Easy Rider Reviews and Ratings


  • meowser41
    November 25, 2009
    meowser41
    Points for style and overall level of 'wtf'ness present.
  • ythelastman89
    November 18, 2009
    ythelastman89
    Definitely one of the best movies of its time. It's really experimental, but I think it captured the essence of America. You saw the beauty along with the ugly. The hostility brought upon two harmless men with long hair is frighteningly surreal. It just goes to show you how naive...( read more) and one sided people can be. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda played their parts perfectly and you got to see a crazy supporting role from Jack Nicholson. I would really like to see the original three hour cut because you do feel a sense of speed in the film that I don't think was intended.
  • Luciusthebigboss
    November 17, 2009
    Luciusthebigboss
    Someday i'll grab my bike and fall on the road, just like them. Awesome movie!
  • hiei89
    November 15, 2009
    hiei89
    Film sulla libertà dell'uomo e sul modo di vivere la vita dal punto di vista di due giovani motociclisti. Un cult-movie sul sogno americano.
    Grandiosa l'interpretazione di Jack Nicholson
  • julito32
    October 30, 2009
    julito32
    SPOILERS!

    While this must have been amazing to watch in the 70's as 2 stoners travel around the countryside and basically do nothing but ruffle people's feathers; I just have no affinity for the movie whatsoever. They might be the cool icons for rebellion, but what happens when...( read more) someone rebels with them - he ends up dead. Sure, the movie in essence is about the country's reluctance for change - but what does it do with this message? They realized they're gone about it the wrong way in the end and end up messed up or dead on the side of the road.
    But I'm supposed to care since these people have no back story and they don't care about the 'civilized' world? The 'cities'? Good riddance hippie scum!
  • bargeroughdlt
    October 28, 2009
    bargeroughdlt
    good movie I didn't like the ending but thats the way it goes isn't it?
  • pinnakvinna
    October 24, 2009
    pinnakvinna
    Sorry guys, but the 60's culture really creeps me out. This is the story about two hippie bikers who set on a trip across the US looking for a way of life. On this trip they meet a lot of different cultures and different lifestyles. This is an old movie and it probably was good a...( read more)t the time it was made but I found it a bit boring and uninteresting at times. And it was a bit weird watching these talented actors at such a young age. Though I loved Jack Nicholson in this role.
  • Lemure
    October 19, 2009
    Lemure
    This film is so much more than just a cult-classic 70's seminal road trip across America movie. It's also about freedom and peoples attitudes towards those who exhibit it. Fonda, Nicholson and Hopper (also doing a damn good job of directing) are all excellent, there's ten minutes...( read more) in a graveyard which I think is about the dangers of drugs - it was hard to tell, and then the ending catches you unawares, slams you up against the wall and leaves you reeling.
  • theoneandonlytony
    October 18, 2009
    theoneandonlytony
    Fancy watching Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda getting baked and riding around on motorcycle choppers? Who doesn't! But unfortunately it?s not actually as simple or as good as it sounds.

    Yep for a movie this one dimensional there had to be an underlying message beneath it all, th...( read more)is one specifically highlights the core prejudices and dangerously violent undercurrent in American attitudes towards "free-thinkers" (Hippies, to you and me) at the end of the late 60's.

    Thats probably because an "alternative" way of living (as depicted in this movie btw) consists of squatting on a farm and getting smashed. Well done dickheads.

    When you know this movie is classified as an "achievement" and yet its only redeeming feature appears to be its soundtrack you start to wonder what you're missing. Has time really changed this movie that much? Honestly though, a plot revolving around the misadventures of two dope-running travelling gypsies in out-back America with direction/any technical aspect of filmmaking leaving a lot to be desired (thanks for nothing Mr. Hopper,) surly can only emphasise how you probably shouldn't be stoned whilst making a movie!

    Check out the Mardi Gras/WTF scene where Hopper and Fonda are actually off their faces... I just don't understand how people can pick out elements of mastery in this movie when equally the entire production is a shoddy mess. It devalues everything. Show me one good thing about this movie and I'll show you ten that could have been done better.

    Even Jack Nicolson failed to breath any life into this corpse before his bluntly edited removal.

