Easy Rider - yeah babeee....

"oasysco" <wilderkommen.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1179156122.693468.148090@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Actually, it was a let down, bummer, not groovy...
>
> I rented it remaster on DVD for my son and I to watch. I had gotten
> him an Easy rider poster for Christmas - the one with Peter Fonda and
> whats-his-name side-by-side.
>
> I didn't remember much from seeing it decades ago and as it turned
> out, that movie was the least memorable movie I have seen in recent
> memory.
>
> Both my son and I were embarassed for, first, actors and then bikers
> as the movie seemingly had no script and no purpose and no relevant
> dialog.
>

Why embarassed? They captured exactly what a road trip that the only plan is a
destination...the route doesn't matter. Yes a lot of road trips don't have much
"relevant dialog"

> I loved the two bikes, but you might have thought going from the west
> to the east coast, tey might have encountered more bikers instead of
> tanker trucks and rednecks in pickups.

My understanding is that was accurate for when the movie was made but what do I
know I was only three when it came out.

> my son kept asking me what is it they are trying to do. I told him,
> they set out from LA to go to Mardi gras after a profitable drug deal.

Yep and the deal was so they'd be able to afford the trip.

> And when they arrived, the movie maker spent more time trying to
> document an LSD experience than the minute or two they spent at Mardi
> Gras, even though they rode across the country to go to Mardi Gras.

uh...the trip was their high point of Mardi Gras. Obviously it wasn't what they
expected...sometimes the destination is a let down after the trip is half done
and you hope the return is as good as the first half and it will be if you
maintain a good positive attitude.

> If you haven't seen the movie in 30+ years, you owe it to yourself to
> wait at least another 30 years -

I saw it 2 years ago and loved it. Every now and then you catch something you
missed.
--
Keith Schiffner
History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational
basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the
unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and
spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from
fiddling with it.
Robert Heinlein
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On May 14, 11:42 am, "Keith Schiffner" <schis....TakeThisOut@bresnan.net> wrote:
> "oasysco" <wilderkom....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1179156122.693468.148090@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Actually, it was a let down, bummer, not groovy...
>
> > I rented it remaster on DVD for my son and I to watch. I had gotten
> > him an Easy rider poster for Christmas - the one with Peter Fonda and
> > whats-his-name side-by-side.
>
> > I didn't remember much from seeing it decades ago and as it turned
> > out, that movie was the least memorable movie I have seen in recent
> > memory.
>
> > Both my son and I were embarassed for, first, actors and then bikers
> > as the movie seemingly had no script and no purpose and no relevant
> > dialog.
>
> Why embarassed? They captured exactly what a road trip that the only plan is a
> destination...the route doesn't matter. Yes a lot of road trips don't have much
> "relevant dialog"

Agreed. The ride was the destination and I told my son that, but it
looked like they took footage of a cross-country trip and then decided
to make a movie out of it, but without character development. When
Jack nicholson died, it was like "so what?". I did enjoy his use of
the footbal helmet, though.

The embarassing part was the inordinate amount of time spent in the
cemetary, trying to depict an acid/peyote trip. I kept telling my son,
see, this is what will happen to you if you take drugs and ride
motorcycles -

The other bad part was when they went into that cafe in a southern
town. All the inbred rednecks were talking trash about the trio, but
not cussing - at all. And then the table of teenaged girls who were
gushing over the bikers. My son said that would never happen today
since everybody and their brother rides.

>
> > I loved the two bikes, but you might have thought going from the west
> > to the east coast, tey might have encountered more bikers instead of
> > tanker trucks and rednecks in pickups.
>
> My understanding is that was accurate for when the movie was made but what do I
> know I was only three when it came out.

I saw it, being a little odler than you, and had fond memories of it,
prolly due to the soundtrack, whihc they didn't hesitate cuting of
songs after a few seconds in some scenes.

>
> > my son kept asking me what is it they are trying to do. I told him,
> > they set out from LA to go to Mardi gras after a profitable drug deal.
>
> Yep and the deal was so they'd be able to afford the trip.

