The Stranger (2010 Video) User Reviews

Not a Very Enjoyable Film, Flaws Just Keep Popping Up

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 27 May 2010]

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin stars as a man with no memory who travels cross-country (and in Mexico), trying to find his home... but the Russian mob wants him, the FBI wants him, his psychologist wants him... and there's millions of dollars on the line.

Let's just sum this one up: semi-poor writing, very poor directing, atrocious cinematography. Just a mess all around... sadly, the best part of this film was Steve Austin's acting. Austin effectively pulls off fight scenes, speaking in Russian and Spanish and English and just being an all-around decent lead.

I can't explain the pointless motorcycle camera shots, or the opening scene, or many other filming gimmicks they tried and failed with. I also can't explain why they thought "Tom Thomachevsky" was a good name... it's just silly sounding.

There's not much to say beyond that... the film is not worth your time or money. I hate to slam a film, but this one was just such a drag to watch I think it would be unjust to praise it even a little.

Kills 91 minutes without too much pain.

[Hey_Sweden · 5/10 · 28 August 2015]

"The Stranger" is a routine, adequate action thriller that mostly works as a vehicle for wrestling star "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Stone Cold plays the title role, a bad ass who keeps changing his identity and line of work as he travels cross country. The earnest psychiatrist who hopes to help him recover his true identity is Grace Bishop, played by Erica Serra. The other recurring character in his life is Mason Reese (Adam Beach), an FBI agent who also seems to know a whole lot.

Stone Cold actually isn't the problem here. He has a strong screen presence, but also does not embarrass himself when it comes to acting. He gets to speak multiple languages, as well. The supporting actors - Ron Lea, Viv Leacock, and Jason Schombing as various Federal agents - are decent enough, with Beach an obvious standout. The movie can't be faulted in terms of pacing, but the story (by Quinn Scott) is patently predictable and pretty ridiculous. What makes "The Stranger" hard to watch much of the time is the overused technique of rapid fire editing and chaotic camera movement. You just wish the picture would stay still.

The movie (mildly) amuses, and is instantly forgettable.

Although set in the United States, it's all too clear that it was shot in Canada.

Five out of 10.

mostly boring

[disdressed12 · 4/10 · 25 April 2011]

i found this Steve Austin vehicle to be mostly boring,with a bit of mild action here and there.there was one twist i wasn't expecting.Austin was pretty decent here in the acting department,but for me,Adam Beach stole the show.too bad the show wasn't worth stealing.i had to fight tot keep my eyes open for this one.i wouldn't recommend it.there's a lot of talking going on and not much else.and the dialogue isn't that great either.i'd give this one a miss unless you're a die hard Steve Austin fan.i'm he's probably done better work than this,although this is the first film i've seen of his.anyway,for me,The Stranger is a low 4/10

What a dreadful director!!!

[benjones-11 · 3/10 · 24 February 2011]

My taste in films is wide and varied. I enjoy art-house and foreign dramas as much as I enjoy cheap shoot-em-ups and stoogey comedies. But in order to ENJOY them, the films have to be ENJOYABLE. This film did not fit that category.

The story itself isn't too bad - a bit in the style of Momento or the Bourne trilogy: a special agent (Steve Austin) who is robbed of his life, loses his memory and is on the run. He is being helped by his faithful psychiatrist (Erica Cerra), who risks her own safety in order to try to help Austin to remember his life and to combat the bad guys.

O.k. Nothing groundbreaking, but there was potential. Unfortunately the directing took all of this away. We have "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - one of the biggest action stars of our time, so surely this should lead to some great action and gutsy fight scenes. No, half of the time Austin is being made to look like a weakling as he winces and breaks down every time someone slaps him. When he occasionally decides to fight back he is slow, lumbering, and can pull nothing out of the bag more exciting than a punch on the nose.

And how many flashbacks did we need? There are some scenes which are repeated almost constantly throughout the film, all in cheesy slow motion, showing smiling wife and giggling daughter, combined with the sound of an explosion. Yes, I think we got the point Mr Director. And don't even get me started on the motorbike scene. Someone obviously decided it would be a brilliant idea to have Steve racing through the country tracks on a big Harley. Perhaps someone should have checked whether Steve was willing to do this before they start filming. He's going so slow I'm surprised the bike doesn't topple over, and so the director "jazzes" it up with flickering shots of wheels, Austin's face doing its best to act the emotion: "perturbed", Cerra looking like she's taking a Sunday stroll, and some heavy music to get our adrenaline up. I nearly turned the film off there and then.

