THE ORIGINAL ROAD MOVIE (Easy Rider (DVD))

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Product:	Easy Rider (DVD)
Date:	14/10/01 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb soundtrack, Great location, Great acting

Disadvantages: Plot? Well I suppose it is a road movie

Easy Rider – the 1969 classic is the latest entry to my (rather small) video collection. After seeing Easy Rider a few days ago I can now see what all the fuss was about…

Two motorcyclists set off on a coast-to-coast road trip in hope of discovering and experiencing the real America. Along the way they pick up hitchhikers, smoke a joint here and there, get pissed every now and then and even visit a hippie commune.

The two “hippie” motorcyclists are played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Fonder is the more relaxed of the two and perhaps the most messed up, Hopper appears slightly more edgy throughout most of the film. The other famous star of Easy Rider is Jack Nicholson whose magnificent performance won him worldwide attention. Remember, Easy Rider was the film that made Jack Nicholson.
Easy Rider is a significant film that reflected the feelings and attitudes of the youth of the 60’s, that is why Easy Rider was such a cult film. Easy Rider represented the hippie culture of the 60’s, it was made in the heart of the hippie era and even its director/actor Dennis Hopper looked a total hippie! Though Easy Rider is also significant because it was the first American entry to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

An interesting thing about Easy Rider is that both the director and producer star in the film, Hopper was director and Fonda was the producer. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper also both wrote the film along with Terry Southern.

What also makes Easy Rider the great film it is, is the superb soundtrack. The soundtrack is so well suited to the film and “Born to be Wild” just sounds superb along with scenes of two beautiful Harley Davidson’s cruising down wide, open American roads.

Part of the beauty of Easy Rider in my opinion is the scenes of Hopper and Fonda speeding down straight roads with just pure emptiness either side of them whilst a classic 60’s
rock track plays along.

Easy Rider is the original road movie, the one all the other Hollywood studios tried to copy but miserably failed. It was the first film to tackle controversial subjects such as drugs. Even the making of Easy Rider was controversial, director Dennis Hopper was supposedly so high that he didn’t even realize till two days after filming that the film had finished. God knows how he managed to even direct the film and scoop Best film by a new director at the Cannes Film Festival. Thinking about it though, the way the scenes unfold and the film in itself Hopper must have been stoned out of his head when he directed Easy Rider. But I suppose that is the novelty of Easy Rider.

And the ending to their coast-to-coast road trip? Well I couldn’t tell you that but I will tell you that its sudden and unexpected.

1969, Columbia Pictures. Certificate: 18
Length: 92 minutes.

Thanks for reading

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