Right, but he didn't get it and I had to keep explaining it to him.
He's almost 19 so he knows about these things, but the movie confused
him too much by leaving out obvious markers that today's movies put in
to clue audiences into what and why.

>
> > And when they arrived, the movie maker spent more time trying to
> > document an LSD experience than the minute or two they spent at Mardi
> > Gras, even though they rode across the country to go to Mardi Gras.
>
> uh...the trip was their high point of Mardi Gras.

OK, if you look at it that way, I can buy it. I missed out on that
nuance.

> Obviously it wasn't what they
> expected...sometimes the destination is a let down after the trip is half done
> and you hope the return is as good as the first half and it will be if you
> maintain a good positive attitude.
>
> > If you haven't seen the movie in 30+ years, you owe it to yourself to
> > wait at least another 30 years -
>
> I saw it 2 years ago and loved it. Every now and then you catch something you
> missed.

Greg

> --
> Keith Schiffner
> History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational
> basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the
> unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and
> spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from
> fiddling with it.
> Robert Heinlein
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On May 14, 11:55 am, BryanUT <nestl....TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:
> On May 14, 9:42 am, "Keith Schiffner" <schis....TakeThisOut@bresnan.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > "oasysco" <wilderkom....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:1179156122.693468.148090@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > Actually, it was a let down, bummer, not groovy...
>
> > > I rented it remaster on DVD for my son and I to watch. I had gotten
> > > him an Easy rider poster for Christmas - the one with Peter Fonda and
> > > whats-his-name side-by-side.
>
> > > I didn't remember much from seeing it decades ago and as it turned
> > > out, that movie was the least memorable movie I have seen in recent
> > > memory.
>
> > > Both my son and I were embarassed for, first, actors and then bikers
> > > as the movie seemingly had no script and no purpose and no relevant
> > > dialog.
>
> > Why embarassed? They captured exactly what a road trip that the only plan is a
> > destination...the route doesn't matter. Yes a lot of road trips don't have much
> > "relevant dialog"
>
> > > I loved the two bikes, but you might have thought going from the west
> > > to the east coast, tey might have encountered more bikers instead of
> > > tanker trucks and rednecks in pickups.
>
> > My understanding is that was accurate for when the movie was made but what do I
> > know I was only three when it came out.
>
> > > my son kept asking me what is it they are trying to do. I told him,
> > > they set out from LA to go to Mardi gras after a profitable drug deal.
>
> > Yep and the deal was so they'd be able to afford the trip.
>
> > > And when they arrived, the movie maker spent more time trying to
> > > document an LSD experience than the minute or two they spent at Mardi
> > > Gras, even though they rode across the country to go to Mardi Gras.
>
> > uh...the trip was their high point of Mardi Gras. Obviously it wasn't what they
> > expected...sometimes the destination is a let down after the trip is half done
> > and you hope the return is as good as the first half and it will be if you
> > maintain a good positive attitude.
>
> > > If you haven't seen the movie in 30+ years, you owe it to yourself to
> > > wait at least another 30 years -
>
> > I saw it 2 years ago and loved it. Every now and then you catch something you
> > missed.
> > --
> > Keith Schiffner
>
> Easy Rider was the first movie I ever took a girl to see. The music
> is timeless. And you have to just love Jack Nicholsan in a gold
> football helmet.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Agreed. I loved the music and JN in that helmet.
Greg
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On 14 May 2007 08:22:02 -0700, oasysco <wilderkommen.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:

>And when they arrived, the movie maker spent more time trying to
>document an LSD experience than the minute or two they spent at Mardi
>Gras, even though they rode across the country to go to Mardi Gras.

With LSD, it's ALWAYS Mardi Gras


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 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

oasysco wrote:

> Both my son and I were embarassed for, first, actors and then bikers
> as the movie seemingly had no script and no purpose and no relevant
> dialog.

Sounds like you completely missed the whole point
of the movie, which was... uh... er... ummm...

