Customer Reviews

Evel Knievel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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...

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.

This is a great movie about the legend of Knievel, more based on fact than the 1971 movie of the same name. Eads was as cocky as Evel was in real life. Buy it if you are a fan of this American icon!

Ok so it is kind of hard to overlook the fact that Evel is played by one of the stars of CSI but it is a good movie. How close to the facts it is, who knows, but what movie about a real person ever is exactly as it should be. I used it as a way to introduce my kids to Evel and they enjoyed the movie, and I enjoyed the movie, and that is all that matters.

Wheelie On!!!

I remember watching this Movie on Cable over a few years ago and couldn't find it no where? Well it came across my mind while I was on here,Amazon,and found it!I ordered it and within a couple of days I was watching it.

This movie was funny!
It explored a guy whom probably took himself too seriously, then played it up.
Talk about the legend of Evel Knievel, the man had balls, then some ... ;)

Enjoyed this movie recently w/ my family. Besides a few mildly profane words, this movie is good for the whole family. This film, which was made for tv, explores Evel's life from a personal frame of reference. No special effects, and no great jump footage, but still, a great Evel piece which examines a true American legend. Well worth the few dollars I paid (around 15 w/ shipping).

(October 17, 1938 - November 30, 2007)

RIP Evel, there will never be another daredevil quite like you...

I won't shy away from the fact that I bought this movie because I am a huge fan of George Eads. If he hadn't been in this movie, I never would've bought it.

Had it not been for him, I probably would've turned it off. He's the only redeeming quality that the movie has to offer. That, and his chemistry with Jamie Pressly . . .