Bikers, singers of freedom, these men in leather on a steel horse, the heroes of heavy metal action films are ideal characters for a heroic epic. They can be both good-natured and romantic, and demons from hell. It seems that the topic is inexhaustible. But not everything is so rosy. Yes, there was a period when there were so many films about motorcyclists and biker gangs that the concept of “biker fusion” even appeared in the press, by analogy with other exploitation films.
The time of rebellion against the life principles of parents who somehow survived the Second World War was marked by the emergence of nihilistic subcultures, the most radical of which was the bike movement. Movies are the best way to describe the life of men in leather on motorcycles, so here is a list of films about them.
- Easy Rider
- Wild angels
- Hell's Angels on Wheels
- Savage
- Without love
- Betta fish
- Black rain
- Beyond the Law
- Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
- Ghost rider
Easy Rider
- Rating 7.7 / 7.3 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre: Drama, Adventure
- Country: USA
- Starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson
- Directed by Dennis Hopper
- Duration 95 min. / 01:35
- Studio Raybert Productions
- Premiere date: May 12, 1969
- Screenplay Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern
Easy Rider marked the advent of the New Hollywood era. By the end of the sixties, peplums and musicals were no longer a sufficient return on crazy investments. Then the studio bosses decided to rely on youth, and for this they needed young directors with their own fresh perspective. The main thing is that it is cheap and cheerful.
Dennis Hopper delivered on all counts. There was a real creative chaos on the site, and the rebellious spirit of hippie culture was in the air. Constant disputes between the director and the leading actor Peter Fonda over the script turned the filming into primordial chaos. Hopper, like his film, embodied a whole generation of young people, as they said then, who had lost their bearings. On set, the actors smoked weed, the film was stored in terrible conditions, and the cameraman filmed against the sun. The director himself said terrible things about the actors to civilians acting as extras, so that their reaction to the characters would be naturally aggressive. Often the director attacked those who disagreed with his vision.
The image of a biker racing across America, seemingly without purpose, perfectly captures the mood and feelings of a generation. Although "The Rider" can hardly be classified as a plot-friendly film: it is rather a series of bizarre, frightening, sometimes funny encounters on an equally stupid, but important journey.
Trailer:
Wild angels
- Rating 6.1 / 5.7 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Action, Thriller, Drama
- Country: USA
- Starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern
- Director Roger Corman
- Duration 93 min. / 01:33
- American International Pictures Studio
- Premiere date: July 20, 1966
- Screenplay by Charles B. Griffith, Peter Bogdanovich
Yes, Easy Rider was the film that changed the way Hollywood cinema was viewed. To the misunderstanding of the canons of filmmaking, tricks picked up from the New French Wave were added, and thus a new film language was born. But Roger Corman mastered these techniques a little earlier. True, his “Wild Angels” turned out to be closer to European viewers who were interested in seeing American nihilistic cinema. At home, the picture went almost unnoticed. It is likely that the great king of B-movies intended this, because Akella rarely missed and always knew which audience his work was aimed at.
The Hell's Angels gang rides around America on their bikes. The guys do not recognize laws and generally lead a freedom-loving lifestyle, avoiding the authorities and having fun at the first opportunity. But one day the bikers encounter Mexicans who are not at all happy to see noisy motorcyclists in their desert. Police break up the fight and arrest the wounded Angels member. The valiant rebels cannot allow their friend to die among the cops, so they steal him away, after which the unlucky fellow on the iron horse dies among his friends. The bikers don’t have medicine, of course.
"Wild Angels" is a much more cruel and uncompromising movie than the same "Rider". The main character, who is also the leader of a biker gang, is not such a romantic dreamer. After all, after burying a friend, the team can’t think of anything better than having an orgy. This is because the bikers are burned not only by the sun above their heads, but also by the fire in their empty souls. Therefore, violence and cruelty are their last chances to feel something.
An unexpectedly hopeless movie from such a funny guy as Corman. It’s not for nothing that the real gang of Hell’s Angels, who also starred in the film, filed a lawsuit against the director for presenting their association in a sharply negative way.