Sean_Q_
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

This is a great film. I watched it in highschool in my film studies
class, and I own it on DVD (another biker film you'ld probably like
better is The Wild One). You need to know something about the 60's
though, to get it (and I was born after that decade). Motorcycling
was not "cool" in the 60's, not in most of the US. That's also why
they didn't see alot of other bikes on the road. This was the decade
of cheap gasoline, muscle cars and most GI's had settled down and
started making families instead of being wild kids. Helmets weren't
even common and most people did not remotely approve of motorcycling-
bikers were crazy people who embraced a dangerous lifestyle full of
crashes, broken bones, and violence and death. At least that was the
thinking.

There are all kinds of themes in that film, and it doesn't try to
guide you towards any of them, telling you which one is important.
One theme is freedom. The two bikers are free, tied down to nothing,
one guy is Catpain America and has an American flag on his jacket- yet
everybody hates him. They hate him for his freedom, a freedom they
pay lip service to but don't really embrace. It's showing off the
hypocrisy of society. Another thing is that Billy and Wyatt
eventually blow the freedom and party with a dead man's money, Wyatt
feels guilty for it- they blew all the money on drugs and women and
they have nothing to show for it. They have the freedom but the
freedom alone won't redeem them, it doesn't bring an end in itself.
They get "cursed" and their road trip ends badly for them; both die.
It's a very 60's ending. There is no comfy resolution: it is ugly.
Watch films like the Hell in the Pacific for a similar kind of
ending. The kind that leaves you scratching you head a bit and
thinking, even feeling bad. It was just a different era with
different sensibilities.

It's very existential, too, if you think about it. Existential
themes were popular in the 60's and 70's (Sartre was big, in all the
magazines, etc.- now days it seems more like the zeitgeist in film is
drifting towards post-modern themes mixed with Platonic and
Aristotilian thought- The Matrix being a perfect example, but you can
see it in other films). The two bikers embrace freedom, and with
freedom comes consequences (and existentialism would say the only good
choice is one made acknowledging the consequences). So they make a
choice and are killed by rednecks who are too stupid and evil to
understand that they always have a choice in their behavior- nobody is
forcing them to hate the bikers, but they can't realize this. So it's
sort of almost a Norse heroic thing, the Captain America bike goes up
in a fireball and our heroes are dead but their story got told. The
end.
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On May 14, 8:49 pm, Magnulus <magnu....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is a great film. I watched it in highschool in my film studies
> class, and I own it on DVD (another biker film you'ld probably like
> better is The Wild One). You need to know something about the 60's
> though, to get it (and I was born after that decade). Motorcycling
> was not "cool" in the 60's, not in most of the US. That's also why
> they didn't see alot of other bikes on the road. This was the decade
> of cheap gasoline, muscle cars and most GI's had settled down and
> started making families instead of being wild kids. Helmets weren't
> even common and most people did not remotely approve of motorcycling-
> bikers were crazy people who embraced a dangerous lifestyle full of
> crashes, broken bones, and violence and death. At least that was the
> thinking.
>
> There are all kinds of themes in that film, and it doesn't try to
> guide you towards any of them, telling you which one is important.
> One theme is freedom. The two bikers are free, tied down to nothing,
> one guy is Catpain America and has an American flag on his jacket- yet
> everybody hates him. They hate him for his freedom, a freedom they
> pay lip service to but don't really embrace. It's showing off the
> hypocrisy of society. Another thing is that Billy and Wyatt
> eventually blow the freedom and party with a dead man's money, Wyatt
> feels guilty for it- they blew all the money on drugs and women and
> they have nothing to show for it. They have the freedom but the
> freedom alone won't redeem them, it doesn't bring an end in itself.
> They get "cursed" and their road trip ends badly for them; both die.
> It's a very 60's ending. There is no comfy resolution: it is ugly.
> Watch films like the Hell in the Pacific for a similar kind of
> ending. The kind that leaves you scratching you head a bit and
> thinking, even feeling bad. It was just a different era with
> different sensibilities.
>
> It's very existential, too, if you think about it. Existential
> themes were popular in the 60's and 70's (Sartre was big, in all the
> magazines, etc.- now days it seems more like the zeitgeist in film is
> drifting towards post-modern themes mixed with Platonic and
> Aristotilian thought- The Matrix being a perfect example, but you can
> see it in other films). The two bikers embrace freedom, and with
> freedom comes consequences (and existentialism would say the only good
> choice is one made acknowledging the consequences). So they make a
> choice and are killed by rednecks who are too stupid and evil to
> understand that they always have a choice in their behavior- nobody is
> forcing them to hate the bikers, but they can't realize this. So it's
> sort of almost a Norse heroic thing, the Captain America bike goes up
> in a fireball and our heroes are dead but their story got told. The
> end.