    I dunno, this movie confuses me. Maybe I've taken this movie entirely out of the context for the time in which it meant something, the time in which its subject matter was still raw. The time in which people recognised firsthand the elements in this movie. Then again isn't making a movie that explores the values and liberation attitudes from a conventional society that supposidly doesn't care about consumerism not only contradictory but also full of shit!!

    It must be a paradox!
    Anyway, what was it that was once said about "Time." "Fine Wine" and "Vinegar?"
  • ohagankieran
    October 10, 2009
    ohagankieran
    I was utterly surprised by this film. I was expecting nothing more than some short scenes of our now-infamous actors smoking marijuana followed by trippy Willy Wonka scenes . Oddly, this did occur, but this film was much more than that. This film should be shown in every American...( read more) History class in the United States. It not only showed the beauty of the country of which we reside, but it also spoke about the people that reside in it. You know the old saying, 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people', well after watching this film, it is a very true statement. We are afraid of what is different. We are a culture that is afraid of change, yet seek it so badly. We are a society of hypocrites, androids, and ignorants. We thrive on the fact that we are the best country in the world, yet somebody shows any disassociation of routine, we are the first to question and get angry. I would dare say that we have moved so far from the 60s that I cannot see why our parents do not cry everyday. Their generations was a free-spirited, mind challenging culture that explored all possibilities no matter the cost. The experience was all they needed as a reward. Now, we are more concerned about money and the family-plan that we sometimes place ourselves on the backburner to life. Wake, eat, and pay the bills. What a sad daily structure that we have. When was the last time you considered the possibility of just jumping on your bike and riding until you hit water? Probably not for a long time ? why? It is called 'bills' and 'responsibilities'. These are the choices that we chose to make, and for anyone to say that they cannot do it, I would have to challenge. You CAN do anything, it is whether you chose to do it is another question. I wonder what it will be like in another 30 years. Where will we be, and will the idea of individualism be lost? I can't wait to see ?
    Outside of the deeply rooted themes of this film, I felt that Hopper (who also directed) knew exactly what he was doing behind the camera. He kept the talking short, the music loud and symbolic, and allowed the background to do the explaining. I loved the fact that we really knew nothing about Fonda or Hopper's characters. It allowed us to relate to them. You could easily add your story into their characters and have the life that you lead and wish to escape. Hopper was able to transform this film from a drug movie to a film about humanity. Fonda, who also helped write the film with Hopper, did a superb job of adding Nicholson's character into the mix. Nicholson represented us, the American public and our love of liquor, football, and lies. I viewed Nicholson as the average American. He drank too much, was the product of a wealthy upbringing, but did not know much about the world. He was sheltered. He never smoked weed (in fact didn't even know what it was when presented to him), never left the state line, and never lived life. He constantly used the expression, 'I have always wanted to ?'. How many times do you hear this a day from either a family member or a co-worker? If you always wanted to do it, why haven't you? So, here we have Hanson, dreaming a dream but never following through, who is traveling with two guys that live the ultimate life and live by their own rules. They are complete opposites, but Hanson's words seemed to remain in my mind for a long time. He reminded me of one of my wife's students today that spoke about freedom. He knew exactly what it was, but never practiced it. Hopper and Fonda were walking (driving most of the time) representations of the word 'freedom'. It is tragic what happens to Harmon, because he (unfortunately) experienced the negative side of freedom ? hatred and fear of the unknown. There was one scene that just jumped out at me. It occurs in the diner before the incident later that night where our travelers experience hatred in the country they admire so much. They go from peace and love to fear and hate. It is as if they witnessed night and day. It was frightening to hear the words coming from people in that restaurant. It was not only scary to wonder what was going to happen to our narrators, but mainly that people were speaking that way to fellow citizens. I know that it still occurs today, and it is surprising to me. We bomb a country because they do not follow the same principles that we do, but we need to start asking ourselves this question ? do we need another United States?
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    The daddy of all independent films. I think I have more admiration for this film than any other although I found the story a little hard to swallow. Did people get killed for growing their hair long back in the late sixties? I know that's not the point of the film, I find the gen...( read more)eral wisdom and philosophy of the film to be an honest portrayal of social change in the late 60's, I just think one killing is fine but twice is silly. Other than that the film is perfect and a real inspiration to film makers/lovers.
  • JohnnysPastPrimePlayhouse
    September 23, 2009
    JohnnysPastPrimePlayhouse
    The movie that made everyone want to ride.
  • olliehall
    September 20, 2009
    olliehall
    gud film of 70's, u will want a harley (if not already) after this film
  • ElCochran90
    September 18, 2009
    ElCochran90
    What a depressing character study and an awesome cast. You sink simultaneously with the film; what a grand direction.

