Challenge Of The Tiger (HK 1980)

Rating: *
Review Date: 1/7/06
Alternate Title: Gymkata Killer
Producer: Dick Randall
Director: Bruce Le
Cast: Bruce Le, Richard Harrison, Nadiuska, Hwang Jang Lee, Bolo Yeung, cameos by Karl Malden and Jane Seymour?

A new drug has been created that causes sterility in men. Naturally, the world's biggest crime syndicates want the drug so that they can take over the world. Hey, I don't make this stuff up, okay? When the formula gets stolen, the CIA sends their two best agents to recover it. Ah Lung (Bruce Le) is a master martial artist and Richard Canon (Richard Harrison) is a ladies man. I'm not sure what qualifies them as the CIA's best, but who am I to judge? After a bizarre match of topless tennis, Richard meets Lung in Spain, where a transaction for the formula will be taking place. Things go terribly wrong, resulting in Maria (German beauty Nadiuska) obtaining the formula and Lung facing a bull in a bull-fighting arena, which he eventually defeats by cracking its skull with a well placed punch. In order to retrieve the formula, Richard seduces Maria while Lung steals it from her house. Unfortunately, they end up with a fake, and the hunt is on again. Meanwhile, another group in Hong Kong led by legendary Hwang Jang Lee is trying to get the formula, and they try their best to get the meddlesome Lung and Richard out of the picture. Ultimately, the film leads up to a one on one duel between Bruce Le and Hwang Jang Lee, which is marginally entertaining.

One of several Bruce Lee clones at the time, Bruce Le was probably the most well known. That's not to say that he was the best, as his style doesn't even come close. While Le is definitely quick, his moves are spastic and chaotic, and he just looks like he's flailing about uncontrollably. Richard Harrison tries his hand at kung fu and just looks embarrassing, much like George Lazenby in "Stoner" (1974). The film is packed to the gills with fight sequences, sex, and nudity, but none it is a particularly interesting.