Trailer:
Express Delivery (2011)
Ki Soo works as a regular courier. In fact, this work was created for him. He has a motorcycle that he races on. Moreover, the guy always delivers everything on time. Orders are becoming more expensive and urgent. And the next one could be fatal, which is something Ki doesn’t want at all.
Hell's Angels on Wheels
- Rating 6.2 / 5.2 (Kinopoisk/IMDb), 9 / 7.6 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Thriller, Drama, Crime
- Country: USA
- Starring Jack Nicholson, Adam Roark, Sabrina Scharf, Jana Taylor
- Director Richard Rush
- Duration 95 min. / 01:35
- Yellow Bird Films Studio
- Premiere date November 2, 1967
- Screenplay by R. Wright Campbell
Just as Fonda came to “Rider” from “Wild Angels” already as a biker, so by the time he worked in Hopper’s film, Nicholson had already been a biker in the film “Hell’s Angels on Wheels.” This is one of the biker films that became popular towards the end of the sixties. It is noteworthy that this film was personally advised by the president of the very Hells Angels who, a year before, swore at Corman.
A guy named Poet (Jack Nicholson) lives a boring life, working at a gas station somewhere in the middle of nowhere. One day he was unlucky enough to get into a fight with one of the members of a biker gang. For some reason, the brutal long-haired rebels were impressed by the guy’s behavior and took him with them. But the Poet was not shy and threw himself headlong into the pool. On a journey through daddy's America, the Poet seeks liberation from his own shackles, proves his right to love and generally finds himself.
The film was created to show how young daring guys on powerful motorcycles rush across the Earth, breaking human laws and giving birth to their own. Let this be accompanied by stupid rowdiness and excessive loudness.
Trailer:
Savage
- Rating 7.1 / 6.8 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Thriller, Drama, Romance
- Country: USA
- Starring Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith, Lee Marvin
- Directed by Laszlo Benedek
- Duration 79 min. / 01:19
- Columbia Pictures Studio
- Premiere date December 25, 1953
- Screenplay: John Paxton, Ben Maddow, Frank Rooney
One of the first movie heroes who managed to express their dissatisfaction with the structure of the world with the help of loud music and the roar of the engine of their bike appeared in Laszlo Benedek’s film “The Savage”. The image of Marlon Brando as a rebel on a steel horse became the standard for bikers of the fifties and sixties. But the image of a gang of young people riding noisy bikes, drinking alcohol and causing riots is a frightening thing for the average person.
And Johnny (Marlon Brando) is the leader of just such a group. He is one of his circle who still thinks, is able to formulate thoughts and analyze. The rest prefer to drink, destroy and pick up girls in every new town that comes their way. It’s a pity that such gangs are a dime a dozen, and one of them showed up in the city where Johnny’s gang was staying. The story of the confrontation between two warring teams hungry for impressions fades into the background when the rebels clash with ordinary people and the police.
Despite the fact that the film romanticizes bikers, it does not hesitate to show the destructiveness and dead-end path of their rebellion. At the same time, the approach of a preemptive strike from society is also criticized. Even before the guys have done anything, people and authorities are ready to attack, isolate and punish potential aggressors. This way the viewer can be in the shoes of each side of the conflict and try to understand everyone.
Trailer:
Without love
- Rating 6.1 / 6.2 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Drama
- Country: USA
- Starring Willem Dafoe, Robert Gordon, Marin Kanter
- Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery
- Duration 85 min. / 01:25
- Pioneer Films Studio
- Premiere date: August 7, 1981
- Screenplay by Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery
James Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow is not only famous for winning two Oscars for The Hurt Locker, beating her ex with Avatar that year. The director has always loved to explore the male world. The relationship between two enemies-friends from the film Point Break lives and pulsates. For Bigelow, they are boys who will not stop playing with their childhood toys, but for the sake of friendship they can sacrifice everything. Likewise, in her interpretation of a film about bikers, the main character cares only about his motorcycle and how it looks at the moment.
