Easy Rider (1969)
Antonio Mendoza, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Luana Anders ... (see more) , Luke Askew , Mac Mashourian , Peter Fonda , Phil Spector , Robert Walker , Sabrina Scharf , Sandy Brown Wyeth , Tita Colorado , Warren Finnerty , William Nickolson
Two young "hippie" bikers, Wyatt and Billy sell some drugs in Southern California, stash their money away in their gas-tank and set off for a trip across America, on their own personal odyssey looking for a way to lead their lives. On the journey they encounter bigotry and hatred from small-town com... (read more) Two young "hippie" bikers, Wyatt and Billy sell some drugs in Southern California, stash their money away in their gas-tank and set off for a trip across America, on their own personal odyssey looking for a way to lead their lives. On the journey they encounter bigotry and hatred from small-town communities who despise and fear their non-conformism. However Wyatt and Billy also discover people attempting 'alternative lifestyles' who are resisting this narrow-mindedness, there is always a question mark over the future survival of these drop-out groups. The gentle hippie community who thank God for 'a place to stand' are living their own unreal dream. The rancher they encounter and his Mexican wife are hard-pushed to make ends meet. Even LSD turns sour when the trip is a bad one. Death comes to seem the only freedom. When they arrive at a diner in a small town, they are insulted by the local rednecks as weirdo degenerates. They are arrested on some minor pretext by the local sheriff and thrown in jail where they meet George Hanson, a liberal alcoholic lawyer. He gets them out and decides to join them on their trip to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras.
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R, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed by:
Dennis Hopper
Release Date: Jan 01, 1969
DVD Release Date: Dec 07, 1999
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beautifully shot with mesmerizing images, this can easily be called the ultimate road film. it holds within itself a message that stands up for the counterculture, calling out the ignorance of an unadvanced society. hopper and fonda are naturals, and... (read more) beautifully shot with mesmerizing images, this can easily be called the ultimate road film. it holds within itself a message that stands up for the counterculture, calling out the ignorance of an unadvanced society. hopper and fonda are naturals, and with nicholson as the third party, a trifecta of greatness is created amongst its actors. the soundtrack is among the most memorable aspects, using the right scenes and the right songs together.
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears! It was TERRIBLE! I felt like I'd tumbled down the rabbit hole of terrible tastes and disappointments! I mean, really? Has anyone actually found this movie to be decent? It's a B-movie! The acting is embarassing (I... (read more) I couldn't believe my eyes and ears! It was TERRIBLE! I felt like I'd tumbled down the rabbit hole of terrible tastes and disappointments! I mean, really? Has anyone actually found this movie to be decent? It's a B-movie! The acting is embarassing (I didn't get to the part where Jack comes into the movie, I couldn't stand watching it anymore, and I'm sure he was great as always even in this movie, but everyone else!) the script is, I don't even know... and the whole opening scene before the title sequence, with them snorting coke (and spiking the camera!) what was that? I started fantasizing about that actually being behind the scenes footage that the editor chose to put into the beginning of the movie to excuse what was to follow, because there is no way that this movie was made by sober people. I'm shocked. I'm shell-shocked. I don't know what to say.
Guerilla movie-making at its finest. With Easy Rider, the new wave of young filmmakers transforming American cinema was underway. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson are simply mesmerizing and the tunes roar the movie to even greater life. ... (read more) Guerilla movie-making at its finest. With Easy Rider, the new wave of young filmmakers transforming American cinema was underway. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson are simply mesmerizing and the tunes roar the movie to even greater life. Easy Rider is a must-see.
This film revolutionized film making as we know it. Two young guys write a preachy story about how freedom is dead, slap a pessimistic ending to it (the American bike explodes), and have Jack Nicholson act as the Magi-acting comic relief George Hanso... (read more) This film revolutionized film making as we know it. Two young guys write a preachy story about how freedom is dead, slap a pessimistic ending to it (the American bike explodes), and have Jack Nicholson act as the Magi-acting comic relief George Hanson. This is everything Hollywood hated and this is what Hollywood still hates: something so original and so grand that it literally takes apart what we thought was edgy (you know, The Graduate isn't as edgy after you see this) and makes it into arguably one of the greatest indie films of all time.
