Customer Reviews

Easy Rider [Blu-ray]

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4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

"Easy Rider" directed by Dennis Hopper, produced by Peter Fonda and written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern was a low budget film ($340 grand) that surprisingly became a box office smash. The story is about two hippys (Fonda & Hopper) who buy choppers with cash they've gotten from a drug deal. They ride cross country heading to Louisianna (to Mardi Gras) and on their way meeting different people, visiting a commune of hippys, ending up in jail, going to a brothel, taking acid etc. The ending was disturbing in 1969 and still is, even in these days of non-stop violence in our country. This 35th Anniversary Edition is identical to the regular dvd version of "Easy Rider" with the exact same bonus material "The Making-Of Documentary "Easy Rider: Shaking The Cage" (feat. interviews with Fonda, Hopper, etc.) and an audio commentary by Dennis Hopper plus production notes. The bonuses for this 35th Anniversary Edition are a cd which includes eight songs (do not confuse this cd with the actual "Easy Rider Soundtrack" as it is not). The songs are "Born To Be Wild" - Steppenwolf, "The Weight" - Smith, "Nights In White Satin" - The Moody Blues, "Wasn't Born To Follow" - The Byrds, "San Francisco Nights" - Eric Burden And The Animals, "The Pusher" - Steppenwolf, "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" - Roger McGuinn and "Get Together" - The Youngbloods. The 80 page book "Easy Rider" by Lee Hill is interesting and includes all you'll ever want to know about the film. The bottom line is, if you already own the regular dvd of "Easy Rider" I'd pass on this 35th Anniversary Edition. Of course, if you don't own this classic film it may be worth the extra cash for the bonus cd and book.

Easy Rider is a truly landmark film in the true sense of the meaning of the term. Produced on a very low budget and set in the late 60's it was, in my opinion, the first movie to really capture a particularly interesting moment in time. While many films sort of used the notion of the late 60's, drugs, sex, rebellion, idealism, as a means to make money, this seemed really the first film to accurately reflect a realistic image of the time period with an unflinching eye.

Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play Wyatt, or Captain America, and Billy, two free type spirits who, after a making quite a bit of money through a sale of drugs, decide to hit the road and drive cross country to Mardi Gras. Along the way, they pick up George Hanson, a southern lawyer, played by Jack Nicholson.

While watching this movie, you may get a sense that it is sort of a western, with the western landscapes and the main characters riding 'iron' horses. This was the intention of the filmmakers, especially the director, Dennis Hopper. One of my favorite scenes was at the beginning, right before Wyatt and Billy are about to embark on their trip, Wyatt removes his watch and throws it on the ground. This symbolized a sense of throwing off the constraints of the old world and an effort to embrace true freedom, if there is such a thing.

Nicholson tends to steal the scenes he is in, and gives a particularly wonderful piece about what freedom is, and why people are so afraid of it. He sort of represented to me one who has been fed many misconceptions about the individuals and movement Wyatt and Billy represent, but once in their company, finds that much of what he has been told may not be true. A sort of individual caught between the generations.

The film is dated, but that didn't detract anything for me. The only scene I really didn't care for was when Wyatt, Billy, Mary (Toni Basil), and Karen (Karen Black) drop acid in a Louisiana cemetery and proceed to trip for an extended period of time.

Along with wonderful performances, much credit must go to the cinematographer, as the landscapes are beautiful, especially the wide shots of the western scenery. They are truly breathtaking. And the music used was exceptionally good, fitting each scene and helping to create the proper mood throughout the film.

The movie presented here looks excellent, in anamorphic wide screen, and includes a commentary by Dennis Hopper. Also included is a wonderful 'Making of' featurette called Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage which really helps to illustrate all that went into making this film. The production, at time, often reflected the turbulent times of when the film was made, and helps to give more flavor to the movie, really enhancing the overall effect. All in all, Easy Rider is a wonderful slice of outsider Hollywood that captured the true essence of an exceptionally turbulent time in America.

