What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen Film for People Who Don't Like Woody Allen Films
Review: "What's Up, Tiger Lily" has nothing in common with what most people think of as 'Woody Allen films.' In other words, it isn't about an older intellectual having his heart broken in a seriocomic New York adventure with Dixieland jazz playing on the soundtrack. Instead, this movie is closer to what Mystery Science Theater might have been like with the Marx Brothers as hosts.

At this point you are either running from this review in disgust or want to learn more. To make this film, Woody took an early 1960s Japanese spy film, re-edited and redubbed it, and turned it into a pun-filled, absurd comedy about a stolen egg salad recipe. To further add to the chaos, the rock band The Loving Spoonful were tossed into the mix (without Woody's approval). The result is an exceptionally silly film, perhaps best viewed when slightly distracted. Woody stretches the single joke pretty far, and ironically his joke-filled dubbing has more accurate lip-synching than most imported Japanese films of the era that were given a 'straight' treatment.

Is this essential comedy? Not at all. Is it worth at least one viewing? Of course. There aren't any real extras on the disc (aside from a slightly less risque soundtrack), and while purist might have liked to see the original Japanese film on the same DVD, what purist could possibly find any of this funny?


Rating:
Summary: excellent concept, average execution
Review: A Film by Woody Allen

I've seen several Woody Allen films, but I can't say that I'm a big fan. What interested me most was the concept of this movie: Woody Allen takes a Japanese "B" spy film, removes the language track, dubs his own and changes the entire movie into a comedy. It was a daring idea then, and it remains a daring idea today. It is similar to Mystery Science Theater, only instead of having a group of people outside the film mocking it; the characters do the job themselves.

Whatever the original source material was about, What's Up, Tiger Lily? is a comedic quest to retrieve a stole recipe for Egg Salad. That's right...egg salad. There are several funny moments throughout the movie (the best is when Woody introduces the film and claims that "Gone With the Wind" was actually a redubbed Japanese film), but as a whole I felt let down. The concept was fantastic, and I know that the action and the dialogue were intentionally absurd, but the movie didn't work for me. I appreciate how well the dubbed dialogue fits into the movie, so well that I considered the fact that Woody might actually have shot the movie using Japanese actors in order to better fit the dialogue and action. The dub fits the movie that well. While it is occasionally funny and interesting, it wasn't interesting enough for me to give the movie a positive review. I just didn't care for the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Austin Powers, nothin'!
Review: A hilarious movie. Woody takes a horrible old film, sort of an Asian ripoff of James Bond, cuts out all the sound, and dubs over his soundtrack, his noises, and (most importantly), his voices.

If you're like me, you'd be happy to watch the original, un-Woodyfied film just because it's so bad; when Allen goes to work on it, the result is always entertaining and usually very, very funny. There are some great lines in this film that you just don't forget (shuddup or my mustache will eat your beard -- I guess you really have to see the movie for this to be funny, but trust me, it really is).

It's Austin Powers-like parody (kinda) and Mystery Science Theater 3000-eque satire (only better, 'cause they get to change the film itself) all rolled up into one. One of the best comedies I've ever seen.

Rating:
Summary: Tiger Lily serves a Lovin' Spoonful of REALLY good Egg Salad
Review: A woman steps into the room wearing a towel. She and her lover gaze longingly at each other. "Name three presidents!" she says. In the wake of his early success, Allen purchased the rights to an extra-cheesy Japanese spy thriller, threw out the entire soundtrack, then wrote and dubbed in a new script. Mix in a "what has this got to do with anything?" soundtrack by the folk-rock 60s group The Lovin' Spoonful and a few new scenes, and the result is Allen's infamous WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? And it is one of the most bizarre movies you're likely to see this lifetime, a film which has attained cult-movie status of the highest order.