    83/100
  • GothamKnights
    September 7, 2009
    GothamKnights
    "Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose," wrote Kris Kristofferson (and sang Janis Joplin) in his famous plaint "Me and Bobby McGee," a song which fits the ethos of this film perfectly.

    What were Hopper and Fonda trying to say with this film? I don't think we can...( read more) reliably know their intentions at this late stage of the game. While both Hopper and Fonda are still with us (though co-writer Terry Southern is not), so much time has gone by, and so many drugs have been consumed, that perhaps the crystalline purity of their original artistic vision has been, let us say, diluted, to at least some extent, I'm sure you'll agree.

    My view is that a lot of the good that ended up happening in this film was a result of pure serendipity and luck. Am I saying that Fonda and Hopper have no talent? No way. But here are some facts: FACT: Hopper, Fonda and Nicholson were actually smoking pot in the film where they are shown smoking pot. FACT: there was no script for the film, only a short outline. FACT: Much of the dialog was improvised. FACT: Much of the cinematography was improvised. FACT: Probably the most important scene in the film, the final campfire scene, was made up on the spot.

    When you're walking a creative tightrope like that, the odds are good that you'll end up with garbage. Fortunately for them (and for us, the viewers), it didn't turn out that way. They ended up creating the ultimate commentary on America, both in the 1960's, and, in a certain way, for all times.

    What this film says is that the Sixties Generation was a fraud. They said they would be different. They said at their beginning that they were throwing out all the trappings and evils of our modern society, going back to the land, doing something honest, pursuing freedom.

    But, after all, they didn't reject society. They were just as greedy and selfish as everyone else, in spite of their protestations to the contrary.

    Another famous film line comes into my mind: "I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contender." The Sixties generation could have done something important. But, according to Fonda's character, "We blew it." He and Hopper's character stand in for the entire counterculture. Wyatt and Billy go out into the world on their quest, and prove themselves to be just as greedy and materialistic as the mainstream society they reject. Fonda throws away his watch, but he also goes out and buys some "dream machine" and a silly leather costume, indulging in his own version of materialism.
  • chitownguy08
    September 5, 2009
    chitownguy08
    A Great movie.Even Though i was a Greaser not a hippie i liked the movie!
  • krasos89
    September 2, 2009
    krasos89
    nik nik nik nik Indians...
    nik nik nik nik swamp...
  • finnbhansen
    August 31, 2009
    finnbhansen
    This is one of my favourites
  • bradsteph
    August 26, 2009
    bradsteph
    The epitome of 60's cool, the ride of a generation.
  • SageSlowdive
    August 25, 2009
    SageSlowdive
    A brilliant revoultionary film.
  • samanthaseaotter
    August 6, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    The ultimate road movie. A classic. Not my kind of movie but must-see.
  • killerrobset
    August 5, 2009
    killerrobset
    Nicholson stole the show here. Anyway, a fine, realistic and dangerously touching road-movie.
  • ahhh1989
    August 2, 2009
    ahhh1989
    Very wondrous in it's nostalgic tone and in it's intense images. It's definitely an unforgettable film.
  • Coolpenguin1
    August 2, 2009
    Coolpenguin1
    Number 2 on my top 50 LIST!!!
  • lost2things
    July 28, 2009
    lost2things
    I SAW THIS MOVIE WAY BACK WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT I LIKED IT THEN AND STILL LIKE IT
  • txbabygirl2005
    July 27, 2009
    txbabygirl2005
    This is a very good movie
  • psyclock7
    June 29, 2009
    psyclock7
    A classic...saw this a long time ago
  • DrMaverickRanger
    June 29, 2009
    DrMaverickRanger
    So Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda were very likely on another plane of consciousness when they decided to write and film "The Trip", and were probably even more so (post the success of this super low-budget independant project which actually managed to rake in some cash) when they...( read more) wrote and made this masterpiece of 60s counterculture film.
    Billy and Wyatt are two LA hippies on choppers, who decide to roadtrip down south for Mardi Gras. On their travels they dine with a rancher and his family; stay with a commune of earth children; meet a lot of resistance from scared, small- and closed-minded, ignorant southern folk; find a fellow seeker and outcast in the alcoholic lawyer George Hanson; and finally make there destination, where they trip balls with some hookers in a cemetary and are left altogether jaded and disappointed with the experience. The movie ends with a bang both literally and figuratively, and leaves one shocked, apalled, and pitying the misunderstood who are often at the mercy of the scared, small- and closed-minded, and ignorant who generally outnumber them.

