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What's Up, Tiger Lily?

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $17.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't watch this if you like Woody for "interiors"
Review: If you love Woody Allen because of "interiors", "fog and mist and darkness" (or whatever that was), and "What's new Pussycat" don't waste your time in this, because you wouldn't like it and it would probably cut into your reading of the latest book on "Asian Philosophy", or the "How to act more sophisticated than you really are" guide. Seriously, this is for someone who wants to see a unique, creative, and truly funny movie. The idea is to dub a cheap James Bond knockoff movie made in Japan, with English dialogue written by Woody Allen. You'll have to see it to truly understand the hilarity of it all, but if you're still hung up on the fact that "Fog and Mist and Darkness" wasn't the correct title for your favorite movie, then, as I said before, skip it and go wine tasting.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Original and Hilarious!
Review: Imagine a movie where, during a gun fight, a character says "No bullets? Ah, but if all of you in the audience who believe in fairies will clap your hands, then my gun will be magically filled with bullets."

Early in Woody Allen's career he made this very funny film, which was a Japanese spy movie (in typical swinging '60s style), redubbed with very funny English dialogue.

Interpol detective Phil Moskowitz is called in on the case of a stolen recipe for egg salad which is so good it'll make you "plotz" (or "fall down dead" for the Yiddish-impaired) and faces an international cartel of criminals he must battle to get it back.

Imagine a sort of serious Japanese Austin Powers with an "Airplane!" overdub and you'll start to get an idea of the laughs in store when you watch Woody's take on the '60s spy genre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: first version better than second!
Review: Iv'e seen the "original" version of this film, and most horrifyingly, a "disney-fied" version of this film. The original is my all time favorite source of obscure quotes and much fun. The second version... all that lovely innuendo is gone! How very depressing. I do not know if the version here at Amazon is first or second.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The world can always use a great recipe for egg salad
Review: Once upon a time there was a 1964 Japanese spy movie called "Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi" ("International Secret Police: Key of Keys." Then Woody Allen decided that if the Japanese could dub their monster movies into English, he could dub "Kagi no kagi" into English. The key difference, of course, is that Woody is trying to be funny on purpose. Whatever Interpol Agent Tatsuya Mihashi was up to in the original, he is now trying to track down a secret egg salad recipe. As somebody who actually remembers seeing this film in a movie theater, I still recall my roommate and I insulting each other and total strangers for several weeks with comments about "Roman dogs" and "Spartan pigs." I cannot really imagine committing this entire film to memory, but whether you are a fan of Woody Allen, badly dubbed Japanese movies, or James Bond spy movies, then you owe it to yourself to see this film once in your life. The most amazing thing is that this has not been done more often; after all, what bad movie could you not improve by totally redoing the dialogue and how much fun could you have doing something like this to a classic film like "Casablanca"? The Japanese original was actually followed by a 1967 sequel "Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Zettai zetsumi" ("International Secret Police: Driven to the Wall") starring Nick Adams a year before his death from a drug overdose. That film had something to do with killer foam (no, I am not making that up).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What's up with this Movie?
Review: Seriously, this is one of Woody Allen's funniest movies. If you have not yet seen this movie, see it. Do not be fooled by imitators (Kung Pow: enter the fist) this movie is pure gold.
other suggestions if you like Woody Allen
1. Bananas
2. Small Time Crooks
3. Play it Again Sam
4. Radio Days

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not one of Allen's best
Review: Take a B-grade, Japanese spy film, write an entirely new script, and dub new tracks with English-speaking actors. What do you get? A B-grade Japanese spy film dubbed into English. Woody Allen's re-wrttien script did not do anything to enhance the movie. Granted, there are a few good one-liners, plus the first score of a film written entirely by a rock band, The Lovin' Spoonful, but the humor is lacking. Maybe when the film was first released, the search for the world's best egg salad recipe ("it will make you PLOTZ!) was considered funny. Now, it just seems outdated and very safe.

I actually enjoyed when Woody Allen cut in with his interview regarding the movie itself. That's where Allen's sense of humor really shines. But still, I found it difficult to laugh during this film and had to force myself to watch it all the way through, just to be fair. Woody Allen has better films out there!