The movie is uneven--but that is actually part of its charm. Where else can you see big-haired 60s mamas get down like psycho killers to the innocuous music of The Lovin' Spoonful? Or tacky special effects, inept hop-and-chop fighting, and ridiculously bad cinematography reworked into the story of a bunch of spies on the track of a recipe for the world's best egg salad? And some of the lines are a hoot and a half. My own favorite: "Bring plenty of dynamite. It's a big mother!" Hardcore Allen fans, who often approach him as if he were God, will probably be embarrassed by this movie. Allen himself is pretty embarrassed: he's been trying to live it down for years. But if you have a taste for the bizarre--not to mention some good, I mean REALLY good egg salad--TIGER LILY is the movie for you. Recommended to egg salad junkies, bad hop-and-chop movie watchers, and cult-film enthusiasts everywhere.

Rating:
Summary: Tiger Lily serves a Lovin' Spoonful of REALLY good Egg Salad
Review: A woman steps into the room wearing a towel. She and her lover gaze longingly at each other. "Name three presidents!" she says. In the wake of his early success, Allen purchased the rights to an extra-cheesy Japanese spy thriller, threw out the entire soundtrack, then wrote and dubbed in a new script. Mix in a "what has this got to do with anything?" soundtrack by the folk-rock 60s group The Lovin' Spoonful and a few new scenes, and the result is Allen's infamous WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? And it is one of the most bizarre movies you're likely to see this lifetime, a film which has attained cult-movie status of the highest order.

The movie is uneven--but that is actually part of its charm. Where else can you see big-haired 60s mamas get down like psycho killers to the innocuous music of The Lovin' Spoonful? Or tacky special effects, inept hop-and-chop fighting, and ridiculously bad cinematography reworked into the story of a bunch of spies on the track of a recipe for the world's best egg salad? And some of the lines are a hoot and a half. My own favorite: "Bring plenty of dynamite. It's a big mother!" Hardcore Allen fans, who often approach him as if he were God, will probably be embarrassed by this movie. Allen himself is pretty embarrassed: he's been trying to live it down for years. But if you have a taste for the bizarre--not to mention some good, I mean REALLY good egg salad--TIGER LILY is the movie for you. Recommended to egg salad junkies, bad hop-and-chop movie watchers, and cult-film enthusiasts everywhere.

Rating:
Summary: A profound and inquisitive documentary
Review: Along with the fictional "Interiors" this has to be Allen's most introspective, auto biographical work: a realistic portrait of the man behind the comedian, everything's here: starting from a difficult upbringing in Tijuana, México (where he met absurdist mexican painter Mateo Valdés Gutiérrez), the amazingly strange story of how Woody wears glasses just for the fun of it and up to his anonymous contributions to the Lingüistic Circle of Prague (where he started his stand up routine, not very succesfully).
Maybe the most powerful image from this production is the moment when Allen breaks into tears listening to an old Ramones 8 track, driving his Porsche back to California or maybe when he transforms himself into a black jazz musician while listening to Coltrane in a bath tub, full of desire.

Rating:
Summary: AVOID THIS VERSION AT ALL COSTS
Review: Beware : this is an edited version of What's Up Tiger Lily. Some of the dialogue has been changed or erased, resulting in a far less funny movie than it originally was. I have no idea who is responsible for the butchering of this film - whether Woody authorized it or not - but it is not the movie I have seen 10+ times.

Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen's admitted embarrasment
Review: C'mon, be honest, fellow reviewers! You all know Woody Allen hated the result of this his first movie project! Don't tell me you really think it's a quality movie!

In fact, the best thing you can say about »What's Up, Tiger Lily?« is that it is an interesting experiment: putting newly-written english words to an already recorded awful Japanese action movie. The other good thing are the approx. two minutes in which Woody Allens appears, and the gorgeous 1960's-style Japanese girls.

There's no story; a few very funny (or rather: far out) laughs, mostly because of the extremely poor, nearly parodistic quality of the Japanese movie; and that's about it.

An experience rather than an enjoyable quality movie.