Vance (Willem Dafoe) wears a biker jacket with stars pinned to it, like Brando's character in The Wild One. Yes, he even finds himself in a similar situation - he and the gang get stuck in a small decent town for one reason or another. But for Bigelow, these are not those revolutionaries and terrorists fighting the system with their metallic growls, these are just slobs for whom the most important thing is to get to the race and not have their hair disheveled.
The director seems to have figured out that this whole wave of films about guys on bikes is not at all about fighting anything. These guys wanted to look extravagant and ride beautiful, powerful motorcycles and play with cool shiny toys. And the sexual connotations are read almost more clearly than in the same “Crest of a Wave.”
Trailer:
Hell Ride (2008)
This is an American neo-outlaw biker film composed and coordinated by Larry Bishop. Featuring Bishop, Michael Madsen, Dennis Hopper, Eric Balfour, Vinnie Jones, Leonor Varela and David Carradine. Filmed according to the Quentin Tarantino Presents standard. The film is a tribute to the first getaway biker films of the 1960s and 1970s. Two rival biker gangs, the Victors and the Six-Six-Six, are fueling their long-standing rivalry.
Betta fish
- Rating 7.7 / 7.2 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Crime
- Country: USA
- Starring Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane
- Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
- Duration 94 min. / 01:34
- Zoetrope Studios
- Premiere date: October 7, 1983
- Script by S.E. Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola's youth drama introduced actors Nicolas Cage, Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon to the world. It is noteworthy that the symbol for the invariably lost generation in Coppola’s film becomes a biker, strange, incomprehensible and generally as if he came from another universe.
Rusty James (Matt Dillon), the leader of a local gang, recklessly starts a showdown with a rival organization. The hapless rebel is saved by his brother Motorcyclist (Mickey Rourke), the legendary king of the city, who has long abandoned his former possessions. Now he speaks distantly and vaguely about the surrounding reality, does not particularly support his younger brother and his ardent impulses, but is not going to stop him either. Rusty himself does not fully understand that the time of gangs is objectively over and that his brother, his hero, humbly realizes this. Where heroin has settled, there is no place not only for the fight for freedom and a place in the world, but for life in general. It is a rare case when a biker in a movie acts as a symbol of reconciliation with reality.
Trailer:
"Crazy Max"
Of course, first of all, this film is not about motorcycles at all. However, the main antagonists of the film are the bikers. They terrorize civilians by traveling on their motorcycles and wreaking havoc. In this cult low-budget film, the main role was played by none other than Mel Gibson himself. For him, this film became the debut in his career and opened the way to big cinema. The film gained cult status and led to the creation of an entire franchise that is still popular to this day. The plot centers on an experienced law enforcement officer named Max. He fights crime day and night in a post-apocalyptic world where lawlessness reigns. He is famous for his brutal methods, which led to him being called insane. But soon he will have a worthy opponent in the person of a psychopathic biker and his crazy gang. Will Max be able to stop the attackers before they do something irreparable?
Black rain
- Rating 6.9 / 6.7 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Action, Thriller, Crime
- Country: USA
- Starring Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Kate Capshaw
- Directed by Ridley Scott
- Duration 125 min. / 02:05
- Paramount Pictures Studio
- Premiere date September 22, 1989
- Screenplay: Craig Bolotin, Warren Lewis
New York cop Nick (Michael Douglas) is obsessed not only with his job, but also with motorcycles. Fly through the city at night on a powerful bike, forgetting about the dirt of its streets and accusations of involvement in corruption. Yes, the local hero is as romantic as he is pragmatic. Biker of the new time, no matter what.
Nick and his young partner Charlie accompany gangster Kogi Sato, who Nick arrested for murder, to his native Japan. But at the airport, the criminal is taken away unnoticed by tough American police. The partners are forced to endure a humiliating investigation of the circumstances of the case, after which they begin their own illegal investigation and search for Sato. It’s not for nothing that Nick is still a biker and a rebel.
Producer and leading man Michael Douglas insisted that the film be a down-to-earth police story, with a minimum of the long-winded discussions of existence that Ridley Scott always loved. And from a box office point of view, the producer knew what he was doing. "Black Rain" at that time became the second commercially successful film in Scott's career. Although it is noticeable that the focus was on a deep story about a real American who found himself in a country that is still trying to comprehend the consequences of that very “Black Rain” (this is the name given to the radioactive fallout that fell after the bombing of Hiroshima). Therefore, Douglas’s hero is a policeman, a man with some power and weapons, as well as a biker, a representative of one of the most freedom-loving subcultures.
