Rating:  Summary: Wholly overrated Review: "Easy Rider" (1969)"A classic...a great film for its day...everyone is sure to love it", those were the comments I had been hearing about Easy Rider before I rented it. I expected this movie to be great because it was called a counterculture classic and topped many people's lists of the best film of the 1960's. In my opinion, Easy Rider is a case of don't believe everything you read. Sure, the movie has its good points. The music is fantastic. The songs are all very memorable and suit the road theme, styles of the film and the time in which it is set very well. Many of the songs of the movie have become classics since the films release. Easy Rider is also shot gorgeously, with heaps of great sunset shots and motorcycle journeys. The performances in the movie are also very good. Jack Nicholson is the stand out as the innocent comic relief Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda meet when they go to jail. Nicholson deserved another Oscar for this role! Hopper clearly put a lot of effort into the film being a writer, director and lead actor, but his continuous "man's" and hippie references annoyed the heck out of me, as did his monologues about what he "sees" after he takes drugs. Peter Fonda was hailed as the leading actor of the movie but he really doesn't say that much and he has very little facial expression. His acting definitely got better. There was also way too many drugs in this movie. In the film, this is basically the story: these 2 guys take drugs, encounter people, take drugs, make the people they encounter take drugs, take some drugs, sleep, take a couple more drugs, have sex, and then take drugs. And apparently this story is all about "freedom" according to Dennis Hopper. Yeah right. Also, Easy Rider doesn't present any ideas why or why not the characters should be doing this. Why are they doing it in the first place? Is taking drugs a way to make people free and express freedom? No. I found the use of drugs both pointless and excruciatingly unrealistic in this film. So, the movie does have its good points - the cinematography, bikes and Jack Nicholson - but not enough to overcome the whole pointlessness of the entire production. This is one big disappointment for me, and I can't believe such a film that was hailed as a "classic" could be so banal and stupid. MY GRADE: C-
Rating:  Summary: Born To Be Wild Review: "Easy Rider" is one of the best releases of 1969. Dennis Hopper starred, directed, and wrote this film. It received two Oscar nominations: Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson). This film has since been held as a history cornerstone, educating viewers the true lifestyles during the 1960's, namely the hippies. Its camera effects are brilliant, though some were accidental. Though accidental, the film's impact wouldn't be nearly as intense. Such effect places it ahead of its time remains influencial to modern-day films. The plot of two motorbikers on a mission to make a drug deal is brilliant. The people they meet and the experiences they live add a lot of originality to the film. The accuracy of the lifestyles prove the writers did their research. The acting is flawless, namely Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson. This film is what deservingly placed the then-unknown Nicholson into higher fame territory. "Easy Rider" is a great movie for those looking for a great classic or a great history refresher. This is sure to continue pleasing audiences for many more years. Those looking for more should also buy the "Easy Rider" Sdtk., which contains great psychedelic rock and great "biker-pride" songs.
Rating:  Summary: Nothing more than a period piece Review: "Easy Rider" is one of those movies that took me forever to see and when I finally did I was dissapointed somewhat. True, it launched the careers of Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson. It featured some of the best rock music of the time in the soundtrack. The cinematography is wonderful as well. So what's the problem? Well for one thing the characters are not developed well at all. By the film's end I knew little more about them than I did when I started. It was also fairly boring too. It did not move fast at all. But it is worth a watch if you want to see some great actors before they hit their prime. And who can argue with the famous credit sequence when Fonda and Hopper are riding their bikes listening to "Born To Be Wild"? It's good for a viewing or two. But don't expect anything magnificent.
Rating:  Summary: Not Bad. Review: 'Easy Rider' is a decent film about two free-willed bikers trecking across the country. This movie skyrocketed some of the actor's carrers. The ending is shocking, but the best scene is when they play 'The Weight' by The Band while cruising on the highway.
Rating:  Summary: Not Bad. Review: 'Easy Rider' is a decent film about two free-willed bikers trecking across the country. This movie skyrocketed some of the actor's carrers. The ending is shocking, but the best scene is when they play 'The Weight' by The Band while cruising on the highway.
