Customer Reviews

Stroker Ace [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

as a racer myself, i have to say that this is one of the best race films on the market.It has a great cast and is verey funny. Cameo appearances by real Nascar racers makes it even that much better.It reminds me of what it is really like at a race track. If you love racing, this is a must see movie!

Stroker Ace is Certainly no Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2. This movie is lacking alot, and would appeal to die-hard Nascar fans, I am not a big fan per se. But there are some cameos from famous drivers. Again, This is not one of Burt's Best sadly.

Reynolds, Beatty, Anderson, Nabors and
even Bubba Smith are very fine in here.
Funny, short Comedy movie about egoman-
iac NASCAR (BACK WHEN THE SPORT WAS worth
watching!) driver and hillbilly friends
and pit crew who keep running out of spon-
sors. Reynolds signs on with fried chicken
magnate Beatty without reading the fine
print of contract, to his dismay. Lonie
and Burt started a relationship after
meeting on this set! Funny, especially
Jerry Reed's critique at the end in
outtakes! Director Hal Needham's best
effort with Reynolds! I really like it.

I remember critics really ripped into this movie when it first came out. What do THEY know, anyway???

This movie is a LOT of fun! Burt is just how you'd want him to be as Stroker, Jim Nabors is good as his sidekick,and Loni Anderon is perfect (and hot!) as Stroker's love interest. Also, let's give it up for Parker Stevenson, who does a great job as the "bad guy" Aubrey James.

Forget the critics and listen to a true Burt Reynolds fan - this is a great movie for Burt Reynolds fans!

Burt Reynolds plays the title character, a cocky racing veteran with a rep as a ladies man, to perfection and Parker Stevenson is the young gun after him on the race track. Jim Nabors, Bubba Smith and Loni Anderson also turn in great performances, working with Stroker Ace's team. There are lots of racing scenes and physical comedy. Stroker Ace needs a sponsor and Ned Beatty, the owner of a fast food chicken franchise, steps in. Stroker becomes known as 'the fastest chicken in the south', which makes him the butt of a lot of jokes at the track. So then he spends the rest of the movie trying to get fired so he doesn't have to do ridiculous things like dress up in chicken suits and cut ribbons at restaurant grand openings. With appearances by some of the biggest drivers of the time like Benny Parsons, Ricky Rudd and the late Dale Earnhardt, this movie is a quirky look inside the world of drivers, sponsors, crew chiefs, the media, the fans and love of the sport.

Another Burt Reynolds car-racing movie. Definately for the Smokey and the Bandit: Pursuit Pack (1977), Hooper(1978) and Cannonball Run(1981) crowd. Another all-star cast: Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jim Nabors, Parker Stevenson, Loni Anderson, John Byner, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), and many others. There is nothing wrong with your television set. The first four minutes of the movie was filmed off-tint. Out-takes during end credits. Shown in Full-Screen. No extras. No bonuses.

Update: November 2010. It's gossip that Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson might be starring in a tv series being developed by Norman Lear of All in the Family: Complete First Season. It will be a comedy about two seniors in a retirement home.

An often heard line throughout this movie from many of the characters is "whatever". That about sums up my reaction to this movie. It is fun at times and has some good lines but it is not a great work. It is silly but entertaining.

Burt Reynolds plays a conceited NASCAR driver who foolishly signs a sponsorship contract with a fried chicken chain. The problem is that the contract he didn't bother to read requires him to do many things that are, frankly, embaressing. He wants out of his contract but the chicken tycoon doesn't want to release him because he is making money. The movie moves back and forth as each tries to gain the upper hands.

There are a few side stories. Burt's handler for the chicken company is played by Loni Anderson. She eventually comes to feel sorry for Burt and they inevitably fall in love. The complication is that Burt is a womanizer used to having his way and Loni is a, gasp, pure as the driven snow virgin. Loni does a superb job of being very decorative but she does manage to come across well as the innocent.

Burt also has a running battle with another driver. This is good for a few occasional gags but is not well developed.

Burt's sidekick is played by Jim Nabors of Gomer Pyle fame. He does a creditable job playing the chief mechanic who is a good hearted pal helps Burt in his scheming as well as on the racetrack.

The entire film plays to stereotypes but is in no way offensive. It provides a nice diversion but is nothing to write home about.

Burt Reynolds lost his box-office following with this embarrassing NASCAR comedy. "Stroker Ace" (1983) is so incredibly bad that it makes Elvis Presley's "Speedway" look like "Grand Prix." Worse still, you're stuck listening to Jim Nabors sing! One never expects lavish production values from a Reynolds-Hal Needham movie, but utilizing video stock footage (that's right, VIDEO) shows contempt for the audience and filmmaking in general. Amazingly enough, Reynolds and Needham would reach new cinematic depths with "Cannonball Run II."

This movie is a great example of an American Classic. They just don't make movies like this any more. Burt Reynolds and the entire cast kept me laughing throughout the entire story. Nascar is America's fastest growing sport and I recommend this for any of it's newest fans. The cameo appearances by several of that day's top drivers put the finishing touches on a great project by Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham. Incidentally, this duo were partners in a Nascar team with Harry Gant as the driver along the time this movie was produced.

The condition of the cd was great, given the age of the movie it was good to know this will last for some time, as I collect classics.