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Taking Tiger Mountain - Taking Tiger Mountain( Blu Ray & DVD) [Vinegar Syndrome - 2019]Taking Tiger Mountain is an early 1980’s art film, featuring Bill Paxton in his first screen role- it’s a black & white shot Sci-fi film set in a highly controlled future, where gender is switched/ controlled. It’s a decidedly mixed bag of a film- that sits more like a mid-1960’s- to-early 1970’s venture, feeling like a haphazard blend of early Cronberg, and Warhol at his more ponderous. This first-ever digital release of this oddity appears on Vinegar Syndrome- featuring the labels always classy new print, and a good selection of extras. Taking Tiger Mountain was a US production completed in 1983- it was jointly directed by Tom Huckabee and Kent Smith. It was both parties first feature-length production, and it’s fair to say it’s a decidedly lopsided film- with a fairly effective first quarter and a very uneven remainder.
Apparently, the film is partly based on a William S Burroughs short story called Bladerunner- I’ve read a fair bit of Burroughs’s over the years- but don’t recall reading this one. Though one can certainly feel the Burroughs influential here with the themes/ flow of the film- it begins with a group of four Militant feminist scientists- trying to brainwash/ alter the sexuality of Billy Hampton (Paxton)- we get a blend of troubling footage of naked Paxton locked in a bedded cell, and the four scientists talking about their human guinea pig- all sound tracked with a greyly brooding drone score. Though-out this early part of the film, we get snippets of new reports, debates, etc blend in with the mention footage- and this gives one a good idea of how screwed up the world of the film is.
The last three-quarters of the film finds Paxton going to Wales of all places. He thinks he’s going on a sort-of bleakly sleazed sex holiday- but in reality, he’s been programmed by the scientists to kill the bearded and overweight welsh minister of Prostitution. This part of the film finds Paxton arriving in Wales by train- he wonders around the small station for a while gets followed by a child briefly, then makes his way to a hotel where he initially shares a room with an elderly woman. After this he seemingly roams around the small town aimless- when he’s not doing this he sits in his bedroom staring/ or getting his movements jarringly jump cut. We get a short hardcore sex scene with Paxton get his manhood sucked and rolls around in a bed with skinny women.
The only thing that really keeps one held/ interested in the main Wales set part of the film is the continued use of gloomy news feed and debates that are set on top of Paxton’s largely silent wonderings- you also hope it’s going to make some sort of sense/ reason in the end, but for me it just felt both indulgent and cack-handed arty. I must say I went into Taking Tiger Mountain with high hopes with the use of a Burroughs story, Paxton and of course the themes- but sadly aside from the first quarter and some interesting concepts- it just felt too bogged down in its pretension and trying to be clever, coming across as both indulgent & plodding.
Moving onto this new release- and we get the normal Blu Ray & DVD duel format from VS, we get the reversible cover, and for this release, an eight-page inlay booklet- this features a new write-up about the film and stills. On the extras front we first off get Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited- this is 2019 version of the film, which sees the original runtime been cut from one hour twenty-one to one hour fifteen- also there’s the addition of new filters/ subtle effects, a few new uncovered scenes, as well as an attempt to create a slightly clear & flowing storyline. It’s certainly an interesting idea to try and refocus both the themes & atmosphere of the film, and while some of it’s effective enough- I miss the more rough & ready feel of the original, and at times the new adjustments/ additions look fairly glaring in their modern-ness; which lessens the impact of the whole thing.
Next on the extra front we get a twenty-seven minute on-camera interview with director Tom Huckabee- this is most insightful/ interesting, as he discusses how he first met Paxton at an English finishing school, going onto discuss how the initial welsh footage was filmed without audio in the 1970s, then of course talking about how he re-edited/ filmed new footage in the 80’s which much more gave it the Burroughs focus. We get a second on-screen interview with Huckabee- this runs around seventeen minutes, and sees him talking about why he did the 2019 revisited version, what adjusts/ addition he made, and how he feels it’s impacted on the finished product- and once again this is interesting. Lastly, we get a black and white sixteen-minute short film from Kent Smith entitled Interviews with Welshmen. So a good chunk of extras.
In summing up this release, I can certainly commend and praise VS for uncovering, resurrecting, and giving this the normal through & informative Vinegar Syndrome treatment. And I really did wanted like Taking Tiger Mountain- but sadly, for me, the cons outweighed the pros- never the less another worthy release from the label.   
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|  | | Taking Tiger Mountain - Taking Ti... | Taking Tiger Mountain is an early 1980’s art film, featuring Bill Paxton in his first screen role- it’s a black & white shot Sci-fi film set in a highly ...
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