Easy Rider (1969)

"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.

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.

Buy Easy Rider (1969) Now

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.

Read Best Reviews of Easy Rider (1969) Here

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.

Want Easy Rider (1969) Discount?

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)