The Plot: Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda are two drug dealers from L.A. who get rich selling coke to Phil Spector(imagine that...). They celebrate by hitting the road on their choppers towards Mardi Gras. Among many of the kind Americans they run into along the way is the one and only Jack Nicholson, an alcoholic ACLU attorney who helps them out of jail. In return, they decide to take him to New Orleans with them and get him stoned in the process (the funniest scene in the movie--Nicholson offers an inspiring monologue concerning extraterrestrial intelligence). Enduring harassment and abuse from the rural locals, they arrive at Mardi Gras. Tony Basil(!) is one of the hookers they drop acid with in the graveyard (an unsettling psychedelic sequence only surpassed by the climax of "2001: A Space Odyssey"). Sounds great, doesn't it? It is. Despite its flaws and shortcomings, this is an American classic not to be missed.
Any fan of independent films will adore this movie (check out "Midnight Cowboy", too, if you like this one). The acting is amateurish but the script is inspired, and the cinematography and soundtrack are terrific.
This movie is a symbolic snuff film, and the American Dream is the victim in the spotlight. It foreshadows the paranoia and hostility that would later precipitate the War On Drugs and, now, the War On Terror. Ironically, the alcoholic lawyer played by Jack Nicholson is the only person that has a clear and sober idea of what is going on, and he is quickly silenced by the barbaric locals. The two main characters themselves have a vague idea of it, but are too caught up in their own hedonism to see it clearly. Near the end of the film, Peter Fonda grimly concludes: "We blew it." Ouch--the truth hurts; I wasn't even alive in the '60s and I'm still feeling it today.

"Easy Rider" is the 60s counter-culture classic that seems to wreak slightly of formaldehyde today. It stars Peter Fonda (Wyatt) and Dennis Hopper (Bill) as a pair of drugged out loners who trade a formidable amount of cocaine to `Connection' (Phil Specter) for a sizable amount of cash. Unfortunately, the best that either Wyatt or Bill can think of doing with their new found wealth is to mount a pair of truly sweet cycles and roam the countryside - looking for trouble and, ultimately finding more than they bargained for. Along the way they enter into an on again off again tempestuous relationship with loose canon George Hanson (Jack Nicholson). Together the boys go through a heap of money, a string of hookers and more than a few ounces of psychedelic trippin'. Nothing seems to help cleanse these reprobates of their rebel without a clue - little boys lost - syndrome. Fueled by a soundtrack that features Steppenwolf's classic "Born to Be Wild," "Easy Rider" is anything but, and perhaps, the closest realization of the decade's hippy counterculture ever put on film. That it today seems quaint in its hostility toward authority only serves to reflect just how lost contemporary film culture is.

Previously, "Easy Rider" had been made available through Columbia Tristar in a moderately pleasing DVD transfer. If you're thinking of upgrading to this new 35th Anniversary edition for a better print of the film don't bother. This is the exact same transfer and extras previously made available. The only pluses to this edition are an extra CD of the film's soundtrack and a nicely put together pocket book on the making of the film. But the DVD quality remains the same. As for the quality of the transfer - beginning as it does with several long shots of the boys on their bikes, there is a remarkable amount of resolution to be had in the image. Fine details are nicely realized for the most part and colors, while slightly dated, exhibit a fairly accurate level of contrast and balance. Unfortunately, roughly mid-way through this transfer some strange digital happenings begin to occur, beginning with the flashback sequence in which Wyatt and Bill pick up a pair of hookers. Designed to reflect to an audience that the sequence is going on in the mind of the boys, its exceptionally grainy and slightly out of focus with a bleached out color scheme that is unflattering to say the least. On top of the inherent grain in the print we get an exceptional amount of digital grit which generally makes for a very harsh looking image. Also, the print quality after the flashback - which until its insertion had been moderately pleasing to very nicely done - is increasingly riddled with age related artifacts and grain which degrades the final third of the film's image quality. I really am unable to account for the reason this occurs but it does and is distracting. The audio is 5.1 and, as expected, dated. Dialogue is never natural sounding, obviously manufactured post production studio recordings that are tinny at best. The one kick that the audio gets is in its throbbing rock score that jumps to life with an explosive bass and vibrating treble.

In 1969, the film "Easy Rider" debuted with much fanfare in America. Not only would the film receive distinction as an important film that depicted the late 60's in America but it would be the first Independent film to be created with a low budget (under $400,000) and made $19 million dollars in the box office. And help install confidence for the film studios that a Independent films can be successful and also a film created on a low budget can be successful as well. Not only that, the film would be groundbreaking in that it used contemporary rock music at that time by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, Steppenwolf and more.

"Easy Rider" would star very good friends Dennis Hopper ("Colors", "The Last Movie", "Hoosiers") and Peter Fonda ("The Last Movie", "South Beach", "3:10 to Yuma") in which Hopper would direct and Fonda would produce. The two also wrote the film along with Terry Southern ("Barbarella", "Casino Royale", "The Telephone").

