The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1974)

Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Load of rubbish!!

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

On paper, The Yin And The Yang Of Mr Go looks potentially interesting. A good cast including James Mason, Jack MacGowran and debutant Jeff Bridges (billed here as 'Jeffrey'); interesting Far East locations; and writing/directing credits for none other than well-known actor Burgess Meredith (yes, he who played Penguin in the Batman TV show and Rocky's trainer Micky in the first three Rocky movies). Within a few minutes of the film starting, however, one can only try to pick one's jaw from the floor because it becomes apparent almost straight away that this is a monumentally awful film. For anyone who struggles on gamely, thinking perhaps that the start is merely a blip and that the film will soon pick up, it doesn't. The actors presumably thanked their lucky stars afterwards that their careers survived this unholy mess of a movie (Bridges especially, considering that it was his first film). It's no exaggeration to say that The Yin And The Yang Of Mr Go would look right at home on a list of the worst 100 films ever made.Mr Go (James Mason, sorely miscast) is an Oriental villain. He wants the blueprints for a weapon-neutralising device which he plans to sell to the highest bidder. In order to get them, he hires a young American army draft dodger named Nero Finnegan (Jeff Bridges) and persuades him to get some gay sex footage with a CIA contact named Professor Bannister (Peter Lind Hayes)… upon seeing the sordid video, Bannister is easily blackmailed into surrendering the blueprints. Things take a strange turn when the spirit of Buddha intervenes and uses his mystical powers to change Mr Go's personality, transforming him from fiendish Fu Manchu-style bad guy into an unlikely good guy. (This is presumably the Yin and the Yang of the character, as described in the title). Suddenly, Mr Go is no longer a master-criminal but a saintly hero, intent on protecting Nero and ensuring the weapon-neutralising plans fall into the right hands rather than those intent on evil.The Yin And The Yang Of Mr Go is so choppily edited that one wonders if the original negative was cut with a pair of heavily worn false teeth. More likely is that the studio were so dismayed with the film they made hasty and unsuccessful attempts to cut it into some sort of releasable print. Either way, it doesn't work – the film is dreadful. Mason looks totally embarrassed beneath his crudely slanted eye make-up and goofy teeth, while Bridges demonstrates all the boyish enthusiasm of a newcomer without really managing to make sense of his character. Snippets of needless nudity are thrown in at regular intervals, plus occasional bursts of lacklustre action, but it's all to no avail. No amount of trimmings could hide the fact that this is a turkey of the highest order. Weird-but-most-definitely-NOT-wonderful, The Yin And The Yang Of Mr Go is easily one of the worst movies ever made.

I couldn't believe I actually watched this slug. It came on a Jeff Bridges Double Feature DVD by Digiview and was the second movie after "In Search Of America." In comparison, I see now America was a jewel, though the soundtrack seemed identical.I knew it was going to be a bad movie, all those $1 DVDs are, but my eyebrows shot up when only a minute or so into the movie "Jeffrey" Bridges' character yells at his girlfriend "What the hell is the matter with you." This was a TV movie? And then we see soon afterward some gratuitous breasts, a male transvestite getting dressed, a male gay rape scene (filmed in psychedelic b/w), more boobies, and finally, near the end, an attempted female rape scene. Gotta love life in Hong Kong.Read up the other comments. They're spot on. Just say NO to Go. This disc is going into the trash, right along with another Digiview double feature The Return of Rin Tin Tin with Robert Blake (at 8) and Lassie's The Painted Hills (with a frothing killer Lassie at the end).

In his autobiography Meredith claims his first solo directing effort was hijacked by the producers, re-edited with additional footage of Broderick Crawford and an animated Buddha, and released in Europe without his permission. But even if you ignore the added footage and voice over, this is still an awful movie.Notable for a freshman effort by Jeff Bridges (my copy of the movie gives him an intro credit) and an inexplicable appearance in a small role by Hong Kong director King Hu, "Mr. Go" plays out like a demented episode of "Batman." Much of the dialogue makes no sense, you could drive a Hummer through the plot holes, and the musical score sounds like something The Cowsills might have done on a particularly bad day. Unless you're a die-hard fan of truly abominable movies, stay away from this one.

I picked up a copy of this movie after seeing the other comment listed. After watching it, I can say without a doubt that this movie is an incredible waste of celluloid. Like the other reviewer, my jaw hit the floor. But it was not due to any comedic value, rather to the amazing wretchedness of this film. My friends and I were practically put into comas by the movies anesthetic powers. This is the type of movie that you either throw out the window of your moving car, or take out of the vcr and smash with a hammer.Burgess Meredith wrote and directed this movie, as well as appearing in a small role. The film was made in 1970 when it was still considered appropriate for Caucasian actors to play Asian characters. Thus we have Burgess as an Asian character, complete with whispy mustache, and James Mason is the evil Mr. Go, with fake teeth, eye makeup, and - going against the character - a British accent. While Mason was British, the accent is ridiculous for the character. You get the feeling that Mason was trying to retain some dignity, and was fighting to avoid a stereotypical accent brought on by the fake teeth.The movie is very tedious. You'll feel like you've been watching it for hours and hours. There's no real character development, and no one in the film is particularly likeable. Mr. Go is supposed to be very evil, yet we never see him do anything that makes us hate him. Nero, played by Jeff Bridges, was just as unlikeable as Mr. Go. Perhaps more so, as he is a deserter from the army, cheats on his girlfriend (and doesn't understand why she hasn't come home yet), takes money from Mr. Go in payment for having sex with a US agent - which is filmed in order to blackmail the agent into helping Mr. Go get a laser of some sort. Nero is supposed to be a writer and admires James Joyce, but we are never convinced that he is more than an untalented, drunk kid (Bridges looks very young).Oh the pain.... the only reason you may want to see this movie is if you like one of the lead actors and are interested in seeing everything they have done. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and stay away from this movie. Oh yes, there are some really annoying songs that will get into your head, and not let you live in peace. "The yin and the yang...."