The DVD has some okay extras and, if you look hard enough, you can find the egg salad recipe hidden in the main menu.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Experimental cinema ...
Review: The 60's were definitely a time for experimentation, and breaking barriers, so perhaps this concept made sense then. Take a Japanese action movie, remove the soundtrack and dialog, have Woody Allen write an entirely different script to convert it to a comedy, and then dub the dialog in English, with new music and added scenes, and the result is What's Up Tiger Lily?

The supposed plot of this disjointed farce, follows secret agent Phil Moscowitz in his quest to recover a secret formula for egg salad. Coming up with "suitable" comedic dialog to "match" the action on-screen, is a reactionary process. Writing in this manner, occasionally produces humorous dialog that works with some of the scenes. However, creating any kind of cohesive storyline out of these individual jokes and gags, is a task the writing can't accomplish.

Applying references from American and Jewish culture, to a Japanese film, is one of the sources for the humor, but many times the writing strives too hard to be funny, going overboard for cheap laughs, with an endless stream of one liners. A limited number of voices are used for the dubbing, and the vocal delivery style is reminiscent of a Shaw Brothers production. Both of which, get monotonous after a while.

The film's credits list "A no star cast". Featured are actresses Mie Hama (Teri Yaki), and Akiko Wakabayashi (Suki Yaki), who both would appear the following year in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967). Actor Tatsuya Mihashi, who plays Moscowitz, may be also be known for playing a Japanese Army officer, in Frank Sinatra's war film None But the Brave.

The music of the Lovin' Spoonful is featured in the film, and the group appears playing a couple of songs. It is interesting, that Woody Allen was apparently so displeased that released version of the film included the group, that he threatened legal action. Tiger Lily has its funny moments, and is an interesting creative experiment, that may appeal to fans of spy satires, or commentary in the style of Mystery Science Theater 2000.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Experimental cinema ...
Review: The 60's were definitely a time for experimentation, and breaking barriers, so perhaps this concept made sense then. Take a Japanese action movie, remove the soundtrack and dialog, have Woody Allen write an entirely different script to convert it to a comedy, and then dub the dialog in English, with new music and added scenes, and the result is What's Up Tiger Lily?

The supposed plot of this disjointed farce, follows secret agent Phil Moscowitz in his quest to recover a secret formula for egg salad. Coming up with "suitable" comedic dialog to "match" the action on-screen, is a reactionary process. Writing in this manner, occasionally produces humorous dialog that works with some of the scenes. However, creating any kind of cohesive storyline out of these individual jokes and gags, is a task the writing can't accomplish.

Applying references from American and Jewish culture, to a Japanese film, is one of the sources for the humor, but many times the writing strives too hard to be funny, going overboard for cheap laughs, with an endless stream of one liners. A limited number of voices are used for the dubbing, and the vocal delivery style is reminiscent of a Shaw Brothers production. Both of which, get monotonous after a while.

The film's credits list "A no star cast". Featured are actresses Mie Hama (Teri Yaki), and Akiko Wakabayashi (Suki Yaki), who both would appear the following year in the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967). Actor Tatsuya Mihashi, who plays Moscowitz, may be also be known for playing a Japanese Army officer, in Frank Sinatra's war film None But the Brave.

The music of the Lovin' Spoonful is featured in the film, and the group appears playing a couple of songs. It is interesting, that Woody Allen was apparently so displeased that released version of the film included the group, that he threatened legal action. Tiger Lily has its funny moments, and is an interesting creative experiment, that may appeal to fans of spy satires, or commentary in the style of Mystery Science Theater 2000.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hysterical
Review: The great overlooked Woody Allen comedy. There are a million great silly one-liners in this film ("They offend my sensibilities! Get them off the ship!"..."I don't know why, but you got a better bandage than me!"..."Everybody shows up when we have girls to tie up"). The plot is secondary, but who cares, this film is a riot released years ahead of its time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: hillarious!!
Review: This an excellent spoof film. Woody Allen is superb as usual. I highly advise purchasing this film.


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