Customer Reviews

Stranger [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'd watch Kathy Long in anything she cares to take the time to make. OK, she's no acting threat to Geena Davis or Meryl Streep, but she did her best and it wasn't bad. Certainly no one can fault her performance of her martial art. She kicks some serious ass on the bad guys and does it beautifully! I don't know that Long exceeds the skill of Cynthia Rothrock, but she's certainly an equal. You've gotta love the scene where Long mirror-images the Tai-Chi kata being done by Angel (Andrew Divoff).

The only other film in which I believe Ms. Long has appeared in a starring role is "Knights" with Kris Kristofferson, although she did appear in the Catwoman costume, standing in for Michelle Pfeiffer on the very physical stunts in "Batman Returns". I'd certainly make a point of watching more if she'd only make 'em.

Ginger Lynn Allen didn't do badly in this one, either, playing Sally, the hardware store owner. Again, no serious threat to the Oscar nominees, but considering her background in porn films (aka "Ginger Lynn") she did OK. It's a nice change from stuff like "Vice Academy I, II, III and/or whatever", essentially soft-porn with dialogue.

I have a copy of this movie taped from a TV broadcast that's not great. I'd like to buy a better one but not at this price. Get the price down to something reasonable and I'll be first in line.

(Gotta do something with that photo of the box; the clothing on that model is nothing like Long's gear in the film, and she doesn't even resemble Long that much. She never had a shotgun, either, that was Angel's weapon.)

Kind of a modern day "High Plains Drifter" Long never says who she is but you get the impression that she's the murdered girl come back to get revenge. What Long lacks in acting ability she makes up for in martial arts skills. Perfect location for this story to unfold. Long has this sly sexiness about her that just keeps you glued to the screen. I'd watch her over Cynthia Rothrock any day!

Caught this movie the other night on one of the movie channels, I pretty much fell in love with Kathy Long. The movie is interesting, little bits and pieces of a whole lot of other stuff as mentioned in the above reviews, but her character is very much like "The Man with No Name" Clint Eastwood features, with martial arts thrown in. Supporting cast is adequate to strong (I particularly liked Ginger Lynn, it's the first movie I've ever seen her in with her clothes on) and the biker gang was convincingly evil, reminiscent of the "Wild Angels". The landscape reminded me a bit of Mad Max. No big surprises here, Kathy dispatches the bad guys with relatively grusome ease, and looks great while doing it. I wish the ending would have been a little more definite on her identity, but you can't have everything. Worth watching, definitely not a chick flick.

This movie followed after The Crow came to theaters. There is a reference to "The Stranger", being an avatar brought back by a Crow. There are a couple of crows that appear throughout the movie when she is around, giving you the impression that she is an avatar brought back through a crow. The desert setting and western style soundtrack are great. They were successful in re-creating an old western town set in the 1990's. The acting is something to be desired. Kathy Long looks great, and kicks even better (a 5 time world champion kickboxer), but her acting is not the greatest. They pretty much have her hissing oneline dialogue. However, she has a very innocent/sexy look about her that you can't help but appreciate. Unlike other "come back from the dead" stories, she has no weakness, and dispatches the bad guys without hardly messing up her golden hair. But this is ok. Its nice for a change to see someone who can kick butt without having a kryptonite-like weakness.

Great service! Tape arrived safely in an extremely timely manner. Thanks. Narn

...but the weird part is that, based on the last third or so, it was inspired heavily by Sergio Leone's brilliant "Once Upon a Time in the West" (which you ought to check out) -- in just the part i saw i caught at least four or five references to the soundtrac from that film, particularly the wailing harmonica phrase that cued the entrances of the Mysterious Avenger and the almost-identical endtheme with soaring wordless soprano vocals as she rides away. ((They also used a shot of Claudia Cardinale's theme from "OUaTitW" for the younger girl)).

Apparently the main bad guy has no idea why this girl is hunting him down, but -- again as in the Leone -- as he dies he finally sees a flashback that gives it to him.

I'm going to have to try to catch the whole thing and see just how closely it actually resembloes the Leone...

UPDATE AS OF 8/23/2001:

I have seen the whole film. It is, indeed, basically an uncredited remake of "Once Upon a Time in the West", with added elements highly reminiscent of "High Plains Drifter"

Truly, truly bizree.