The original serial, The Lone Ranger (1938) is one of the better early Republic serials. While I usually dislike feature versions of serials (basically for the same reason I have a disdain for Reader's Digest...you never know what they cut out if you haven't watched the whole serial, and if you have, you get really annoyed), this one was pretty watchable.
I have the DVD version and the movie was very enjoyable, but naturally the characterization was somewhat nonexistent. This is especially true for the five people suspected of being the Lone Ranger. One never really grasps anything but a single character trait from any of them (if you are that lucky), which is sad, considering we are talking about such serial stalwarts as Lane Chandler, Herman Brix and especially Lee Powell.
I rated this movie a 7 because I believe the flaws were outweighed by the action and the basic story...it is the Lone Ranger, after all.
If you would like to watch the best feature condensation of a serial, I would suggest you take a look at The Lost City, with Kane Richmond.
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