Review of Easy Rider (84)

Plot
Wyatt and Billy are two motorcycle riders (bikers) on their way to Mardi Gras, and encounter hitchhikers, a drunken lawyer, a jail cell, a whorehouse and the death of a friend.

Jason’s Thoughts
To truly enjoy the movie Easy Rider I believe you either have to have lived during that era or be under the influence of some illegal narcotic while watching it. Since neither of those applied to me when I sat down to watch this film, I was left with a mediocre viewing experience.

I have to say that I did enjoy the landscape scenery and the movie soundtrack, both of which were excellent, but the overall story seemed to be lacking – but then again, that may have been the point. To me, the movie was basically about a hippie road trip that involved a large amount of drug use. The movie did at least give instructions on how to smoke a joint and an interpretation of an acid trip – and who says hippies can’t teach you anything.

I guess I was expecting more after hearing so many great things about this movie. I was expecting groundbreaking cinema, but unless doing drugs is groundbreaking, Easy Rider fell a bit short. Either that or I am too young to have experienced it or I was already too old when I watched it.

Crystal’s Thoughts
Unfortunately, this movie left me wondering just what exactly was it about? I am guessing that unless you witnessed the 60’s or watched this movie high or drunk, you would be left wondering the same thing. Its ironic twist at the end did allow it to rank a bit higher on the rating scale, along with the fact that the movie itself kept one’s attention throughout. For me, I think it was because I was hoping that eventually there would be some kind of storyline. Much to my dismay, I wasn’t left with one I could really use to summarize this film.

One part of the film that I would say almost anyone would appreciate is the exception job that was done to capture scenery. As I was watching this movie, I felt as if I was part of the ride across the countryside on the way to Louisiana. The roads the two bikers traveled were very real. I didn’t feel like I was watching a home movie or a camera inside a car (you know that feeling I am referring to, those movies with car scenes that are just so fake). At one point, I yearned to go to the Black Hills of South Dakota again as I felt that’s where the bikers were in the movie. Of course I knew this wasn’t possible as they were traveling from Los Angeles to Louisiana. If they were in South Dakota, they were much higher than one could ever imagine. Once they got to their destination of Mardi Gras though, I felt the camera really lost the specialness it had. These scenes seemed surreal

I guess I don’t have much more to say about the movie. For me, there simply wasn’t a story line. Again, I am sure if one were drunk or high, it would make for a really interesting flick, especially the scene in which they are on an acid trip. This though, for me, took away from the wonderful camera work that could have been done portraying Mardi Gras as instead they choose to film it in a way that took away from it as the director looked more to capturing the drug effects. Mardi Gras is one event I’ve always wanted to take part in. This movie left me with a little less desire for it. Thankfully, the 60’s are over, and I know it will be a whole different experience when I am able to visit. As for the movie, may I suggest that you only watch it for the excellent camera work and not the storyline. One simply does not exist.

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