The film revolves around two bikers Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper) who begin the movie by smuggling drugs from Mexico to Los Angeles and making a very good profit. With the money, the two can do what they want and that is to go on a on a road trip on their Harley Davidson choppers and drive to New Orleans, Louisiana for Mardi Gras.

Wyatt hides the money in his motorcycle's gas tank and the two embark on a trip enjoying the scenery and the freedom of traveling America. Throughout the trip, we see the two drive and see the scenery of the trees, mountains and the open road way with popular music at that time.

During their trip, they encounter a hitchhiker (Luke Askew, "Manhunter", "The Quest") who they pick up and drive to a hippie commune. Then the two end up driving through a parade in which they don't have a permit and end up being put in jail. This is where they meet ACLU lawyer George Hanson (Jack Nicholson, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Terms of Endearment", "As Good As It Gets") and learn that he is a drunkard but has always wanted to go to Mardi Gras.

So, when the two are released, they head out to New Orleans but what they don't expect is that what may have seem like freedom so far, until they hit certain areas they learn that people's perception of them are different. People with long hair or people wearing leather pants are being looked at as "hippie queers" and the prejudice runs deep in those parts of America.

"Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary" was hailed by Time Magazine as "one of the ten most important pictures of the decade" and entered the Library of Congress National Registry in 1998 because the film showcases America during that volatile time back in the late 60's.

The independent film was also quite volatile behind-the-scenes as Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda who were close friends at the beginning of the film, because of the demands of the film, the two had a falling out. The film featured a lot of fighting between the crew, there was a lot of drug use with not only the cast but also the crew. In fact, some of the scenes used on the film, the talent were wasted on marijuana and some have said that it was remarkable how much the actors were able to work while high on drugs.

The famous choppers that the two drove, although there were four total, two for backup. The person in charge of watching over the choppers, Tex Hall, had a robbery attempt at his home with a shotgun on him and his girlfriend and the motorcycles were stolen.

And as for the people in the small towns, Hopper used actual people not actors and thus what we are truly seeing in the film are real reactions by Southerners in Louisiana reacting to the men who had long hair (Hopper) and Fonda's black leather pants. These were just a few things that happened behind-the-scenes of "Easy Rider".

Needless to say, "Easy Rider" is definitely a time capsule for that moment of time and not only do you get the film, you also get the "Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage" in which viewers get to learn from each cast and crew of how volatile things were while shooting the film and things that happened behind-the-scenes that will definitely surprise people.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Easy Rider" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1) for the first time. For a film created back in 1968, the film looks absolutely great, not perfect but still great. No blemishes and certain outdoor scenes look absolutely fantastic and for a film 40-years-old, I have to say that it looks better than many films that I have seen released back in the 1980's and 90's. Grain is kept and for the most part, detail of the chopper's, Billy's clothing, Wyatt's sunglasses, you see that detail. There were some scenes, such as the visit to the commune where picture quality seems a little aged compared to the rest of the film but for the most part, this is the best looking version of "Easy Rider" to date.

As for audio, the film is presented in English, French and Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Also in Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and the original English mono soundtrack. For the most part, the film is front and center channel driven and during my first viewing, but that impressive soundtrack that this film is known for is nice and clear, dialogue is nice and clear and the revving of the motorcycles is nice and clear. The film is dialogue and music driven and there is surround channel usage during the trippy drug-induced parts of the film when you hear voice all around you but also during that brief and tragic action sequence at the end of the film. But the music...from hearing that bass guitar and percussion in union on "If 6 was 9' from The Jimi Hendrix Experience to that electric guitar and well known vocals of Steppenwolf of "Born to Be Wild" with the men on their bikes, that's classic but to hear it on DolbyTrue HD is awesome!

Speaking of the film's soundtrack, "Easy Rider" was one of the first films to have an original score and feature popular contemporary rock songs at that time. Included in the film are:

* Steppenwolf - The Pusher
* Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild
* The Byrds - Wasn't Born to Follow
* The Band - The Weight
* The Holy Modal Rounders - If You Want to Be a Bird
* Fraternity of Man - Don't Bogart Me
* The Jimi Hendrix Experience - If 6 Was 9
* Electric Prunes - Kyrie Eleison
* The Electric Flag - Flash, Bam, Pow
* Roger McGuinn - It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
* Roger McGuinn - Ballad of Easy Rider

As for subtitles, the subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES

"Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary" receives Sony's special digibook packaging with a total of 36-pages and information on the music, the talent and an essay of the importance of the film and the beginning of New Hollywood. As for special features, the following are included:

