The Charge

He's tough. He's tender. He's three feet tall.

Opening Statement

Mondo Macabro, one of my favorite DVD studios, has done me and every lover of bizarre cinema a huge favor by releasing For Your Height Only, a truly insane film. And as an added bonus, you'll get the legendary Bruce Le (that's Le) in the equally crazy Challenge of the Tiger.

Facts of the Case

For Your Height Only

Evil quakes for only one man: Agent 00. Sure he's no taller than most nightstands, but Agent 00 (Weng Weng) is a force to be reckoned with. No thug can survive his tiny fists of fury, and no woman can resist his compact charms.

Agent 00 faces his biggest challenge when he finds himself entangled with the expansive crime syndicate run by the enigmatic and notorious "Mr. Giant." Working with a beautiful undercover agent named Irma, Agent 00 must call upon all of his investigative skills, combat training, and seductive wiles to defeat the unwavering horde of goons and bring justice to Mr. Giant.

Challenge of the Tiger

This film's plot is impenetrable. Here is what I was able to glean from the hackneyed storytelling: Bruce Le is one half of a two-man team that is brought in to defuse potential catastrophes. His partner is some mustached American pretty boy who plays tennis with topless women. Apparently they've been assigned to track down a missing chemical agent that renders human men impotent.

Beyond that, I've got nothing else for you.

The Evidence

For Your Height Only

What a great, fun, profoundly weird movie. A far-out take on James Bond films (featuring strangely similar music), For Your Height Only is hilarious—but I'm not entirely sure it was supposed to be a comedy.

All the elements are there to earn it that genre assignment, but I'm still not sure. There aren't enough "comical" moments to convince me that this isn't merely a hugely nuts film that is so crazy it's funny.

And that's fine. If the filmmakers wanted to play it straight—and I suspect they did—all the better! Weng Weng is awesome as Agent 00, mainly because he plays the role as a legitimate spy. He's not clowning around or trying to make contrived humor work; he's playing the tough guy role straight, and that juxtaposition with his small stature is fantastic.

Look, I'm not trying to pick on little people, and I don't think this film is doing that. In fact, by giving Weng Weng the straight role is, to me, an act of better taste than the stream of shameless and unfunny "midget" throwaway jokes you see so much in comedies these days (Elf, I'm looking at you).

I need to pause here to say, again, how much I enjoyed this film. It is ludicrously funny and you should try and see it. Thanks. Moving on.

For Your Height Only isn't boring either. Director Eddie Nicart has packed his surreal gem silly with action; Agent 00 must get into at least one fight every six minutes or so. Why the goons are rendered unconscious by one of Weng Weng's little fists, I don't know, but I liked it! (Agent 00's preferred method of dispatch is the trip-and-dual-foot-plant-in-the-crotch.)

The last element that makes this film so uproarious is the dubbing. It's horrible, of course, but horrible in a good way. Whoever voiced Weng Weng did a few lines of coke chased with some helium before getting on the mic. But the best performance goes to Agent 00's superior who mumbles incoherently about the gadgets he's crafted for his superstar agent.

Other stuff from For Your Height Only that's great:

• Agent 00 parachuting from a balcony with an umbrella
• Mr. Giant's reveal.
• The mini-jet pack.
• Agent 00's shameless abuse of the X-ray specs.
• The climactic island shootout; folks it's a massacre.
• Weng Weng chillin' at the pool with the ladies.
• "Let's get it on."
• Groin kick #359
• A hand-to-hand finale of diminutive proportions.
• Agent 00's sweet-ass white leisure suit.

Where Mondo Macabro unearthed this prize I'll never know, but I'll be forever grateful they did. Agent 00 has touched my life in ways that no one will ever know. If you consider yourself a connoisseur of crazy flicks, you owe it to yourself to seek this one out. You won't be disappointed.

The film has been rendered from its original elements (this studio does a great job with its transfers), but the materials gave Mondo Macabro little to work with. It's a full screen presentation, and it's decent, though there are multiple flaws. Don't expect much from the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix, either. Some text-based background information is it for extras.

Challenge of the Tiger

Bruce Lee-clone Bruce Le (not very subtle, huh?) directs and stars in this incoherent martial arts film. Trying to follow the disjointed plot will likely give you a brain aneurism, so trust me when I say it's utterly ridiculous.

I'll just say this: there's a lot of meaningless fighting, gratuitous nudity, specifically in the opening where one of our heroes plays a few round of slow-motion topless tennis, and one of the looniest fights scenes I've ever seen: Bruce Le vs. a bull.

This film's worth comes only from the surreal factor, but it's an excellent companion piece to For Your Height Only. These two movies together quite likely make up the oddest three hours you'll ever spend.

Challenge of the Tiger benefits from a sharper source, so the 2.23:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is better. The 2.0 stereo sound is still not much to write home about. Similarly, text-only background info is the only extra.

Closing Statement

Challenge of the Tiger is a fleeting pleasure thanks to its nonsensical weirdness, but For Your Height Only is a definite keeper.

The Verdict

Not guilty. Agent 00, continue to defend our freedom!

Similar Decisions

• Lethal Weapon 3
• Pit Fighter
• Max Havoc: Curse Of The Dragon
• Legionnaire

Give us your feedback!

Did we give For Your Height Only / Challenge Of The Tiger a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.