I'm sorry to sound like a smart-arse, but also this film must hold the record for the number of shots fired at one individual (all from short distance) without any getting anywhere near him. It wouldn't be so bad if he were doing anything other than trundle in a straight line away from them as they fire for minutes on end directly at him. Let the set tea-boy handle the action scenes. I think we'd get more enjoyment.

What could have been an enjoyable film, is ruined by some of the worst "action" directing I have seen for a very long time.

Ehm, alright then...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 31 May 2010]

First of, I am going to clearly state that I am not a fan of Steven Austin's acting, though this movie was less tolerable than the movie "The Condemned".

Well, this movie didn't all together suck. It had a fairly average story. I sat through the entire movie, and was waiting for something big to happen. It sort of seems like the story wants to take on a bit too much at one time, and it doesn't come together fully throughout the movie. There was a relative good pace to the plot, and lots of action and fighting.

However, the acting in the movie was mediocre at best. And here I am clearly hinting at Austin's performance.

If you like action movies and you like Steve Austin, fine, go for this movie. But if you want action and doesn't really care about Austin, then you might be better off picking another movie entirely. There are lots of other actions movies out there, and far better ones as well.

A film that is far from stunning.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 4/10 · 16 August 2010]

One of the things that I have found a bit surprising,is that whilst pro- wrestling has had some fantastic documentaries made about the subject (Beyond the Mat and Wrestleing in Shadows being two great examples.)It still seems that when a pro-wrestler tries to enter the movie world with a starring role,that they are still not to surpass the great John Carpenter film They Live.With Steve Ausin-who is currently the most successful wrestler in history,due to his amazingly charismatic anti- authority street-punk character of the late 90s to early 2000s.Which,not only struck a chord with the wrestling crowd,but also the mainstream media.

With having found Austins last straight-to-DVD movie,to be very good fun,and with having enjoyed the teaser trailer to the film,I was looking forward to seeing a gripping Death Wish style revenge film.Disappointingly,the story of the film is a very damp plot:

The plot:

A man who is unable to remember who he is,or any of his activates of the last few months,goes on the run from the FBI and what seems to be, some very angry Russian and Mexican gangster's,who are after him over a dodgy deal,that he cant remember ever happening!

Unknowingly to the man,one of the FBI agents searching for him (who has met him a few months earlier)has some vital information,that can help him to remember his past.The only problem for both of them is that there are some people in the FBI,who,are going to do everything they can to make sure that they don't meet up..

View on the film:

As I was watching the film,the main thing that stayed in my head was that,for a pretty low-budget film,Austin gives a surprising stunner of a performance.With a good screen presence,and doing well at showing someone who may not like to remember their forgotten past.

Sadly the same can not be said for the very weak screenplay by Quinn Scott.Scott seems to really want to make this film into an enjoyable mix of the Bourne and Death Wish films,(though it has to be pointed out,that the director created the terrible open-ending)Though the main part of the film,seems to hold over the flashbacks showing the strangers past,and,whilst this type of plotting has been used very well in the last few years,to revel some very surprising things about the main characters,(from the video-game The Suffering to the epic TV series Lost.)the flashbacks in this film don't feel anywhere near as surprising as the film makers seem to think they are,and are actually rather predictable.

Final view on the Film:

A disappointingly written story,saved by a entertaining performance from Austin.

Steve is too good for this movie

[miketaylor2007 · 3/10 · 5 July 2010]

Well just like I said Stone Cold Steve Austin is just too good for this movie. I think the only reason I sat through it was because im a big fan of his work and you just cannot compare this to movies such as The Condemned or Damaged. As far as the acting goes he did a pretty good job playing his role but the acting wasn't the problem in this movie. Erica Cerra was also very good I liked her acting in this movie and have never heard of her before this. It's just too bad that the story wasn't put together properly otherwise it might have been good. Im gonna be brutal I was so disappointed in this one that I would go ahead and say it's not even worth a one time watch. Everything Stone Cold has done aside from this was way better but im betting The Expendables will make up for this failure of a movie.