Dennis Hopper just amazes me with his performance of the free-riding hippie who is really just a tense drug dealer trying to get to Mardi Gras while Peter Fonda contrasts him as the pessimistic, yet friendly Wyatt, seeing to it that freedom is not dead but merely comatose.
Overall, whether or not you're 12 or if you're 82, you need to see this film. You'll relate to it somehow.
An American classic and a milestone in film-making to be sure but like most classics a lot of the scnes and script have almost become cliches now due to be copied repeatedly in lesser films. In 1969 this must have been absolutely amazing and groundbr... (read more) An American classic and a milestone in film-making to be sure but like most classics a lot of the scnes and script have almost become cliches now due to be copied repeatedly in lesser films. In 1969 this must have been absolutely amazing and groundbreaking. Now it's lost some of its edge but it is still a fascinating film with some great camera shots and a brilliant breakthrough performance from Nicholson (so much so that the film suffers without him). At just over 90 minutes it still feels a bit slow in places but the ending has a great punch to it and the soundtrack is absolutely amazing.
Captures the lost yearnings of a generation. Looking back at that period of history, the film's ending seems fitting and symbolic of the loss of innocence as the 60's ended.
Following two young men in a on their quest for freedom, the film portrays the United States' dirty secret: Americans talk a lot about the value of freedom but are actually afraid of anyone who truly exhibits it.
In spite of the context, the movie remains bad. It IS interesting that people made an ode to hippie sympathies, that it remains a time capsule of those sympathies, and that it helped unleash independent filmmaking. What it failed to do while succee... (read more) In spite of the context, the movie remains bad. It IS interesting that people made an ode to hippie sympathies, that it remains a time capsule of those sympathies, and that it helped unleash independent filmmaking. What it failed to do while succeeding in those ways was develop a character that was at all relatable or develop a plot that consumed more than three pages. The lack of plot is not an automatic deal-breaker; a film can still be captivating without one (Dog Star Man) or absolutely stunning with an instable one (Eraserhead). But there has to be something about it that is unmatched in originality or that relays something sympathetic. Even if the heroes are anti-heroes. Even if their message is "We're here to sell some drugs and fuck your teenaged children," you can still make a point about them AS LONG AS IT'S NOT "We're here to sell some drugs and fuck your teenaged children. Don't tread on me, what did I ever do to you?"
To-do list while making a movie about worthless human beings:
(1) If they are your heroes, give them some characteristics that aren't worthless.
(2) If you're going to make an homage to the American countryside, write a scene that takes place, you know, in the American countryside; don't use five minutes of countryside B-roll as filler between each scene.
(3) If you cast Jack Nicholson and you blow at storytelling, just put him in front of the camera the whole time. Really. Just turn the camera on and say, "Go." He doesn't need lines. He's Jack Nicholson. And don't kill him off ten minutes after brining him in. God damn it.
Things I liked: the music, great songs (specially of course "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf), the tone and the life at that time is present and the films transmits it very well. Good acting. Good editing. It's entertaining. The ending (most of it).
... (read more) Things I liked: the music, great songs (specially of course "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf), the tone and the life at that time is present and the films transmits it very well. Good acting. Good editing. It's entertaining. The ending (most of it).
Things I didn't like: weird and pointless plot... there's no explanations, there are not interesting sub-plots. Some things didn't make any sense, and despite a nice ending... it's incomplete, the film could have been much better, it's interesting, but it's not good enough to be called a classic nor even a good film... at least in my personal opinion.
a classic american picture which i hadn't fully seen until last night, but i'm really not sure waht to make of this film, because honestly it felt like what it is, a dennis hopper bender caught on film with some improv thrown in to keep the slight se... (read more) a classic american picture which i hadn't fully seen until last night, but i'm really not sure waht to make of this film, because honestly it felt like what it is, a dennis hopper bender caught on film with some improv thrown in to keep the slight semblance of a story going. don't get me wrong, it's pretty entertaining, but one of the greatest films of all time like i've been told for years, i think it is not. the lcd trip out scene was really cool, but the abrupt ending is kind of comical and weird.
Critic Reviews
It plays today more as a period piece than as living cinema, but it captures so surely the tone and look of that moment in time.full review
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