    This movie was "Brokeback Mountain" way before Heath / jake were born, and back when Ang Lee was still in diapers.

    It was incredibly written and filmed; Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson ooze sex and awesomeness, and I can't really comment on their acting as that was really just what the 3 of them were in 1969; and the soundtrack is up there with that of "Dazed and Confused" and "Empire Records" as some of the raddest soundtracks EVER!!!

    WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!
  • exoticbrillance
    June 21, 2009
    exoticbrillance
    classic favorite, now and always
  • Phonex
    June 16, 2009
    Phonex
    Laszlo Kovacs, a Hungarian cinematographer who fell in love with the American landscape on a cross-country bus ride and then used light, shadow and imagination to give visual shape to seminal films like ?Easy Rider,? died on Sunday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 74. ...( read more)



    Adrees Latif/Reuters, 2002



    Laszlo Kovacs

    Enlarge This Image



    Columbia Pictures



    In films like ?Easy Rider? (1969), Laszlo Kovacs blended a love of landscape with an innovative filming style.



    His death was announced by the International Cinematographers Guild. James Chressanthis, a cinematographer who is preparing a documentary on Mr. Kovacs and his friend and fellow cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, said that the cause was not known but that Mr. Kovacs had earlier had cancer.



    Mr. Kovacs came along in the 1960s when the old studio system was sputtering and a new independent cinema was rising. Filmmakers emerged from film schools and work on B movies to challenge traditional themes and techniques and create what has been called ?the new Hollywood,? or ?the American new wave.?



    Production moved from the studios to the streets, and the new breed used small crews, lightweight equipment and innovative means of coping with low budgets. Improvisation was both artistic goal and hard necessity. In ?Easy Rider? (1969), Mr. Kovacs used a 1968 Chevrolet convertible as his camera car, making the platform for his camera from a piece of plywood on the trunk held in place by a sandbag.



    In that movie, he wanted to portray something hopeful after the fiery demise of the character played by Peter Fonda. A rising helicopter delivered a panoramic view of the horizon, but only after Mr. Kovacs balanced a camera on one skid and counterweights on the other to keep the helicopter from tipping over.



    In ?Five Easy Pieces? (1970), Mr. Kovacs memorably matched the color of Susan Anspach?s blue eyes and the sky. In another scene, he shot Ms. Anspach and then let his camera drift elsewhere; she scurried behind the camera and he arrived back at her face, giving the illusion that the shot had gone all the way around the room.



    His tricks included using flashing lights and other techniques to create the impression of psychedelic hallucinations. His goal was to let the environment make statements about the characters. He intended for the foggy islands of the Pacific Northwest to explain the tight little family in ?Five Easy Pieces.?



    Most of his major works are clustered at the start of the 1970s, including ?That Cold Day in the Park? (1969), Robert Altman?s third feature as a director, and ?The King of Marvin Gardens? (1972), which, like ?Five Easy Pieces,? was directed by Bob Rafelson. He did six pictures with the director Peter Bogdanovich, including ?Targets? (1968), ?What?s Up, Doc?? (1972) and ?Paper Moon? (1973).



    His range grew wider, with credits including Martin Scorsese?s movies ?New York, New York? (1977) and ?The Last Waltz? (1978) and Hal Ashby?s ?Shampoo? (1975). Other movies included ?Ghost Busters? (1984) and ?My Best Friend?s Wedding? (1997).



    Mr. Kovacs was born on May 14, 1933, in Cece, a farming village about 60 miles west of Budapest. During the Nazi occupation, he distributed flyers for the propaganda movies shown each week in a school auditorium. His pay was a free seat, and he was fascinated by the flickering images.



