Foxbat

Foxbat (Woo Fook... yes, that was its original title) (1977)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Po-Chih Leong... and Terence Young

Starring: Henry Silva, Vonetta McGee, Rik Van Nutter, Roy Chiao, James Yi Lui

From: Bang Bang Film Productions

What a movie this was; I could have written a lot more about it but I figured I shouldn't be so long-winded. Hopefully I've explained enough as to why this movie is so off the wall:

This is yet another movie I had never even heard of before I stumbled upon it while browsing on Amazon Prime. The cast and the daffy plot description Amazon provided piqued my interest. And at least a small amount of the movie was directed by Terence Young; yes, the director of Thunderball and From Russia With Love.

Here's what Amazon said about it: “Veteran James Bond director Terence Young helped direct this actioner that has several agents and bad guys going after a Hong Kong chef who swallowed a microfilm (thinking it was candy) that contains top secret blueprints for new stealth jet fighter the Foxbat, that Henry Silva took photos of with a camera hidden in his left eyeball!”

I read that and I wondered “what in the hell is this?” After seeing the movie, I am really asking it... something got lost in translation here, or maybe a lot was edited out. What a weird, random movie filled with weird random things. The general story isn't hard to follow once it gets going, but it's filled with a lot of strange moments. Henry Silva is a CIA agent who goes rogue after he took those eyeball photos in Japan after that MiG 25 randomly lands there, then he randomly goes to Hong Kong to sell those photos to the highest bidder, before that chef mucked things up, and now several different people are out for the chef.

Before I give examples, I'll explain that this movie was originally titled WOO FOOK (no, really) but its American title is Foxbat because that was the NATO name for the Soviet aircraft whose plans everyone wants; it's officially known as the MiG 25, and it was a hell of an airplane at the time. Now, let me list some examples of the kookiness I saw last night:

* Silva has a fake eyeball that takes pictures and is pretty much the predecessor to Rhona Mitra's fake eyeball in Doomsday.
* He also has a fight with a sumo wrestler. He is normal-sized and not gigantic like, say, Akebono, but he was tougher than Red Grant so Silva got his ass kicked.
* A disco fashion show
* Roy Chiao is DOCTOR VOD, an expert in mind control
*“CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia” is shown as three tall office buildings, probably in Los Angeles
* Silva fights two thugs and unfortunately, afterwards refer to them as a homophobic slur
* That Hong Kong chef is wacky, and it's proven in its introduction... he teaches cooking to American women in Hong Kong and his big advice to them is an acronym, and that acronym is PISS
*There are entire scenes that aren't dubbed into English; I don't know if they were supposed to be or not

Then, there's the interesting setpieces this has, from normal scenes to ones that are action-oriented. Much of the movie takes place in Hong Kong and it was interesting for me to see that area in its late 70's glory, and

Oh, and the movie was an obvious VHS rip; the opening frame is black but you can faintly see something I remember well from my youth, the display that pops up on your TV when you start playing a VHS tape. If it wasn't for that, it being in fullscreen and there being occasional tracking problems would make that obvious to me.

Oh, and most of the movie was directed by Po-Chih Leong, who did various films in his native Hong Kong (including some with Chow-Yun Fat) and he did 2006's The Detonator, a Wesley Snipes joint I know nothing about, but in 2004 he actually directed one of Steven Seagal's many DTV films. It was Out of Reach, which I've never seen but it has what sounds like a screwy plot too. After all, he discovers that his teenage girl penpal is actually kidnapped and involved in human trafficking, and I understand it's just as nonsensical as most of his 21st century work.

Like I said, what a baffling movie... which still has its entertaining moments and some nice action beats. I guess rating it as average is the way to go. One day I should perhaps track down the widescreen release that Code Red put out, and at least that would be a better way of seeing this zaniness.