Rating:  Summary: Brilliant Picture Which Encaptulates an age! Review: 'Easy Rider' is a film which encaptures the 60s brilliantly. It is a film about people and about achieving the ultimate goal complete satisfaction and freedom- which as we find out during our journey with Hopper and Fonda cannot be achieved. The film is a journey across America where the viewer learns about people from all different walks of life through the eye's of the main character. The film is shot magnificently and makes the world seem unreal at times. Which paradoxically makes them feel they are experiencing something more real than they could ever have imagined. Watch this film it is brilliant!
Rating:  Summary: "This used to be a helluva good country." Review: A film reel of Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" should be in every time capsule buried in 1969. You would be hard pressed to find another film made during the Sixties that so vividly captured the essence, lingo, spirit, and rebellion of that era's counterculture. Every viewing of this film is a voyage in a time machine back to a time when society was undergoing a significant cultural transformation. However, that is part of the problem with "Easy Rider." Due to the fact that it so effectively captures a moment in time, it feels tremendously dated when looked at in the present. After Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) make a drug sell in Los Angeles, they head toward New Orleans. They stop at a commune along the way and then hook up with a lawyer named George Hanson (Jack Nicholson) after spending time in jail. Hanson decides to join the duo in their journey but is brutally killed when all three men are attacked by intolerant locals. Wyatt and Billy press on and eventually make it to Mardi Gras. However, death awaits them on the road after they leave New Orleans for Florida. "Easy Rider" will always be an important film because its success helped make it possible for more and more independent films to be made. Yet in terms of entertainment value, "Easy Rider" no longer gets the job done. Its narrative is disjointed and lumbering and its famous psychedelic sequence has lost all of its punch. There is still something liberating about watching Fonda and Hopper thumb their nose at everything conventional but their performances are the only aspect of the film that continues to endure. Everything else about "Easy Rider" just feels old. Time simply has not been kind to it.
Rating:  Summary: A TRUE AMERICAN CLASSIC! Review: A lot of people say that EASY RIDER is merley a biker movie with two stoned biker hippies going across America with a kick butt soundtrack. However it is more than that I admit when I first saw EASY RIDER I was not too thrilled but after seeing again and looking at it more closely I realized how great a movie it is. It is a true experience of the uncensored sixties. How the life of a hippie really was. His experiences with drugs and love and rejection from society. When you look at this movie it seems really simple so why was it so successful? Well I can only say in my opinion that this movie had to be made in 1969 to be successful. If it was made today it just would not be the same. That is what makes EASY RIDER so special. The fact that it is the ultimate sixties experience. Also with Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper and a awesome soundtrack with Jimi Hendrix, Steppen Wolf ,The Byrds and The Band how could this movie be bad? In conclusion EASY RIDER is one of the groovy, trippy, American classics that is just down right cool! Highly Recommended!
Rating:  Summary: A movie and a Genre Review: A somewhat interesting movie due to the time period this movie was filmed. Basically, this movie was nothing special and pretty much like a million other movies out there. The movie is totally overrated mostly due to the cast, Fonda, Hopper, and Jack Nicolas.
Rating:  Summary: A must-see Review: Although I am not a motorcycle rider and I have never used psychedelic drugs, I still found this to be a great movie. If you have allowed these two elements of the film to keep you from watching it, I highly recommend putting those thoughts aside and viewing this. The main idea of the film is freedom. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper take a motorcyle trip across the USA while heading for Mardi Gras. Although this is the destination, Peter Fonda (is looking for something. This something could be America, but you feel it is more profound than that. You receive hints from the things he says to others. For instance, he and Hopper have stopped at a farm to fix one of the bikes and to eat. After talking with the farmer, Captain USA comments about how great it is to be here on the land doing your own thing. Jack Nicholson has the best lines of the movie when he explains that we love to talk about freedom, but we are scared to death of people who actually live it. A very important idea considering the war that was going on at the time of this movie. Again, I highly recommend watching this movie.
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