    In 1945, he was accepted into the Academy of Drama and Film Art in Budapest, where students watched Western films surreptitiously. He was swept off his feet by ?Citizen Kane,? saying it ?changed my visual vocabulary.?



    In the uprising against the Communist regime in 1956, he and Mr. Zsigmond shot 30,000 feet of film at great risk to themselves. They escaped with the film, and some of it eventually became part of a documentary a few years later.



    They both bounced among odd jobs. Around 1957, Mr. Kovacs, who had arrived in the United States speaking no English, moved from New Jersey to Seattle, taking the memorable bus ride that found echoes later in ?Easy Rider.? In 1959, he took another bus to Los Angeles, where he reunited with Mr. Zsigmond.



    Mr. Kovacs did movies like ?The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill? (1966), often working with the B movie producer Roger Corman. After he shot eight biker movies in one year, Dennis Hopper asked him to do another. Mr. Kovacs?s reluctance to repeat himself vanished after Mr. Hopper acted out the script. ?Easy Rider,? with a budget of $340,000, was a sensation at Cannes and made $60 million.



    Mr. Kovacs is survived by his wife, Audrey, and his daughters Julianna and Nadia.



    He prided himself on spontaneity. He and the other crew members had no preconceived idea where they would shoot the classic scene in ?Five Easy Pieces? in which Jack Nicholson orders a chicken salad sandwich without the chicken salad just to get the toast he wants.



    ?Approaching the freeway, we saw a little rise, and there was the cafe,? he said in an interview with American Cinematographer magazine in 2005. ?I think we shot that scene in two hours, and then we moved on.?
  • SBAZZACCO
    June 14, 2009
    SBAZZACCO
    GREAT MOVIE. RIDE CROSS COUNTRY WITH THE DRUGS AND THE MONEY DO WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU WANT AND WHERE YOU WANT. THATS THE LIFE. NO TIME TO KEEP TRACK OF.
  • guilty161
    June 13, 2009
    guilty161
    depressing endind. like seriously. **
  • TheTaskmaster
    April 26, 2009
    TheTaskmaster
    Don't see what all the fuss is about. It's cool as a portrait of a certain time & place, but the movie itself is below average. It had no plot that I could find.
  • riktheactor
    April 8, 2009
    riktheactor
    A wonderful, perfect example of hippiedom and buddy on-the-road movies! Jack Nicholson's break out film. Hopper & Fonda are perfect buds. Like Bob Dylan said "Too bad the helicopter pilots at the end didn't come back and get the rednecks!" America ya look beautiful. The Trip is ...( read more)delicious, too! Karen Black & Toni Basil are way cool as well.
  • rce421
    April 7, 2009
    rce421
    The film is really cool with a sad ending.
  • TheGame90
    April 7, 2009
    TheGame90
    Overrated movie. I was exaclly as I expected it to be. The ending was good though
  • Jedi6789
    March 22, 2009
    Jedi6789
    the jack nicholson monologue by the campfire... is reason enough to see this film... people have liberties.. but afraid of true freedom
  • wgr7
    March 13, 2009
    wgr7
    This is the best movie that describe any motorcycle clubs. I advise everyone who wants to know the biker's way of life. Awesome movie!
  • meldepano
    March 1, 2009
    meldepano
    that lsd trip on the last part of the movie was u.u unnecessary.
  • dduarte53
    February 27, 2009
    dduarte53
    Nostalgic for anyone who has been riding a bike for many years.
  • prentisminix
    February 27, 2009
    prentisminix
    haven't seen this in forever, but i remember the end being crazy...
  • HuskersNC949597
    February 18, 2009
    HuskersNC949597
    We're ALL degenerates.
  • elviraalejandro
    February 18, 2009
    elviraalejandro
    Ride on your Harley and watch it.
  • HarleenQuinzel
    January 25, 2009
    HarleenQuinzel
    Not as entertaining or wonderful as I had been led to believe, but an important film nontheless. Also, Jack Nicholson is terrific.
  • Tetsuo8
    January 25, 2009
    Tetsuo8
    A look at America back in the day....and peoples view of one another.

Summary

Easy Rider Summary