8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good movie, September 18, 2005
This review is from: Evel Knievel (DVD)
When I first watched the broadcast premiere of this movie I thought it was good -- not great -- but good. I thought George Eads did a great job as Evel.
Then this DVD came out and being a George Eads fan, I bought it and glad I did.
The commentary that George Eads and John Badham do in this DVD adds a whole new insight into the filming and what went into making this film. They take you through scene after scene and what was going on to make the scene credible and Eads does a wonderful job of describing what mind set he was in while filming a particular scene.
It added a fresh perspective when watching the movie again and I found I enjoyed it much more this time around.
The commentary alone is worth the price of the movie.
A must for any George Eads fan.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
George Hamilton's was better..., June 6, 2007
This review is from: Evel Knievel (DVD)
I thought the George Hamilton (1971) biopic of Evel was hokey but Eads' version is simply terrible. This movie is flawed and very poorly thought out. Eads is a good actor on CSI and Jaime Pressly is OK on the TV show "My name is Earl", but they were both miscast in this film. To top it off, the movie opens in 1950 and features a Jerry Lee Lewis song that wasn't even recorded until the LATE 50's! They should have put a song in that was relevant to the times Evel grew up in. To make matters worse, Evel looks 7 in the scene, but he would have been 12 by 1950.
Jamie Pressly plays Linda Bork as a gum-smacking redneck glamor girl with a nasty "southern" accent---in Butte Montana! Linda Bork, by most accounts, was a nice girl who eventually fell in love with Evel, despite his hard ways. In this film, Pressly portrays her as an aggressive, dolled-up hooker-type. To nitpick even more, Knievel had a clean-cut look in the sixties but Eads has a bushy mullet-wig throughout.
Q: Why was Lance Henriksen in this film?
A: To show young Bobby Knievel how to cleanse his bowels by eating the shells of roasted peanuts while incarcerated. What.......? Great actor. Must've needed the money.
One thing the film includes is the death of Evel's father-in-law, played by Beau Bridges. It's a topic that few documentaries or films cover. But when father-Bork dies, the audience has little sympathy due to the poor character development.
If you want to know about Evel, avoid this film (I love Knievel and bought the DVD for a few bucks just to have it in my collection). Get "Spectacular Jumps", "Gladiators" (the longer version of "Spectacular jumps" and watch "Absolute Evel: The Evel Knievel story" with Matthew McConaughey. Also, "Viva Knievel" is a fun 70's film featuring Evel, himself. All of them are fun and informative.
I wish someone would make a film worthy of Evel's contribution to sports, entertainment and pop culture. When Evel Knievel is gone, the "Last of the gladiators" will certainly be missed as a true icon. This movie is a total waste and I can't believe someone would try to pass this movie off as anything other than an overblown Hollywood fantasy. Compared to this film, George Hamilton should have been given an Oscar. Terrible...
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evel Knievel......, August 3, 2005
This review is from: Evel Knievel (DVD)
I had the priviledge of growing up during the time that Evel Knievel soared high during his many death-defying jumps. I must admit, he was my idol back then. To this day, I'm still in awe of all the things he did. While I liked the movie(and think you will to), which stars George Eads(of CSI)playing the title role, I was expecting more about his life. To me, it seemed more like a remake of the 70's "Evel Knievel" film which starred George Hamilton. Not that it's a bad thing as that movie was pretty good. It's just I expected more about his life and his family than just the highlights of his career.
However,John Badham (of Saturday Night Fever fame) did an outstanding job directing this movie. George Eads played a convincing Evel, as well.
All in all, though, the movie is pretty good. Inspiring, to say the least. I really liked it and I think you will, too.
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