Tribute Talk (1998)

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July 15, 1998

A possible means of contacting Thuy Trang? Russ offers his idea.

"Great website, BTW! Anyways, this isn't a request for an address, but just a comment: Now that they're playing all these Power Rangers episodes from the 1st/2nd seasons, wouldn't they have to pay Thuy some kind of royalty (?) to use her appearances? (Unless this is only a SAG rule, making Saban exempt :p ) If this is so, they'd more than likely mail the checks to her, so maybe Saban'd forward mail to her too? Just a though, tell me if I'm wrong, or if someone's tried this already and failed..."

SAG stands for the Screen Actors Guild in case you didn't know. Thuy picked up her SAG card towards the end or after her stint on MMPR, I believe. In a nutshell, SAG members are protected in a sort of union which among other things, grants the actors royalties when footage of them is used.

Back to Russ' suggestion, I'm thinking it just might work. A visitor once wrote me saying that he tried to order a video tape of MMPR entitled High Five (where Trini gets over her fear of heights) from a video store, but Saban refused to sell it because the old Rangers would have to be paid royalties. So yeah, it's worth a try writing to Thuy Trang c/o Saban.


July 10, 1998

Is there too much yellow on the page? Tangerine Ranger seemsto think so!

"Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I read your page about Thuy Trang. Trini is one of my favorite Power Rangers. I was amazed at the amount of personal information that you knew about her, especially about her childhood. She really had a rough time growing up.

"For the most part I think you did an excellent job with this page. I did, however, find it almost impossible to read the comments in yellow. Don't get me wrong, yellow is actually my favorite color, but it's hard to read yellow text."

Almost all of the info on Thuy I found on the 'Net. You just gotta know where to look. My investigative skills are thanks in part to watching Lois & Clark on TV; Clark Kent was my idol.

I took your comments to heart, Eileen. As you can see, I've gotten rid of the yellow background graphic so that now you can read the yellow text against the black background. Thanks for your suggestion. Hopefully anyone else who had problems reading can now take in all this great tribute talk!


June 22, 1998

A nice, long, Brandy new message!

"Hi again! I love your page! Guess what? I've decided to make a Thuy Trang page too! What did you do anyway? Take pictures of the TV set? I would also like to know where you got some of those pictures on Tribute Talk. What is all this about Mortal Kombat: Annihilation? Did she try out for it and not get it or something?

"I too was devasted when Saban got rid of her! I even know, somewhat, why they kicked her off! Rumor has it, that if was a quarrel over money matters to be in the first PR movie! So the reason that those fools (<~my opinion, may not be agreed on) ever thought they could replace those unfortunate three is becuz they were MAJOR cheap!!!!

"About Cyberstrike: My guess is that they made it and it didn't have good enough ratings to bring it to the big screen.

"I have been searching 'till the end of the Earth for the Encyclopedia of Martial Arts. All of the libraries I have searched said it was stolen! Heck, I can't blame them. If was wasn't in restraints, I probably would have stolen it too! Well, no, I would have copied it, though.

"About Crow 2: City of Angels: Until Thuy died in it I gave it three thumbs up for her performance. The entire movie died when she did. She fought with the utmost HONOR (seen that word before in the PR episode: Plague of the Mantis? You should...) The other co-villians died as blibbering idiots, but she fought for her life! I just loved that fighting scene! *sigh*

"I hope her career for acting isn't over yet! I haven't heard hide nor hair of her ince she left PR."

Another Thuy Trang page? This is great!! Most of the images you see on my pages are taken from other sites. I've provided a list of all my sources and links. The only images that are mine have a little purple chocobo branded on them. These pictures are scans I've made from various magazines.

Concerning Mortal Kombat, I do not believe that Thuy auditioned for this role. There was simply discussion among her fans that she would have been a terrific Jade. To tell you the truth, I don't think Thuy wants to do martial arts flicks all the time, but who knows? Cyberstrike may have been one of those phantom movies that had been planned for a straight-to-video release but abandoned for one reason or another. It reminds me of the Dean Cain movie entitled Best Men that was supposed to have been in the theatres in the fall of '97. Even though production was completed, the execs decided not to release it (although I've heard it might've been out in Europe).

I think you are accurate about Thuy's departure on Power Rangers. I actually checked out parts of the MMPR movie recently, and it wasn't too bad. But I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth when I saw how Aisha stumbled along as the Yellow Ranger. Ditto for the replacements of Jason and Zack.

You can try getting your hands on the Encyclopedia of Martial Arts video at Amazon.com. I'll try to make a purchase myself once I get my own credit card.


March 22, 1998

From west Philadelphia, born and raised... oops, wrong TV show. John Kouyoumdjian, a student at Temple Univeristy in Philadelphia had this to rave about Thuy.

"Hi, I saw your web site just tonight and I hadn't seen it before, so that's the only reason I'm emailing you now and you haven't heard from me before. I'm talking about the section you had on Thuy Trang. When I saw it, I thought that I had finally found someone who was as crazy about miss Trang as me.

"I'm been a kickboxing enthusiast for about 6.5 years now, so I watch anything that's related to fight scenes on TV. When the Power Rangers first aired a few years back, I just watched it for itself, just a children's martial arts show, but that was before I saw the yellow ranger. And then I think my heart stopped for an instant before it beat again. I mean, this lady is GORGEOUS!! I've been crazy about her ever since then. It totally sucked when she left the show, the show producers obviously didn't know who they were letting go and they were totally stupid to think she could've been replaced.

