Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 15, 2018

If calling producer and writer Renee Harmon an “exploitation demigod” and director James Bryan “legendary” aligns with your personal opinions of these filmmakers, Lady Street Fighter may well be a Holy Grail of sorts, but one way or the other it’s an interesting entry in the still rather small number of films produced by, written by and starring the same woman (can you instantly come up with others?). AGFA’s back cover doesn’t just call Harmon a “demigod”, it goes on to proclaim her “one of the most important lady filmmakers in genre history”, a rather amazing statement given the fact that Harmon is still largely missing in action on everyone’s favorite reference medium, the internet. There is a brief biography of her available on the IMDb and a really fun reminiscence of some of her shenanigans and/or hijinks on set by Annie Choi in the fun insert booklet AGFA has provided with this release. Harmon comes off in Lady Street Fighter as what I might term a kind of distaff version of Ed Wood (no Glen or Glenda jokes, please), meaning she struck me personally as an extremely enthusiastic type who might still have an undeniable “not quite ready for prime time” element to her in both the writing and acting categories (the fact that she actually got this film produced is a testament to — well, something).

This is another (here comes that word again) “genre” offering from AGFA which is just bat guano crazy most of the time, but which will no doubt appeal to those who want their lo-fi film experiences to push the “gonzo meter” to 11. The film begins with a kind of torture porn sequence featuring a naked woman (evidently Harmon yet again, according to the commentary) who is summarily dispatched. The film then segues to her sister, Linda (Renee Harmon), who is on a hunt for vengeance, and who teams up with a supposed FBI agent named Rick Pollitt (Jody McCrea, billed here as Joel, Jr., perhaps because he didn't want his beach movie fans to find out, and, yes, that's a joke). The film plays out in a series of often spectacularly outré vignettes, some peppered with far from subtle soft porn sensibilities.

Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lady Street Fighter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of AGFA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (the release's cover incorrectly states a 1.85:1 aspect ratio). AGFA mentions both 2K and 4K scans for Lady Street Fighter in various places on this release, but provides the following information on the transfers of the two films in this set in its insert booklet:

Lady Street Fighter is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 [sic]. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from the only 35mm theatrical print in existence. The print was made from the original 35mm camera negative, which is now lost.

Revenge of Lady Street Fighter is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (Note: this film is also presented in 1.78:1). This new digital transfer was created in 2K resultion of a Lasergraphics film scanner from the original 35mm camera negative. Recycled scenes from Lady Street Fighter were taken from the same scan above.

Color grading was performed with DaVinci Resolve. Every effort has been made to retain the original theatrical experience of the films. The monaural soundtracks were remastered using Pro Tools HD. The digital transfers were performed by the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, TX.

Those who have already indulged in previous AGFA releases will know what to expect with this release, meaning there will be fairly abundant damage in the form of scratches and other blemishes, but with an absolute lack of any obvious digital tweaking. The overall look is very "organic" in recreating a kind of lo-fi grindhouse experience, in both the positive and negative connotations some may have to that term. This is a rather nice looking presentation in terms of the still relatively vivid palette, though some fading is in evidence, with a noticeable blue undertone permeating many scenes. The entire film has a kind of gritty appearance that can tend to mask fine detail levels in midrange and wider shots. What look like day for night shots are probably some of the most problematic, with some noticeable crush and generally murky appearance.

Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lady Street Fighter features an okay sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix that sounds a trifle boxy quite a bit of the time (something shared with its sibling on this disc, perhaps because that other film utilizes so much footage from this film). The mix seems slightly anemic to my ears, with a somewhat muffled sound in the midrange that can make dialogue a bit hard to make out at times (while not listed on the menu, you can access English subtitles with your remote). There is some age related wear and tear on this track, as well as evident hiss that is most noticeable in the (few) quieter moments.

Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary Track with Director James Bryan and the AGFA Team


• Street Fightin' Trailers from the AGFA Vaults (1080p; 13:19) is another typically gonzo assortment of comic attractions from AGFA.


• Bonus Movie: Revenge of Street Fighter (1080p; 1:29:40) recycles a lot of footage from the first film.

Additionally AGFA has provided a nicely appointed insert booklet.

Lady Street Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I haven't spoiled what is arguably the funniest thing about Lady Street Fighter, an element of the casting that is dealt with up front in the very appealing commentary included on the Blu-ray as a supplement. Those of you who don't already know this "secret" may want to peruse the cast list and see if a cinematic surname as well known as McCrea doesn't ring any bells with regard to the first name linked to it. There's a good reason for that. AGFA has provided another completely odd release that will no doubt appeal to fans of the label, though supplements are a little meager this time (it would have been great to have had a longer form biographical piece on Harmon, who does seem like an - um - interesting woman). As with many AGFA releases, the technical merits are generally solid given an understanding of the element utilized.