Rubbish

[aixroot · 3/10 · 14 June 2010]

Some action flick of sorts. FBI, automatic weapons, and a few explosions. The fight scenes are strangely wooden. The actor Steve Austin used to be in show wrestling (fake fighting) This shows in most action scenes where you expect Steve to go into Hulk position (hold invisible ball and shake your chin). Obviously he was hired because of his burly physique, not his martial skills. Looks like a B movie with a bigger budget. Adding: Obligatory sweaty torture scenes in slow motion. Short range shoot-out scenes with hundreds if bullets without any causalities. If you don't like it, stop watching half way. It doesn't get better.

solid story and acting, not so much for the directors ability

[olivermartin809 · 7/10 · 29 May 2010]

The stranger is a good solid film with an enjoyable story however the cinematography and direction is poor to say the least, in fact the opening scene almost put me completely off, you need to allow 15 or so minuets to get into the film. this film doesn't really have that many big action set pieces and is more concerned with telling a mysterious tale than getting our adrenaline racing. Flashbacks abound as snippets of memory keep darting through Austins head, mostly centered on his wife and daughter apparently being killed while he's mixed up in some dangerous sting operation. We're teased with such scenes numerous times during the film as much of Austins struggle is more internal than external. But while it's not that hard to piece much of it together ourselves, it's interesting to watch the characters slowly unravel the secrets of Austins identity and discover a few other startling surprises as well. All actors put in a good performance most notably Austin in his third leading role its clear that if he takes the right career path and keeps giving these kind of performance he should soon be a star of the silver screen. this is not an action film. overall a good watch just a shame about the director.

no just no

[darthvader10-1 · 2/10 · 2 November 2010]

OK i own just about every DVD the wwe kicks out or that a wrestler stars in. for the most part they are OK or really good but id always say watchable, this however dear god. first of when you watch this movie you will be bored after the first ten minuets, then you will have a headache as the camera man was obviously the directors 10 year old son and had a.d.d and the characters including steve austins character are just forgettable. the plot is just none existent. all this was was some guy decide to to make a movie of a guy who hits people thats practically it. so if you are gonna watch this movie, well just don't seriously watch the trailer you will understand the plot for the entire movie and prob enjoy it more.

Not bad for a WWE movie

[JoeB131 · 7 August 2011]

This was actually an okay movie, and Steve Austin (I guess we can't call him "Stone Cold" anymore) actually does a pretty good job. He plays an FBI agent who goes undercover, but has a traumatic event where he has a dis-associative personality disorder where he invents a new personality every few days after engaging in some act of mayhem and destruction.

The movie has its silly points, where he's being chased by a SWAT team who apparently learned to shoot from the Imperial Stormtroopers of Star Wars. But once you get past the initial silliness, you have a pretty good mystery plot about who the bad guy really is, since the pretty Doctor lady doesn't know and Austin's character forgets everything every few days.

Worth watching. Yeah. Austin is a pretty good actor as long as he plays that kind of character. The other actors, including Adam Beach from L&O:SVU, play their roles well and Erica whatshername is easy on the eyes.

Negative reviews about Steve Austins films by people are stupid and idiotic, this may not be an action packed film but it definitely is a very good film

[nims-1975 · 8/10 · 16 May 2020]

The Stranger which is about an ex special forces agent called The Stranger(played by Steve Austin) who has lost everything in life including his wife and daughter and loads more has been severely tormented by these tragedies, has lost his memory and can't remember anything. This man is wanted by the FBI and he has got into fights with loads of people and killed them and involved with malicious Mexicans who are trying to kill him but he's killed them in self defense. A female psychologist called Grace Bishop (played by actress Erica Cerra) has worked with him before by trying to help him and wants to help him again but people in the FBI she knows want to kill him but she says she'll be able to handle him. Mason Reese(played by Adam Beach) an FBI who also wants to help Grace with helping The Stranger is a good man but also has his doubts about The Stranger and also pressurizes him too much and is a bit violent towards him. Erica Cerra's acting as psychologist Grace Bishop was excellent because it showed her very good interaction with Steve Austin's character The Stranger and her empathy and compassion towards him. Steve Austin's acting as The Stranger was excellent and he really stood out in this film. His interaction with Erica Cerra's character Grace Bishop was great because it showed that the only person he could trust was her. Adam Beaches acting as Mason Reese was also excellent. His portrayal of an FBI Agent feeling frustrated about a man called The Stranger was excellent, because it showed his unhappiness uneasiness and frustration about the man very well. The Stranger is a film which is different from a lot of Steve Austin's other action packed films such as 'Hunt To Kill', 'Tactical Force', 'Deadly Target', 'The Condemned', 'Maximum Conviction' etc but it is not a crap or boring film like a lot of other very negative viewers think it is. None of Steve Austin's films are crap or boring, they all are excellent but as I mentioned this one is different. The Stranger is different because it is a more dramatic, tense and emotional film. The film also has some very good action scenes with some very good fight scenes. This film being different to a lot of Steve Austin's films didn't bother me, annoy me or affect me in any way because I focused on it a lot and noticed that it had a combination of animosity, drama, tension, emotion and rage. The film also has some very good acting by Steve Austin, Erica Cerra, Adam Beach and Ron Lea. I really found this film very enjoyable and entertaining to watch and will definitely watch it again it really is a very good film that is really worth watching.

