The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the Best Motorcycle Movies of All Tiime [Paperback]

John Wooley (Author), Michael H. Price (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

The Big Book of Biker Flicks celebrates the movies that saluted bikers and their legendary lifestyles. Packed with behind-the-scenes details, pressbook tidbits, and full-color photos, it has all the hot, steamy fun of an old-fashioned movie without the horn-honking and mosquitoes! Motorcycles and movies are the perfect combination of wild, wicked pleasures.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Wooley and Price consider the canon of the chopper epic enthusiastically and thoroughly, mixing stills and promotional graphics with dead-on thumbnail plot summaries, not to mention pithily noting particular films' peculiar distinctions. Less revered and studied than blaxploitation and smut, biker movies appeared, often at drive-ins, throughout America in the 1960s and 1970s, inspiring one of the most iconic sixties-culture films, Easy Rider, many of whose actors and plot wrinkles figured earlier in the likes of Hell's Angels on Wheels, The Trip and Angels Hard as They Come, all of which Wooley and Price hail here. Besides production notes, other, less easily accessed biker-movie information Wooley and Price provide include such things as the names of the biker gangs and their leaders in each movie. That Chino (Dennis Hooper) and his gang, the Black Souls, rumbled with Darryl (Jody McCrea) and the Stompers in The Glory Stompers is the kind of niche information American culture collections shouldn't be without. Now they don't have to be. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Hawk Publishing Group (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930709455
• ISBN-13: 978-1930709454
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Hollywood has glamorized and demonized motorcycles, May 18, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the Best Motorcycle Movies of All Tiime (Paperback)

Award-wining writers who ar especially known for their insightful movie commentaries, John Wooley and Michael H. Price present The Big Book Of Biker Flicks, an erudite scrutiny of 40 of the best motorcycle movies of all time. Black-and-white and a handful of color photographs illustrate the discussions of biker movies such as "Angels Die Hard!", "Werewolves on Wheels", "Rebel Rousers". The reflections not only discuss plot and themes, but also the conditions behind the movies' creation, the models of bikes portrayed, the level and useage of violence in such films, and more. A fascinating tour of how Hollywood has glamorized and demonized motorcycles and the people who ride them, The Big Book of Biker Flicks is a welcome addition to personal and academic Cinematic History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was put together really well, June 4, 2007

By 

James E. Adam (Baltimore, Md.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the Best Motorcycle Movies of All Tiime (Paperback)

I picked this book up at the local library and I must get my own copy. Tons of pictures and movie posters and sufficient commentary information, including background information. A lot of research was expended to obtain many interesting inside tidbits and on the film-making process. Best of all, there are many sexy pictures of the actresses of these films. In fact, I believe there are more pictures of the women than the men. That's a plus for me.

The author makes no attempt to trash any of the films. For example, for the film She-Devils on Wheels, the author writes, "among those who love low-budget and exploitation films ...". I am old enough to have seen the films of the 60's-70's-80's, low budget films that are barely made anymore. Thanks to Blockbuster (or Lackluster) that stopped stocking these films to concentrate on just the hits. And high ticket prices hurt as well. But, what you saw on the screen was more real than the special effects laden, blue screen, whimpy men & women, boring stuff we now get geared for the 13 year old. I was never a big fan of biker flicks, but now we have 40 cult films because nothing has come on line in the past 30 years to make these films obsolete. Afterall, what studio is going to put a $5 million actor on a motorcycle?

Back to the book, the 40 films are listed by release date. An alphabetical cross-reference of film titles is missing, my only nitpick.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Currently, This Is The Definitive Biker Film Resource Book!, April 23, 2008

By 

J.M.V. "John" (Southern New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Book of Biker Flicks: 40 of the Best Motorcycle Movies of All Tiime (Paperback)

This is a terrific table top book, that actualy provides very interesting , in-depth reviews of each biker film, providign lots of unkown triva, and numerous photos. A great purchase!