Kinda strange to see none other'n respected actor Burgess Meredith not only directing, but acting in as well as writing the screenplay for this weirdo spy flick that comes off like some fevered mutation between an NBC "Mystery Movie" and one of those hip "now" films that came off so laughable only a few years later. I mean, this 'un'll certainly get the snobboids snickering into their Neil Gabler FILMS THAT MADE A TOTAL ASSHOLE OUT OF ME collections but hey, I got a whole lot more enjoyment outta it'n I ever got from THE FRANK CAPRA COLLECTION OF TOTAL CORN PASSED OFF AS LIBERAL-ASSUAGING MESSAGE CINEMA and thank heavens fer that!
James Mason (one of many old Hollywood actors trying to make their way through new Hollywood in this film) plays the lead, an ultra-evil half-Chinese/half-Mexican underworld figure on a mission to get hold of the blueprints for an early version of what later would be known as the "Star Wars Missile Defense System" a good ten or so years later. Jeff Bridges (in his first role) plays this draft dodger hanging out in Hong Kong with hotcha gal Irene Tsu who gets to play something a little looser'n the usual cookie cutter roles she had been getting. Also present are Broderick Crawford as the head of the CIA and Peter Lind Hayes as an Amerigan agent who, although expressly stating "I am not a faggot!," gets blackmailed by Go when he was secretly filmed getting some rough 'n tumble humiliation via Bridges, who got a hefty bundle of money for his part in the deal even if he hadda act like a total turd in the process.
Kinda messy true (and I ain't even talking about what Lind Hayes experienced!), and it all gets even more confusing when a CIA agent by the name of Zimmerman enters into the picture and Go takes Bridges for a last ride in a helicopter berfore...all of a sudden...the jewel in the Buddha (as explained in the prologue) alights and Go himself does a 180 becoming the exact opposite of his former dastardly self! I told you this was a jumble, and it gets even more so as the moom progresses and twists and turns more'n a lower intestinal tract making this about as hard to follow as my fifth grade history report on the boxer shorts rebellion!
But still it's a fun one to watch if only for the entertainment value which includes the cheezoid 1970 youth music (it sure ain't rock 'n roll), the Hong Kong nightlife scenery and best of all a few glimpses of Tsu's own suckems, the first time in a quick dressing scene and later on when some dyke attempts to get some nookie off our bound up heroine before Bridges makes his Errol Flynn entrance at the nick of time. Nice to see a respected actress such as her give us a little more exposure to her hidden talents, if you know what I mean.
supposedly the film was taken out of Meredith's hands and the scenes with Broderick Crawford were added after Meredith had finished the film...I have not read his autobiography, but I hear Burgess M. discusses the fate of the film there (me, I'd be more interested in reading about his "Calder" project with John Cage or his marriage to Paulette Goddard)
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