"The only thing I'm hoping is that she hasn't stopped making movies. I know The Crow was the last film she had been in, and I drop by the Internet Movie Database every once in a while and just type her name in just to see if anything new comes up. Nothing yet.

"One thing I didn't know was how she had come to the U.S. when she was a child. I had read that she had immigrated from Vietnam as a refugee, but I didn't think conditions were that bad and she almost hadn't made it alive. It's amazing that a frail child could survive such a boat trip and then grow up to be the goddess that Thuy is.

"I mean, aside from her physical appearance, all those moves in the Power Rangers show were real. They weren't some add-ons where a stunt double took over in the physical scenes and she just had talking roles. She was the one who delivered every one of those kicks to other people's heads, which was a total joy to watch."

You don't know how many times I hear that someone thinks they're the only Thuy Trang fan out there. In fact, I'm not only the webmaster, I'm also a client. Hee hee, in all seriousness, I think Thuy has a pretty loyal following considering she's not exactly a household name. I mean, based from everyone I've heard from -- including yourself -- who has visited this page, we all share the same admiration and respect for this little lady.

I remember seeing the commercial for MMPR for the very first time so many years ago. Intrigued by the segment, I decided to tune in and yes, Thuy was what had me hooked for the next season and a half. Admittedly, I wasn't as obsessed then as I am now, simply because I had a real life love interest at the time. But looking back, if Trini Kwan were an actual person, she'd be my dream woman. Her beauty truly radiated from the inside out, and she even knows how to care of herself.

I'm not sure what Thuy's up to these days, but I know she'd probably retain that acting itch and make more feature films. I doubt she'd be content with a cameo in Spy Hard and a supporting role in City of Angels. I'd personally like to see Thuy in a comedy so that we'd get a chance to see her heartwarming smile.

Yeah, wasn't it great how Thuy was able to do her own fight scenes? That ability alone should be able to land her a few more roles, although they'd probably be exclusively for action flicks. Who knows? Perhaps Jackie Chan may need a sidekick beauty for an upcoming film of his.


January 23, 1998

Emotional trauma. Rick Alger discusses his first-hand account of it, among other things.

"Man! am I glad to find your Thuy Trang page! Sometimes I think I'm the only fan of Ms. Trang's. Nice to know others share my interest. I agree that Thuy is the most beautiful Vietnamese actress around.

"I too was deeply disappointed when Trini/Thuy was dropped from The Power Rangers. When she left, so did I. I haven't watched the show since! (Although I do have some episodes on tape)

"I saw Crow 2 on video, but I didn't like it too much. I knew that Thuy played a villian, and therefore would get killed. I still decided to rent it anyway. It was a bit traumatic to see her die though. I never saw Spy Hard, 'cause even I have standards.

"I saw Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and it was an awful movie. Jade gets killed in it, and I thought that was a terrible scene. When I left the movie, I was suffering from sever emotional trauma. I was afraid I might have to go into therapy. If I had to see Thuy get killed again, I'd definately need therapy.

"I hope Thuy continues to act. I feel alot of frustration over how little film time she's had since leaving PR. What ever she does, I hope she finds happiness."

Rick, we Thuy Trang fans are plentiful, let me assure you. However, because she was not a very high profile actress, and did not stay for too long on MMPR, there had been very little media attention paid to her which may or may not be a good thing. Because of this lack of resources (ie. pictures, video clips, etc.), there isn't much to work with when trying to put together a web page for her. The reason I've succeeded is due to my ability to relate to Thuy because of our similar background, and fans like yourself who contribute to the page.

Yes, boycott Saban for having let Thuy go! Well, that's not entirely fair, seeing as how she got her first big break thanks to them. You'd think though, that they would have let the original three finish off the second season and star in the first MMPR movie. I taped some episodes as well, Like the one with the food fight, she was so gorgeous in that one! I wanted to take some photos and scan them for the page over the holidays, but I couldn't find the right tape amongst my library of unlabeled video tapes. I'll get to it eventually.

I hear you loud and clear when you talked about the vicious way that Kali was killed. To me, the movie was over at that point in time. So Jade dies in her movie, eh? I guess it is a good thing Thuy didn't play the part. Otherwise, I'd be joining you in therapy sessions.

Thuy's rags to riches story is a definite inspiration, and I think we've been equally blessed to have enjoyed her work on the big and little screens. I guess this site is just my little way of saying thanks to her. I'm not sure if she'll ever visit this site, but hopefully, if all her fans gather together in one place, we'll be able to create some sort of unofficial fan club. And perhaps one day, we'll be able to write to her and she can write back to us. What a wonderful world this would be.

Updated January 29, 1998

I've neglected to mention this on my site previously, but I'd like to thank Rick Alger for his kindness in sending me his personal copy of Femme Fatales magazine. You'll be seeing exerpts from the publication in the big one-year Fanatics' Tower birthday bash update! In fact, a whole new section entitled "Thuy Trang as Kali" will feature exclusive comments from Thuy herself about her experience in The Crow: City of Angels. Once again, all the fans including myself thank you greatly, Rick!

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