lack of range makes his performance simply amazing. Now I'm not going to proclaim him Oscar worthy or anything like that, because he's technically a terrible actor, but his complete lack of ability makes the movie all the more jaw dropping and his performance totally works in spite of itself. Also his hair is also really cool. In fact, it might be plastic, because I don't think it moved once during the entire film.

    The fact that everyone in the cast keeps such a straight face at all times leads me to believe that this movie may have actually been meant to have been taken seriously at one point, despite the fact that it is more often than not lumped in as a spoof (nah, who are we kidding!). I don't really know one way or the other what the intention of those who helmed this masterpiece were, but to be honest, I don't care. It delivers non-stop little person spy action and so many laughs, unintentional or otherwise, that you'll literally shot beer out of your nose while you watch it. I can't think of a higher recommendation than that - this movie will make you shoot beer out of your nose.

    CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER:

    Bruce Le? Richard fucking Harrison in tight bikini briefs? Naked ladies? I am so there. If For Your Height Only weren't enough to make you cream in your jeans, Mondo Macabro has added a second film on this disc in the form of Challenge Of The Tiger!

    Bruce Le not only directs this bitch, but he stars in it as well, taking on the complicated role of Huang Lung. He's a CIA agent tasked with the difficult assignment stopping a super-secret terrorist organization from getting their greedy mitts on a secret serum that will render all men on the planet Earth infertile!

    This is quite the job, and Haung knows that when the going gets tough, the tough get Richard Harrison on their side and here he plays the role of Richard Cannon. Few people know more about male ejaculatory fluids than Richard Harrison, and in this movie he is quite literally stone cold pimping. In fact, Harrison spends far more time with a lady or two on his arm than without and when we're first introduced to him he's playing tennis, in slow motion, against a woman with fully exposed remarkable breasts - that's how stone cold pimpin' he is. And to top it all of he does it to the soothing sound of Montego Bay! There is so much gratuitous nudity in the opening scene of this film that at first you're probably going to think you rented a porno. Did Bruce Le ever direct porn? Probably not, but this movie will make you wish that he had.

    Anyway, Huang takes care of all the dirty work. When they track down the terrorists he's primed and ready to kick some serious ass in the name of freedom and man chowder. Cannon, on the other hand, is the sneakier one of the pair using his amazing masculine charms and the raw sensuality of his moustache to infiltrate and seduce his way into the inner circle of evil. It's a good thing Harrison has got Le around though, as in order to make the world once again a safe place for spooge they're going to have to take on Hwang Jang Lee and Bolo freakin' Yeung!

    At one point in the film, Bruce Le kicks a bull's ass, proving that Sonny Chiba isn't the only one with a leg up on the bovine population of the world (see Karate Bullfighter for more details), while Harrison spends the majority of his time scoring poon. The movie is so all over the place that it really must be seen to be believed. In fact, it might even surpass some of Harrison's Godfrey Ho films (Ninja Squad comes to mind) for sheer lunacy.

    Plenty of pretty naked ladies, hairy Harrison, and mediocre fight choreography make this one a whole lot of fun even if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Anyone who has been won over by the not so subtle charms of other Dick Randall (he makes a cameo in here) produced Bruce Lee knock offs such as The Clones Of Bruce Lee should find a whole lot to love about this movie. I'll admit that when Mondo Macabro first announced teaming this one up with the greatness that is For Your Height Only I was hesitant to accept this choice but one viewing of this film instantly converted me and I have since seen the light.

    Once you get a taste of this double feature, you'll want more of these films. They're so good you'll want to watch them over and over and over again be it to take in the action, the romance, or the intrigue that they provide. Dick Randall sure had a knack for picking up only the finest international titles and these two films stand as a lasting tribute to the late Canucklehead's marketing genius. Thank you, Dick. Thank you for bringing us Weng Weng and Richard Harrison in a speedo. Thank you for bringing us Mr. Giant and topless slo-mo reggae tennis. Thank you for bringing us Irma and Bolo.

    Thank you.

    For Your Height Only/Challenge Of The Tiger - DVD Review:


    Due to the fact that the original elements for the first film have mysteriously disappeared and that not even a decent print of the film seems to be available anymore, Mondo Macabro was forced to work with the same crappy video master that Simitar used for their release. That's the bad news. The good news is that they have obviously gone to some effort to clean up the picture and sound quality as best they could and while the results are not perfect, they are much improved. The image is cleaner, the colors are stronger and brighter and the black levels are definitely a little bit deeper. Much of the softness of the last release has been correct and while the image still lacks some fine detail, overall this is a definite improvement over the previous incarnation of this film on DVD.

    On the other hand, Challenge Of The Tiger looks damn good. Who would have guessed this lovely piece of whatever it is would receive such a nice, clean, colorful 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer? Not me, but I'm sure glad it did because goddamn that tennis scene is simply amazing in scope. There's a little bit of print damage here and there but by and large we're treated to a very nice transfer for a film that I don't think anyone ever thought would get one.

    Both films are presented in English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks that don't sound too far off from mono. Either way, the dialogue is pretty clean and pretty clear and while the sound effects in both films are a little pumped up, it only adds to the fun. There aren't any serious issues with the audio here at all, the mixes provided get the job done and they make it look easy - just like Agent OO and Richard Cannon do.

    Unfortunately, the disc isn't exactly stacked with extra features, but there are a few goodies tucked away among the menus...

    For Your Height Only comes with a still gallery containing thirteen different promotional stills, an essay on the history between Dick Randall and Weng Weng (written by Pete Tombs and containing some very welcome biographical information on everyone's favorite little man), and a second essay entitled Weng Weng - An Appreciation by some guy with sideburns who drinks too much.

    Challenge Of The Tiger has biographies for both Bruce Le (by Mondo Macabro scribe Pete Tombs) and Richard Harrison (by Julian Granger) as well as a decent sized still gallery showcasing fourteen lobby cards and promo photographs (including one of Harrison in a sexy form fitting pair of purple briefs... yowza!). There are a few cool pictures scattered in the bios that are a nice touch.

    The omnipresent Mondo Macabro promotional reel also makes an appearance here as well, and menus and chapter selection options are also provided.

    For Your Height Only/Challenge Of The Tiger - The Final Word:

    While it's disappointing that there weren't more extras dug up for this one, For Your Height Only and Challenge Of The Tiger do make for a fantastic double feature teaming. To their credit, Mondo Macabro's DVD improves on the quality of the previous DVD release of Height and presents Challenge in a nice anamorphic widescreen print. Fans of flat out goofball movie making ought to eat this one right up.
















































































    • Paul L
      #3
      Paul L
      Scholar of Sleaze
      Paul L commented
      Editing a comment
      Originally posted by agent999
      Dario Argento and Weng Weng are the only two people on earth who can rock that haircut.
      Peter Bark?

    • agent999
      #4
      agent999
      Senior Member
      agent999 commented
      Editing a comment
      Originally posted by Paul L
      Peter Bark?
      And maybe Walken in The Prophecy.

    • BW Haggar
      #5
      BW Haggar
      Senior Member
      BW Haggar commented
      Editing a comment
      Somehow, 'Challenge of the Tiger' has previously escaped my attention, but having grokked those screengrabs, I'm in the process of obtaining a copy right now.
    Posting comments is disabled.

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