Huh. And I just thought they were filthy biker trash. Whaddyaknow!
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On May 14, 10:02 pm, "BryanUT" <nestl....TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:
> Of course they didn't hate bikers, they hated hippies. There was a brief
> moment in time when hippies embraced the chopper. Altamont and the Rolling
> Stones / Hell's Angels changed all that.
>
> The rednecks killed a hippie not a biker. The Hell's Angels would have shot
> back.

Good point but they are on bikes, so they are bikers, even if they
aren't Hell's Angels.
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

"Magnulus" <magnulus.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1179193796.097332.224250@w5g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> choice and are killed by rednecks who are too stupid and evil to
> understand that they always have a choice in their behavior- nobody is
> forcing them to hate the bikers, but they can't realize this. So it's
>

Of course they didn't hate bikers, they hated hippies. There was a brief
moment in time when hippies embraced the chopper. Altamont and the Rolling
Stones / Hell's Angels changed all that.

The rednecks killed a hippie not a biker. The Hell's Angels would have shot
back.
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On 14 May 2007 08:22:02 -0700, oasysco <wilderkommen.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Actually, it was a let down, bummer, not groovy...

I am not quite sure what you were expecting from a 40 year old "B"
movie that ultimately became a cult classic.

If you were expecting an intricate plot with expensive (even for the
day) special effects with Oscar quality acting, you rented the wrong
movie.

As for your son I doubt very much he could ever relate to the late
sixties, the hippie cults or the restrictions movie makers operated
under if they wanted a wide theatric release. They did not enjoy the
literary freedoms film makers do today.

Easy Rider told a tale, in sixties language, that had not been told
before. Compared to other films of that era, it was ground breaking.

All of that said, expecting someone not of that generation to
understand it or appreciate it, is probably asking too much. That
doesn't lessen the value of the film.

I manage to catch it on TV once every two years or so and I still
enjoy watching it. And despite it's age I am hard pressed to think of
a better motorcycle movie.


--


24 hours in a day
&
24 beer in a case

Coincidence?

I think not
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

"Calgary" <actual.rider_remove_the_obvious_.RemoveThis@telus.net> wrote in message
news:9ksh43hec548mf8o1h9rl4emv1o19badcp@4ax.com...
>
> I manage to catch it on TV once every two years or so and I still
> enjoy watching it. And despite it's age I am hard pressed to think of
> a better motorcycle movie.
>

On Any Sunday is hands down the best motorcycle movie ever.
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On Mon, 14 May 2007 18:21:36 -0600, "BryanUT" <nestle12.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:

>On Any Sunday is hands down the best motorcycle movie ever.

Not when compared to Cycle Sluts from Hell.

-- Larry
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee.... 

On Mon, 14 May 2007 18:21:36 -0600, "BryanUT" <nestle12.TakeThisOut@comcast.net>
wrote:

>
>"Calgary" <actual.rider_remove_the_obvious_.TakeThisOut@telus.net> wrote in message
>news:9ksh43hec548mf8o1h9rl4emv1o19badcp@4ax.com...
>>
>> I manage to catch it on TV once every two years or so and I still
>> enjoy watching it. And despite it's age I am hard pressed to think of
>> a better motorcycle movie.
>>
>
>On Any Sunday is hands down the best motorcycle movie ever.
>

I'll have to give it a look.


--


24 hours in a day
&
24 beer in a case

Coincidence?

I think not
 >> Stay informed about: Easy Rider - yeah babeee....