* MovieIQ - Viewers can watch the film via BD-Live and get up-to-date details on the characters, behind-the-scene factoids, music and more.
* Audio Commentary by Dennis Hopper - When it comes to "Easy Rider", as mentioned by the people who worked on the film, everyone has a story and in this case, we hear Dennis Hopper's commentary of the film. For the most part its informative but Hopper tends to not speak for long stretches in time (I'm guessing he was engrossed in watching the film) and he's actually quite quiet.
* Easy Rider, Shaking the Cage Documentary - (1:04:51) The crew and talent of "Easy Rider" give us a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this film, how volatile things were and also dangerous. An amazing documentary. Note: This documentary was featured in the DVD release and is featured in standard definition, English stereo and subtitles in Portuguese and Spanish.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary" makes it's HD debut and for the most part, the result is making this Blu-ray release the definitive version to own with its impressive picture quality and for those who wanted to hear that awesome soundtrack in lossless audio, you have that option as well as the original theatrical mono version as well.

When I was watching the film, you can tell how special and how unique the film truly was. It's one thing to have a motorcycle road film and showcasing the allure of someone that can be seen as an outlaw but in this film, it truly is a time capsule as we are watching something that captures America during that time. From recreating the hippie commune of New Buffalo (in New Mexico) of many hippie men and women with kids all over the place to capturing that Southern feel towards hippies and men in leather (the guys weren't gay but because of they were outside of the norm of that area, they were considered offensive) and of course, the music, the motorcycles, the drug use. That's the late 60's.

Also, some may view "Easy Rider" as a creative and artistic film as Hopper wanted to take advantage of creative editing styles but it would be interesting to see how his original 220 minute feature would be compared to the Henry Jaglom edited final 95 minute theatrical version.

"Easy Rider" was also a first. Being an independent film created less than $400,000 and making millions. Jack Nicholson who was planning to quit from acting, was made a bonafide star thanks in part to this film and of course, ushering the new era of Hollywood and received the distinction of being in the American Film Institute's "Top 100 Films of All Time" (at #88) and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" at #29 for "Top 100 Songs of All Time".

And of course, the behind-the-scenes making of the film and knowing how drugged out the talent were during the filming and how some improvised scenes or scenes that were not in the script, ended up in the film is quite interesting.

If you have never owned "Easy Rider", this film deserves to be in your collection. This is one of those rare films that manages to capture American culture at that time. This film embodies the term "sex, drugs and rock n' roll" and once you are done with the film, "Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage", the documentary will definitely impress you.

If you are a cinema fan, "Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary" on Blu-ray is a film that deserves to be in your collection. Even if you owned a previous version and not much is added in terms of special featuers content, the film is worth the double dip for that awesome HD presentation and it's rockin' lossless soundtrack. This film is highly recommended!

Easy Rider is definitely a movie for its period. There's no doubt that the film was a free-wheeling, pot-smoking, and other illicit drug type of movie that reflects the period that was - the counter-culture, anti-Vietnam War, and anti-establishment 1960s that came from the age of baby boomers. Peter Fonda's "everything goes" production was effective in producing a spontaneous film that has allowed continued analysis by scholars and anyone interested in the tumultuous period that was.

The behind the scene commentary was interesting and insightful. Both Dennis Hopper and Fonda offered much discussion about the making of the film that reveals how difficult and how real the actors experienced what was happening in the southern part of the United States during the late '60s, which was much more intense -- bigotry and animosity towards the hippie or "long-haired" culture.

The cinematography was excellent. The road scenes were just gorgeous, and the motorcycle drive through New Mexico was quite impressive. The most chilling scene was the ending with the panning out of the camera that gave a somewhat dark feeling that might depict a scene from war torn Vietnam. Or maybe a false sense of hope of a generation that fought for freedom.

Besides the film's look, one cannot forget the soundtrack of the movie. It included a diverse selection of artists, and who can forget the Steppenwolf's overplayed Born To Be Wild, which opens the movie? Other than that, music of The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan captured the film.

The is a film that has survived the times and should be viewed.

Most of the negative reviews here criticise this movie as being dated and for idolising the waster culture - possibly related criticisms - but it's difficult to see how you could justify either except on a very cursory consideration of the film.

Easy Rider absolutely refuses to idolise the sixties ideal, and it is not to my eyes even vaguely dated (I say this having seen it for the first time last night, thirty three years late).

