Bullet Points: Stranglehold (1994)
One martial artist turned actor that has not received a lot of coverage on the site up to this point is former PKC World Kickboxing Champion Jerry Trimble.
“Golden Boy” Jerry Trimble was active in the world of kickboxing for much of the 1980’s before he retired in 1990 to embark on a movie career. Trimble’s first acting gig was a small role in the Loren Avedon/Billy Blanks film, The King of the Kickboxers. As his acting career continued Trimble proved to be versatile, switching from action hero in one movie to action villain in the next.
In this edition of Bullet Points, I’ll be taking a look at one of Trimble’s heroic roles in the 1994 film, Stranglehold…
- The Hero: Jerry Trimble plays Ryan Cooper. Cooper is an ex-Secret Service Agent who has been hired by a United States Senator to protect his daughter, who happens to be a United States Congresswoman from Ohio, Helen Fillmore. Helen is traveling to Malaysia to tour the new state of the art facilities of Chemco, a company that got its start in Cleveland, Ohio and has now gone worldwide. As far as everyone else knows, Cooper is merely a clerk on Congresswoman Fillmore’s staff and that element of surprise will come in handy when the news team covering Fillmore’s tour of Chemco is really a terrorist group! Trimble was on his A game here and I was impressed that he was as effective in the role of hero in Stranglehold as he was as one of the worst fathers in cinematic history in Breathing Fire.
- The Villain: Our host of the news coverage and head terrorist is Gerald Richter. Richter is played by the legendary Vernon Wells of The Road Warrior and Commando fame. I was taken aback as Wells was sans any sort of facial hair in Stranglehold making him almost appear to be an Aussie version of Robert Z’Dar. Richter is demanding 25 million dollars (this number eventually doubles to 50 million) or he’ll release a deadly nerve gas that was being secretly developed at Chemco. Richter wisely holds Congresswoman Fillmore hostage as insurance that his dastardly big money grab goes down as planned. Not only did Wells bring a lot of credibility to the role of the main villain thanks to his years of action movie experience, he also brought a diabolical laughter that is always a great trait for any evil character to possess.
- The Action: Stranglehold jam packs a lot of action in its 73 minute run time. First there was the action at the chemical plant, where Ryan Cooper and a Chemco employee named Pete, navigate many dangers in an attempt to get Helen Fillmore to safety. This portion of the movie had elements used in Jeff Wincott’s Open Fire and the movie Open Fire was inspired by, Die Hard. Unfortunately, Cooper and Helen are separated and Helen is taken captive by Richter and his band of evil men. Helen is being held captive on a ship that also contains the population killing nerve gas that Richter stole from Chemco. Fortunately for Helen, Cooper stows away on a helicopter and gets on board the ship too giving us some Steven Seagal in Under Siege like action. Stranglehold also gives us a quality fight between Cooper and Richter’s right hand man Smitty (Joe Sabatino). The action ultimately moves to a speed boat for the final showdown between Ryan Cooper and Gerald Richter. As I said, Stranglehold is jam packed with action!
A strong outing for Jerry Trimble combined with some scence stealing performances by Vernon Wells made Stranglehold an absolute pleasure to watch. The almost non-stop action also kept my interest and engagement levels high from start to finish. If there is anyone unfamiliar with the action movie work of Trimble, this to me would be the perfect introduction to what the “Golden Boy” is capable of.
And one thing I’m always capable of is providing you, the readers of Bulletproof Action, with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Place Your Bets: Earlier I mentioned Chemco employee Pete. While Pete proved to be an integral part to our hero and our damsel in distress surviving the first half of our movie, you get the feeling that his character is expendable and when you watch don’t be shocked if you find yourself prognosticating on when, where and how Pete will die.
- Legendary Producer: Stranglehold is among the 400+ movies that the legendary Roger Corman has produced in his illustrious career.
- Boob Tube: After rescuing her from a rape attempt by the hands of some drunken crew members, Gerald Richter takes Helen back to his quarters on the ship where Helen proceeds to bare her breasts for the maniacal Richter. This is all to distract Richter from the fact that she is trying to go for his gun… but while he may be crazy, Richter is not stupid. The gun wasn’t loaded.
- Suggestion Box: Stranglehold is a must see film for fans of exploding helicopters. In fact, I’m going to suggest this film to our friends over at Exploding Helicopter.