Not the best for Steve Austin...

[gtz-28 · 6/10 · 25 May 2010]

Well the film was okay... I cant say it was the best action movie I've ever seen but it was okay. Its a shame that Steve gets put into a films with a good script but pretty bad directing. As always the action parts of the movie had Steve doing his wrestling against guys with guns and so on.

I still think its a must see to all those action loving people out there, but there's not much to look forward to. Most action movies nowadays are always pretty much the same old stuff you've seen 1000 times before. I personally enjoyed Steve Austin in "The Condemned" because that film was very original and had a lot of parts that I will always remember.

The Brawn Identity....

[FlashCallahan · 2/10 · 13 January 2011]

Steve Austin plays a man who cannot remember a thing, apart from how to fight and grunt a little dialogue and remember some numbers.

We first meet the big man when he is disguised as Santa Claus and running away from a SWAT team. Why? because he's just saved a little girls life.

Making sense so far? nope, it got me too.

All the connotations and silly flashbacks indicate that Steve was in up to his neck with the bloke from Windtalkers, and didn't want to break the law.

So his wife and kid blow up, and he loses his memory.

It all leads to silly punch ups and Austin looking menacing at a few people every now and again.

The film is too busy, and tries to be too clever for it's own good. it fails miserably and makes the whole thing too complicated, when it should be just a formulaic Bourne-lite action movie.

Like the titular character, you'll soon forget this exists.

What IS this??

[GregTheStopSign95 · 2/10 · 29 February 2024]

Terrible writing, pacing so drawn out you'd think it was a magician's coloured handkerchief trick, and fights that even the early days of WCW Nitro would be ashamed of. I kind of expect this level of 'acting' from Stone Cold these days, but I used to think Adam Beach was better than this...

Speaking of Stone Cold, he's the only reason I decided to watch this 'movie'. Well, him and the warning that it'd be leaving Amazon Prime in about 3 days. I'm glad, though, that I had other stuff to do while this played, because I'd have gone insane if watching this was all I had going. Although the inclusion of Erica Cerra as the 'just a pretty face' character was a nice distraction, because she IS pretty...

Even fans of Steve Austin should just pass on this one

[KineticSeoul · 2/10 · 7 October 2010]

I will admit it the only reason I decided to check this piece of crap of a film was because it had Stone Cold Steve Austin in it. And to be honest I actually kinda liked "The Condemned" and I thought in this one although a low budget film, I was going to see him bad ass and kicking ass in a badass manner. That wasn't really the case for this terrible action movie with some of the worst action in it. From the gunfights to hand to hand fighting, everything looked just way too cheap and fake. The plot is also very forgetful, in fact the day after I saw this movie I forgot the plot almost completely. Yeah near the end it sort of picks up slightly, with the connections and everything. But besides that even Stone Cold Steve Austin could save this crappy film. The acting in this film is mediocre at best and it's just convoluted and boring. For a film like this, it would have been better to go in the more simple and over the top direction with better sequences. Even those who are fans of Steve Austin should just pass on this film, it would just tarnish your views on Steve Austin.

1.9/10

steve austins awesome but this movie is a waist of money

[edwbur · 2/10 · 18 December 2010]

this movie has horrible of everything. horrible story, acting, cast, and action. this movie starts off with a guy that lost his memory and is chased by the FBI and everyone thinks what he saw he made up. they think he is crazy. but the FBI still wants him because he may know something about a mole in the mob. now we see that the fbi lied and he does know something. i got so confused.also the action. so he lost his memory but he still knows this martial art stuff. and you can barely follow the action. and then once the FBI finds him one agent and austin physciatrist go to a motel. they let him take a shower and somehow the largeness of austin he gets out of a small window. good job agent. then when the agent sees him walkin outside he points the gun at him from far away. austin and the agent keep movin forward. then as the agent is about to shoot the doctor hits the gun under the car. he doesn't run and go get austin instead he kneels down looking for the gun. and the somehow austin got it. hmm. go see the movies damage or expendables or hunt to kill with austin. not this

What a load of crap. Adam Beach is the worst actor in everything

[lopezpatricia-06139 · 1/10 · 1 October 2020]

I love a good shoot em up movie, but this was just so boring. Ironically it was Steve Austin that gave the best acting performance. Never seen the bourne identity films but I suspect this was a cheap rip off.