The result is a gloomy road movie, during which the main character finds long-lost moral principles.
Trailer:
"Che Guevara: The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004)
According to critics, a biker film is one in which a hero on a motorcycle plays an important role in the plot. Therefore, the film about the journey of Che Guevara is classified as a biker film, although the events in it take place on another continent and several decades before the birth of the biker movement.
The diaries of the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara were discovered many years after his death, and were published only in 1993 in Cuba.
Gael Garcia Bernal, the lead actor, is of Mexican descent. He spent a year preparing for the role, trying to imitate the Argentine accent, studying all possible biographies of the Comandante and meeting his family and friends.
The film about the young Che's journey on a motorcycle from Argentina to Venezuela in eight months turned out to be a success. According to IMDb, she has received 36 awards, including an Oscar and two BAFTAs. The film caused a surge in tourism in the region. Tour operators were approached by clients with a request to sell a tour to the “places of Che Guevara” shown in the movies.
Still from the film “Che Guevara: The Motorcycle Diaries”: YouTube/Igor Su
Beyond the Law
- Rating 7.5 / 6.5 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Thriller, Drama, Crime
- Country: USA
- Starring Charlie Sheen, Linda Fiorentino, Michael Madsen
- Director Larry Ferguson
- Duration 108 min. / 01:48
- Capitol Films Studio
- Premiere date April 22, 1993
- Screenplay by Larry Ferguson
By the nineties, the fashion for bikers in films had almost disappeared. People on powerful motorcycles who reject social values have lost their mysterious charm. But director Larry Ferguson managed to create a film on television that became a cult classic.
The Jackals biker gang does not waste time on intimidating the population of small towns. The police suspect that rebels against the system are, among other things, involved in drug and weapons trafficking. Policeman Dan Saxon (Charlie Sheen) decides to infiltrate the gang under the name Sid. The newly minted knight road quickly earns the trust of leader Blood (Michael Madsen). All that’s left to do is to dig up materials to arrest the spirited motorcyclists.
Yes, the film failed to revive interest in biker rallying, but it showed an unexpected angle for stories about men on bikes. The main character has to make a huge effort not only to balance between the trust of the gang leader and the line of legality, but also simply human affections. Ferguson pushed the ideological component of the bike movement into the background, and brought personal relationships between people to the fore.
Trailer:
Deadpan, 1991
Lance Henriksen in the film Unflappable
Another film that is better to watch in the correct translation. This is an old-school movie with a real biker atmosphere and a cult performance with cool motorcycles, bikers, soundtracks and quotes that stick in your brain. And, of course, Lance Henriksen and William Forsyth. This is definitely a film that can be watched over and over again.
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
- Rating 7.6 / 6.2 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre Action, Thriller, Drama
- Country: USA
- Starring Mickey Rourke, Don Johnson, Chelsea Field
- Director Simon Wincer
- Duration 98 min. / 01:38
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio
- Premiere date: August 23, 1991
- Screenplay by Don Michael Paul
Another biker-themed film from the nineties that failed miserably at the American box office. The Russian audience fell in love with a couple of bikers with colorful names and no less striking external images.
Harley Davidson (Mickey Rourke) and the Marlboro Man (Don Johnson), no longer young easy riders, lead the lifestyle of rebels lost in time. The guys are no longer eager to destroy the system, but they also cannot keep up with the modern world. Or they can race on their bikes along the roads, drown their problems with alcohol and get into trouble. Friends ended up in one of these when they found out that their favorite bar wanted to take over the bank because the owner of the establishment could not afford the high rent. To collect as much as two million dollars, Harley and Marlboro decide to rob a bank by attacking a cash collection vehicle. Who could have known that drugs would be found there, not money.
