​Key Biker movies on Blu-ray

The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is going on this week, providing a good excuse to review a couple of classic biker movies that came out on Blu-ray earlier this year, plus one that’s been out for some time.

Of course the most iconic and influential biker movie is Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider” (1969). Hopper co-wrote and co-starred with Peter Fonda in a free-spirited counterculture story of a motorcycle trip across the country to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, with plenty of stops for sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll (Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” is a major part of the soundtrack). Along the way they pick up Jack Nicholson, who quickly becomes the most memorable character in the often documentary-like film that vividly captures a side of American life that came to represent the 1960s. The low-budget film’s huge box office success revolutionized Hollywood’s approach to moviemaking, spurring an explosion of independent productions targeted at the youth market.

Sony issued a 40th anniversary Blu-ray of “Easy Rider” in 2009 with excellent picture and sound plus some worthwhile bonus features. A year later it came included in a major box set from the Criterion Collection of seven films by the same pioneering independent production company, “America Lost and Found: The BBS Story.” This has essentially the same transfer plus some additional bonus features.

EASY RIDER on Blu-ray – Movie: B / Video: A / Audio: A / Extras: B (Sony) A- (Criterion)

A few years before “Easy Rider,” Peter Fonda again played a biker in Roger Corman’s “The Wild Angels” (1966), partly co-written by future BBS writer/director Peter Bogdanovich and made for American International Pictures, the legendary home of low-budget exploitation films that gave numerous up-and-coming filmmakers valuable on-the-job training. This is a story of a biker gang, loosely patterned after the real-life Hell’s Angels gang and capitalizing on their reputation for violence and destructive partying. Reportedly a few actual members of Hell’s Angels were used as extras, and the gang later sued Corman for defamation due to the negative overall image presented in the film. Nevertheless, the film’s popularity inspired numerous biker movies over the next several years.

Fonda plays the leader of a Venice, California chapter, perhaps the most level-headed and reasonable person of the group, who is frequently trying to keep them under control. Nancy Sinatra plays his girlfriend. The slim plot has Fonda helping fellow gang member Bruce Dern recover his stolen motorcycle. At some point Dern gets shot by a cop and taken to the hospital, where the gang try to rescue him at night, inadvertently causing his death, and then decide to give him a proper biker’s funeral that eventually erupts into a violent party. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is seeing the young Bruce Dern with wife Diane Ladd playing biker husband and wife, and noting Ladd’s uncanny resemblance to Laura Dern, who was actually conceived while the film was in production.

The Blu-ray from Olive Films has a fine HD transfer that looks as good as or better than the film would have been seen in theatres at its original release, and preserving the original 2.35-to-1 widescreen aspect ratio. The sound is also quite good. Olive has included no bonus features beyond a main menu and chapter stops.

THE WILD ANGELS on Blu-ray – Movie: C / Video: A / Audio: A / Extras: F

"The Wild One” (1953) was one of numerous “troubled teen” generation-gap pictures of the 1950s, but marked a turning point in movies about motorcycle fans. It starts with a small-town motorcycle race that is soon disrupted when a rowdy gang shows up on their own motorcycles, taunting the locals and making a mess of things. The rest of the film follows the gang’s visit to another nearby town, their extended stay after a biker is injured and must go to the hospital, and the additional complications that arise after a rival biker gang rolls into town.

Marlon Brando dominates (and narrates) “The Wild One” as a restless gang leader named Johnny, who just wants to have fun and live his life on his own terms instead of being forced to conform to the rules of society. The gang generally make nuisances of themselves but spend lots of money at the local bar/café. Meanwhile, Johnny tries to make conversation with the young waitress, who is curious about him and happens to be the daughter of the weak-willed local sheriff whose brother owns the bar.

The rival gang, it turns out, had split off from Johnny’s gang, and now wants a showdown that comes to a single combat between Johnny and the other gang’s leader, played by a young Lee Marvin. Throughout the day, one of the hot-headed town businessmen riles up a number of townspeople to deal with the gangs’ intrusion into their peaceful lives, so we build to a climactic clash between the vigilante-minded townspeople and the gangs, with the ineffectual sheriff unsure how to handle everything.

Produced by Stanley Kramer, “The Wild One” appears to be trying to be a significant social message film, but tends to become a bit too heavy-handed to be effective. Overall the film is most interesting as a document of early 1950s small-town life and attitudes, and of course early screen performances by Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin.

Picture quality is mostly very good throughout this Mill Creek Blu-ray, licensed from Sony/Columbia Pictures, with strong black and white contrast range, very minor wear, but occasional softish sections. Audio likewise is good. There are no bonus features.

THE WILD ONE on Blu-ray – Movie: C+ / Video: A- / Audio: A- / Extras: F