Buy "Tigers of Heaven" and all the other episodes from
I Spy Season 1
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Comments from The I Spy Forum continued
The scene on the tennis court was interesting, it is one of the few times we actually see Kelly play tennis and when M.r Okara sprains his ankle we get to see Scotty actually do the work of a trainer. And I agree with SAM that the doctored spot on the tennis court was obvious, but then again, I am sure that a clay tennis court would require constant patching and repair work. Toshio does a good job dancing around the landmine making us think he might be the target. But the whole idea of a landmine on a tennis court sounds like a bad plan for assasination, how can you be sure to hit the right target? So this is why the young man who failed to kill Okara was left by his comrades to commit ritual suicide in the temple - in a very chilling scene. And when Okara is explaining the Tigers of Heaven to Kelly and Scott, there is some good dialogue about the modern Japan and it`s youth. Especially when Scotty translates the word "kicks" for Mr. Okara.
Again, I always enjoy the sequences where they are searching for someone in a major city, and the scenes around Tokyo are very enjoyable. Also, they interview a number of US soldiers and marines and a good lateral point is made about the global US military presence, which in the second half of the 1960`s was at it`s post-war peak. There are many parts of this episode which open the door for a peak at Japanese culture, and the geisha scenes treat this topic with more respect than most American porductions usually do. They did not get into the comlexities of the geisha tradition, but they did get the point across that it is not the Vegas-style prostitution racket that Americans think it is. Also, Kelly`s remarks about how Tokyo shuts down at midnight are interesting. This is one of the episodes where the travelogue elements really blend well with the story line, and you some away not only with having been entertained by a good story, but also having learned a bit about another culture.

I wish they had not shown us Toshio in Yoshino`s apartment just after Kelly and Scott leave, it would have added to the suspense and surprise element when he tries to kill his father. His father`s reactions to the whole incident are touching and heart-wrending, especially when he says "This did not happen". By this time Toshio is acting like a cocky teenager, very snide in the scenes with his father after he is discovered to be the "head tiger". But his anti-democracy tirade doesn`t quite seem to explain why he feels the way he does, other than just resenting American occupation of Japan.
In the final scene at the temple, Scotty has some great dialogue about the whole fascist ideaology, and his dismissive and disguusted final words of his speech are "Forget it. I`ve seen all this before and it makes me sick!" Very well written and acted. Kelly`s challenge to Toshio is well done, too and the sword fight is a great sequence, well filmed. This whole elelment is reminiscent of an old movie, The Valley of the Kings, where Robert Taylor must win a sword fight with an Arab tribesman to save his and his party`s lives. And it is also a great touch when Kelly refuses to kill Toshio, but neither of the agents does anything to stop Toshio from committing suicide.
I have one quibble, though, and that is, it might have been a better scene if it were Scott who fought Toshio instead of Kelly. At this point in the series, Scott is still just a little bit second fiddle to Kelly, but even later on when the equality of importance has been established between the characters, it is always Kelly who must fight mano y mano against the bad guy. Everytime both of their lives are at stake, it is Kelly who is chosen to fight for both of them (the knife fight in Sophia, the joust in Mainly on the Plains). Once in awhile I would have liked to have seen Kelly sitting there watching Scotty in a fight for both of their lives or honor. The only time it was ever Scotty who had to fight for them both was in A Few Miles West of Nowhere. But in Tigers of Heaven it would have not only finished establishing the characters equality, it would also have made good sense because it is Scotty who is supposed to have the in depth knowledge of foreign languages and cultures and would have had the insight into Japanese culture to know Toshio`s psyche and the meaning of the challenge, and it would have fit in well with his contempt of the Tigers that he voiced in his speech. I don`t think it is a flaw that Kelly fought the sword fight, but I think it might have been even better had it been Scotty.
The tagline scene is funny as usual, and by now it is a standard part of each episode for the tagline to be played for laughs, no matter how moody or serious the episode has been. Later in the series, some of the taglines would be more serious and introspective, matching the flavor of the episode it ends.
So overall a very good episode. SAM gave it an 8 out of 10, but I`ll stick with my school grade format and call it a A-
Author: Billy Bob Rover
Date: February 6 2002 at 10:23 AM
TIGERS OF HEAVEN, with its improbable premise and series of utterly incredible coincidences, is more troubling. As we discussed here some time back, the question arises as to whether the writers took it seriously and intended us to also, or whether it should be seen as a 'genre' piece, more in the tradition of the Mystery genre, or the 'Conspiracy' sub-genre in which the hero learns at the end that everyone else has been 'in' on it all along (even ROSEMARY'S BABY fits in here). Indeed, TIGERS OF HEAVEN can be seen as a kind of unconcealed reworking of overly contrived film plots from decades past.
And, to be honest, there are damned few supposedly 'realistic' Hollywood films that could ever really pass a serious reality-test. Most are variations on convention, on easily-recognized themes, motifs, and narrative models with which audiences are already familiar, and for which they have a pre-established context (this gets into theories of cognition, so I've tried to keep it simple). I think TIGERS OF HEAVEN can and should be seen in this light -- that is, as a self-conscious reworking of old movie plots still rattling around in the back of our minds (even if we can't name them individually), in which the improbability and contrivance are all part of the fun -- and appeal. God knows the Bond films have nothing to do with real covert operations. Movies and television are not meant to depict reality -- that is the stuff of web-cams, bank-security cams, liquor-store-cams, and the boring photo albums or your in-laws. Now, that being said, I must add that if the writers took TIGERS OF HEAVEN seriously and intended it to be a compelling, taught drama in the PLAYHOUSE 90 tradition, then god help us. So I'm not defending the episode, really, but only trying to argue that it should be seen in a different context, as part of a different tradition.
-- bbr
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