The unlucky nihilists found themselves drawn into one of the most cunning criminal schemes. The people the two dinosaurs have to fight are calculating, smart, and play for high stakes. Old hippies are infuriated by this sleek plastic world, and they are even ready to sacrifice their lives just to prove their right to be free.
Trailer:
Real boars
Wild Hogs
- USA, 2007.
- Action, comedy, adventure.
- Duration: 100 minutes.
- IMDb: 5.8.
Four middle-aged bikers, tired of routine, decide to shake off the old days and ride across the whole country on motorcycles. But along the way they encounter problems - first frivolous, and then truly dangerous.
A silly, but very kind parody film is unlikely to impress arthouse connoisseurs, but is guaranteed to put everyone else in a good mood. And biker movie fans will also appreciate the funny cameos. So, in one of the episodes the omnipresent Peter Fonda appears, who advises the heroes to throw out their watches, as he once did in “Easy Rider.” In addition, the bar features glimpses of two of the famed creators of Orange County Choppers.
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Ghost rider
- Rating 6.3 / 5.3 (Kinopoisk/IMDb)
- Genre fantasy, action thriller
- Country: USA
- Starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Peter Fonda
- Director Mark Steven Johnson
- Duration 110 min. / 01:50
- Columbia Pictures Studio
- Premiere date January 15, 2007
- Screenplay by Mark Steven Johnson
The apotheosis of stories about bikers is fantasy and science fiction of various kinds. The animated series “Rocker Mice from Mars” is proof of this. But, as you know, the main exploitative media are comics. And they followed the theme of bikers far and wide. The most popular motorcyclist at Marvel, for example, is the Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the demon Mephisto and was supposed to collect the souls of sinners and send them to hell.
The film begins with some backstory about the film's main MacGuffin, the contract for a thousand souls. During the time of the Wild West, Mephistopheles himself (Peter Fonda) sent his servant Phantom Rider to retrieve the scroll. But he decided that it would be painful for the devil and disappeared with the cherished agreement.
A century and a half later, young stuntman Johnny Blaze lives a happy life. He is young, talented and in love. But it turns out that his father is dying of lung cancer. Then Mephistopheles flies up to the young motorcyclist with a tempting offer: he will heal Johnny’s father, but it will cost the motorcyclist his soul. The cancer is gone, but Johnny's father dies during a stunt gone wrong. Now the talented stuntman is forced to leave his beloved so that she does not see how he will work for the forces of hell.
Despite the critics' defeat and unimpressive box office receipts, the film became a cult in its own way. Nicolas Cage, as a man who bears a terrible curse, looks more like an eccentric than a dramatic character. It seems that according to Cage’s idea, Blaze has long gone crazy with his invulnerability. After all, he became a great stuntman and performs such stunts that it is impossible to survive. And if your entertainment for relaxation is watching a show where monkeys do kung fu, while drinking a glass of jelly beans, not everything is in order in your life. Therefore, when Mephistopheles finally appears to his servant and demands to deal with his rebellious son, it becomes clear that Blaze was just waiting for this. With manic gusto, the motorcyclist burns to the bone, jumps on his hellish bike and rushes to administer justice.
Trailer:
Documentary films about motorcycles
Films about motorcyclists form our impression of the lives of these reckless and brave people. We watch with bated breath how bikers do amazing things with their motorcycles, what stunts they perform. Documentary films about motorcycles are the most realistic films that tell everything about this equipment and their owners. About the life of the most famous athletes who devoted themselves to motorsports. About various motorcycle competitions. About the development and modernization of many models of motorcycles, which are produced by various manufacturing companies together with the movie, the director tried to show why many of us love the bike. Why and why does a person decide to sit on a motorcycle.
The film consists of many examples where motorcyclists are people of various professions and ages, nationalities and abilities.
To tell the full story of the famous American racer who died during the Baja 1000 race, his family agreed with a film studio. In the film, Kurt Caselli is told by his friends, team members. What a character he had, what a cheerful person he was, and how masterfully he mastered the technique of driving a motorcycle. Caselli died from a collision with an animal.
The racer's family plans to transfer all proceeds from the film's distribution to Kurt's foundation. This foundation is dedicated to making off-road motorcycle racing as safe as possible.