Rating:
Summary: Meet me in the bedroom in 5 minutes and bring a cattle prod.
Review: Ever watch a Japanese movie with really bad, dubbed English? Well, in What's Up, Tiger Lily, Woody Allen went out and bought a Japanese spy movie, completely removed the audio track, and substituted his own, along with some minor editing of some scenes. The result is a pretty funny movie about world-class espionage and egg salad.

The 'Allenized' (my own word, don't bother looking it up, as it's not in the dictionary) plot involves the theft of the world's greatest egg salad recipe, and the lengths some will go to recover it. There are guns, beautiful woman, car chases, fights, more guns, action, and a marriage between a snake and a rooster. I will admit some of the dubbed dialogue doesn't work so well, but there are a great number of truly funny scenes and hilarious lines. During one of the fight scenes, Phil Moscowitz, the main character, yells out, 'Saracen pig! Spartan dog! Take this! And this! Roman cow! Russian snake! Spanish fly!' which had me rolling on the floor. The laughs are not always forthcoming, but when they do come, they hit hard, in my opinion. The scenes with the Cobra man were worth it alone for me to watch.

Woody is not really in the movie, except for inter cut scenes at the beginning, middle and very end. I kind of wish he had done one of the voices in the dubbing, but you can sense his comedic style of writing throughout the movie. Also included is a wonderful music score by The Lovin' Spoonful and they even make an appearance or two, with the help of some crafty editing.

As far as extras on the disc, you can choose to watch the movie with either the original, dubbed track or one created for television. There is even a comprehensive section where you can go in and compared the two sometimes subtlety different tracks. Also included is a fairly complete filmography of Woody Allen. My only little, minor complaint was the text in the extra features sections was small and difficult to read. As a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Woody Allen, I did enjoy this movie. Although I think many people would just feel this was a silly, stupid movie with little value, I thought it was an interesting experiment, with quite a few laughs for those viewers with a skewed sense of humor and a little patience. And don't forget to click up to highlight Woody's glasses on the main menu for an interesting little hidden feature.

Rating:
Summary: Meet me in the bedroom in 5 minutes and bring a cattle prod.
Review: Ever watch a Japanese movie with really bad, dubbed English? Well, in What's Up, Tiger Lily, Woody Allen went out and bought a Japanese spy movie, completely removed the audio track, and substituted his own, along with some minor editing of some scenes. The result is a pretty funny movie about world-class espionage and egg salad.

The 'Allenized' (my own word, don't bother looking it up, as it's not in the dictionary) plot involves the theft of the world's greatest egg salad recipe, and the lengths some will go to recover it. There are guns, beautiful woman, car chases, fights, more guns, action, and a marriage between a snake and a rooster. I will admit some of the dubbed dialogue doesn't work so well, but there are a great number of truly funny scenes and hilarious lines. During one of the fight scenes, Phil Moscowitz, the main character, yells out, 'Saracen pig! Spartan dog! Take this! And this! Roman cow! Russian snake! Spanish fly!' which had me rolling on the floor. The laughs are not always forthcoming, but when they do come, they hit hard, in my opinion. The scenes with the Cobra man were worth it alone for me to watch.

Woody is not really in the movie, except for inter cut scenes at the beginning, middle and very end. I kind of wish he had done one of the voices in the dubbing, but you can sense his comedic style of writing throughout the movie. Also included is a wonderful music score by The Lovin' Spoonful and they even make an appearance or two, with the help of some crafty editing.

As far as extras on the disc, you can choose to watch the movie with either the original, dubbed track or one created for television. There is even a comprehensive section where you can go in and compared the two sometimes subtlety different tracks. Also included is a fairly complete filmography of Woody Allen. My only little, minor complaint was the text in the extra features sections was small and difficult to read. As a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Woody Allen, I did enjoy this movie. Although I think many people would just feel this was a silly, stupid movie with little value, I thought it was an interesting experiment, with quite a few laughs for those viewers with a skewed sense of humor and a little patience. And don't forget to click up to highlight Woody's glasses on the main menu for an interesting little hidden feature.