What's Up, Tiger Lily?
by Woody Allen, Senkichi Taniguchi
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DVD details
Actor: Akiko Wakabayashi, John Sebastian, Mie Hama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Woody AllenDirector: Senkichi Taniguchi, Woody Allen
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Bryan Wilson
Writer: Frank Buxton
Writer: Julie Bennett
Writer: Len Maxwell
Writer: Louise Lasser
Writer: Mickey Rose
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-06-16
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of What's Up, Tiger Lily?
DVD Review: For Woody Allen enthusiasts, "what's up tiger, lily?" is essential to your collection as its his first directorial film debut
Summary: 3 Stars
In 1966, Woody Allen was given his chance to direct his first film (which he wrote and starred in as well). His job was to make a spy thriller and sure enough, he came up with something different. The film studio purchased the rights to the Japanese films "International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder" and "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" (Kagi no Kag) and Allen pretty much had the scenes from both films rearranged and edited to create one film, strip all the sound and redub it to make a comedy. The result is "What's Up, Tiger Lily?".
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"what's up, tiger lily?" is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is enhanced for 16:9 TV's. Picture quality for this 1966 film is actually pretty good on DVD. I have read that many people prior to the DVD release, they watched really bad versions of the film and thus, Image Entertainment's release of the film was amazing. The film contains a little grain and I didn't notice any major dust, scratches or film warping.
As for the audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital mono and is center channel driven. But for those with a modern home theater receiver, may feel it best to have audio set at audio on all channels (esp. for those with 5.1 or 7.2 or higher setups).
There are no subtitles included in this DVD release.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
It is generally known that Woody Allen is not a big fan of special features for his films on DVD and wants the focus to be on the film. But for "what's up, tiger lily?", you do get an audio selection for the dialogue used for the original theatrical version and an alternate version (which is literally a toned down dialogue).
For example, during a scene when Phil's date is kicked out of the car by Suki Yaki, in the original, his date screams "Hey! You got my vibrator!". In the alternate version she screams, "Hey! That's a rented car!" So, you can select the original or alternate version for audio and you can listen to audio comparisons for certain scenes from the film selecting the original version or alternate version.
Also, included is a Woody Allen Filmography shown onscreen as text.
JUDGMENT CALL:
"what's up, tiger lily?" is an interesting but yet a fun film. To tell you the truth, the story of the film is unimportant because the way the story is written and how pacing for the film is set, but what does matter is how crazy the jokes are for the English dub and how hilarious and out of left field the jokes can get and add a little perverted humor to the mix and see how it relates to the characters in the film. So, the whole entire film is not meant to be taken seriously but is supposed to be one long joke and Woody Allen succeeds.
In fact, the way the film is edited, the pacing of the scenes seem out of place and in one instance, the film is paused and you see hand silhouette trying to rid a hair onscreen during the film while it is paused and is supposedly the film operator and his girlfriend having fun (I wonder if any moviegoers actually believed this and went to complain to the theater). In fact, in one sequence, an interviewer who is confused by the story asks Woody Allen if he can summarize to the audience what has happened in the film thus far, Woody Allen answers "no".
I suppose if you are a Woody Allen fan, "what's up, tiger lily?" is a film that you want in your collection or for those curious of his first directorial debut. It's a funny film that has a plot through its dub but what you see onscreen feels disjointed because the scenes have come from two different film sources. But it was definitely an ambitious and experimental film for Woody Allen and I'm sure during that time, the film managed to succeed in making people laugh and to showcase sexy and beautiful Japanese women.
In fact, many of the talent in the film went on to bigger things. Woody Allen and his wife at the time, Louise Sasser (who did the female dub voices) would go on to work on more films together. As for the two main Japanese female characters, both Akiko Wakabayashi (who plays Suki Yaki) and Mie Hama (who plays Teri Yaki) became the two Japanese Bond girls in the 1967 film "You Only Live Twice". Meanwhile, the stripping girl at the end of the credits, China Lee (who was Playboy Playmate of 1964) also appeared in several films.
While redubbing of Japanese films has become commonplace these days for some Japanese animation releases in the US (to make things much more appealing to American audiences) through the use of jokes and perverted humor (ie. "Crayon Shin Chan" from FUNimation Entertainment), "what's up, tiger lilly?" is definitely a funny film from 1966. The humor still holds up nearly 45 years later and I was definitely entertained by it.
It's important to note that this DVD was released back in 2003 and was re-released in 2009. There are no differences between the two.
Overall, "what's up, tiger lily?" Is not a groundbreaking film by any means, but if you are a Woody Allen fan and want to start out with his first film or have been curious about watching this film, then this film and the DVD is definitely worth checking out!
Description of What's Up, Tiger Lily?
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