The golden thread running through this film is that THE PARTY'S OVER, DUDES.

Fonda states this explicitly ("we blew it...") and it's firmly implied in a devastatingly funny caricature of a dead beat hippy commune (as the city dropouts joyously commune with nature, scattering their seed on the barren land of the New Mexico desert, Fonda asks wryly, "do you, ah, get much rain up here?")

And (without wishing to spoil the ending) by the time the credits roll, our heroes haven't exactly profited from their wild lives. The ending of the film is profoundly pessimistic about the prospects for freedom and independence.

The film is certainly critical of the intolerant "establishment" (which nevertheless prevails), but if there is one character who does smell of roses, it is the farmer who takes the boys in for the night and who, says Fonda, should be proud simply for living off the land.

For my money this makes Easy Rider ahead, rather than behind its times. It's also rooted in a number of great cinematic traditions, aside from the Road Movie genre which it helped to invent. I like the idea (expressed in a review below) that this is a latter day western, even down to the character's names, Wyatt and Billy. Also, were you to draw a line between Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid and Thelma & Louise, it would intersect Easy Rider.

The performances of the cast are delightful - Nicholson's is rightly feted, and Hopper's is very Dennis Hopper - fans of Apocalypse Now will recognise this style in which Hopper doesn't really act so much as simply looning around - here in total contrast to Fonda's studied coolness, which holds the film together, reinforced with a cracking soundtrack (in this regard also, Easy Rider was well ahead of its time).

If you fancy a dash of counterpoint, try watching Easy Rider back to back with David Lynch's stunning recent work The Straight Story - as a compare and contrast job, I think they'd make a fascinating study.

Sitting in a USC screening room with Peter Fonda, I remember seeing this iconic film before it was released. At the time, I was dealing with my application for Conscientious Objector status with the draft board. I was also being hassled by the FBI as an outspoken critic of the Viet Nam war.

The movie poster of Fonda as Captain America with a flag-embossed jacket riding on a big bike with the caption "A man went looking for American and couldn't find it anywhere" resonated with me. And at the end, when the redneck in the pickup with the bulging tumor shoots "Billy" and "Wyatt (Fonda and Dennis Hopper)" I was incensed. This was the same world I was in. The same prejudice. The same hate. Reel life was real life.

This film was the first big "youth movie" that perfectly targeted its already alienated audience. It was a bulls-eye. For me, it was a brave movie because I knew that the creative team of writer Terry Southern, director Dennis Hopper, actors Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda truly believed what they put on the screen. This movie empowered me. I realized I was not alone in how I saw the world, the war and America.

As a film student, I was not just interested in film as propaganda, but also in how the film was shot. I knew it was shot for cheap - less than $500K. And it broke the rules, like the law of "consistent screen direction" by having the bikes go in all directions. There was the innovative use of music I actually listened too. Wow, the Electric Prunes! How did they know?

I wondered if the dope they smoked on screen was real and I asked Fonda. He smiled and said, "Of course." I liked that. I liked the stoned "Freedom" speech from Jack Nicholson. I believed what Jack said. Those were my words too! This movie made Jack Nicholson a star, and with the perfect audience that identified with him from the start.

I still love the joyful, free, wide-angle moving shots of the bikes on the open road with Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" pulsating on the soundtrack. "Get your motor running..." Oh yeah.

Watching the movie today with the hindsight of alleged maturity(?), I now see an amateurish film. Indulgent and sloppy. Silly in places. But the core question of What Is America? rings truer than ever.

Look for ward-of-the-state, convicted murderer and former record producer Phil Spector as a dope dealer in the opening scenes. (R, widescreen, 95 minutes)

I saw the movie in England when it was released in '69,(I'm English) and felt that it truly captured,in a "raw" way,the diversification of lifestyles;the drugs and confusion associated with the times of uncertainty,and will remain a testamony to those troubled times. No frills,just right.

I was 17, living in East Texas (about 50 miles from Louisiana) when Easy Rider came out. The South was an angry place during 1967-1971. That anger was mostly used to strike at the different and extreme... the different and extreme according to low to mid class whites. The movie reveals a great friendship between two, then three, traveling partners. Their friendship wasn't any different or perverse than those of people in the states through which they traveled. However, the prejudice that lived among the angry, older generation of the southern states proved to be unaccepting, even violent.
Though made with little money, the way it's shot, and the characters it produces makes Easy Rider a great classic movie.
I recommend you buy it. If you don't understand it the first time, watch it again. You will come to agree.