In the dystopian future, a group of radical feminist scientists treat young Billy Hampton (Bill Paxton) like a human guinea pig, swapping his genders and sexual preferences on a whim using a mixture of surgery, shock treatment, and hypnosis. They then use their devious techniques to brainwash him into becoming a killer and send him off to Wales to assassinate one of their political opponents.
Co-written by none other than William S. Burroughs, Taking Tiger Mountain was originally released in 1983. It has since been cleaned up and re-edited, with new scenes added and/or old scenes modified. The results were re-released shortly after Paxton’s death in 2019. Shot in black and white, it drags like a son of a bitch, and often feels like an overlong, needlessly pretentious student film. Despite a fine performance from Paxton, it’s basically a slog from the word go.
The filmmakers gamely try to create a post-nuke world on a shoestring budget. However, the surveillance camera footage sequences and the constant droning from radio broadcasts detailing the fallout of World War III are more monotonous than anything. Even though it’s little more than an hour long, it feels much longer due to the fractured narrative. This is one of those movies that were so dull that it took me several days to get through. I’m sure there are folks that have climbed actual mountains in shorter time.
If you’re a fan of Paxton and want to see him early on in his career, you might want to give it a shot. (Or, if you just want to see his dick, as it makes several appearances.) Even as a curiosity piece, it’s still dreadfully unsatisfying. Honestly, if I ever a hankering to see a youthful Paxton doing something weird and arty, I’ll just watch the Barnes and Barnes “Fish Heads” music video (which he directed).
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