Entertaining, kept my interest

[dagstenerud · 6/10 · 9 July 2010]

I found The Stranger to be OK for a TV movie but not so suitable for the big screen. The truth of the conspiracy was cleverly hidden. Steve Austin's formidable presence made the fight scenes more realistic than typical choreographed fight scenes. He worked well with Erica Carr. Erica was the best actor. She made the film flow more smoothly. Mason Reese's and Viv Leacock's opening scenes were somewhat stilted. Overall the supporting cast did acceptable performances though there were no stand-outs. The story is unfinished and I would like to see how it ends. Kudos to Calista Bashuk for her first appearance in a feature film. From the little we saw of the young lady I sense an emerging talent.

Checked this out for reasons I can't explain..

[joshuaveach-22850 · 1/10 · 4 June 2023]

The director of this movie directed Fire In The Sky?! What? This is a wasted Steve Austin role, hopefully he fired his agent. The people who rated this a 7 or 8 are insane. What is a 9 or 10 for you? I need to know.

This movie probably broke the record for "most useless filters" and most "useless flashbacks".

It may be hard to believe, but I really wanted to like this movie and hoped it would be a good time. It did make me laugh a few times, but for all the wrong reasons.

Clearly, the director was in "I'm just gonna try some stuff to see what happens" mode. The fact the same dude directed an actual good movie, Fire In The Sky is blowing my mind.

Pretty Good!!!

[Pumpkin_Man · 7/10 · 21 June 2010]

This movie wasn't too horrible, but I didn't love it. The action was okay, but didn't happen too much and the storyline reminded me a lot of The Bourne Identity. Stone Cold Steve Austin stars as a man who has no memory, and keeps being chased by the police, the FBI, the Russian Mob, and his doctor named Grace Bishop. He frequently loses his memory, and creates new personalities in order to protect himself. Throughout the film, we are given tiny flashbacks as to who this stranger was, and what caused him to lose his memory. He teams up with Grace and she tries to help him remember his past, and why the FBI want him. I would probably recommend THE STRANGER!!!

They Make A Living Out Of This ??

[adabsiz · 1/10 · 4 October 2021]

This picture was financed by 8 "executive producers" , and I doubt if they got their investment back !

Not to deny any other talent, this garbage masquerading as a 2010 film was written ( if that is the right word ) by none other than Timothy Scott Bogart (yes honest !) who also wrote stuff like "The I Inside" and "The Extreme Team" etc .. Yes.

Do I need to say more ? Only this .. Humphrey's grandson is alive and doing well in Hollywood..

Cheap and nasty

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 2 April 2018]

THE STRANGER is one of the earlier straight-to-video thrillers that wrestler-turned-actor Steve Austin made during his career. It's a nasty little digital-looking production which lacks decent photography and has only a handful of half-hearted fight scenes to recommend it. It's below the quality of most of the other Austin movies I've seen, which tend to be mildly entertaining, average-quality pictures enlivened by decent fight scenes at least. Austin is once again a wronged man who has to go up against various corrupt and nefarious criminal types, but you'll be asleep long before the credits roll.

Good work from Steve let down by Director and crew.

[pardoez · 6/10 · 12 August 2010]

First off, I'm a huge Steve Austin fan. I think the work he has done so far, turning his career to acting has been good. This film however was the worst he has done so far but not because of Steve. I thought Steve himself was pretty good, using different languages and dealing with the complicated character. The Doctor played by Erica Cerra was also good but they were surrounded by some really awful acting! Adam Beach became painful to watch as the film went on.

The camera work and directing was pretty poor too. The motorbike chase was poor and clearly being filmed at about 20 mph with a bit of shaky camera action to make it look faster. The film did not start well either. Because of the complicated character Steve portrayed, I found myself losing the plot about 10 minutes in because his illness had not been explained.

The end of the film was better when everything comes together but it's too late by then. I'm sorry to say, most people would probably have turned off by then.

So all in all, a great potential story, ruined by cheap effects and poor directing. The film is left open at the end and I would like to see the story continued but get a better crew in to work with Steve and up the budget! Steve Austin has a HUGE fan base who will be loyal to him no matter what he does. So filmmakers working with Steve, here is my advise: SPLASH THE CASH and make a dazzling movie! You will ALWAYS make money with Austin on board.

I will always make time for Steve's work but he is better than this film. Bring on The Expendables!