Wow, of all the silly motorcycle gang movies of the 1960s and 1970s, this one is THE WORST, and that's saying a lot, since most all were just awful.
Jack Nicholson was lucky his career survived this nonsensical slop, especially since he kept being referred to as a "kid", even though he was 30 years old but looked 40, with a deeply receded hairline and a forehead with so many wrinkles it looked to be made of linen. But everybody loves Jack now so we can forgive him this junk.
Jack's career somehow survived and kept on growing. The same cannot be said for anybody else involved in this cinematic abortion. The director, whose name I've already forgotten in the last two minutes, seems to have limited his directorial efforts to telling the actors to "act zany and whacky until I say 'Cut!'". There's not much plot beyond the premise of Jack joining up with the Hells Angels until he rubs the leader the wrong way, then yet another very poorly choreographed fight scene ensues, which ends with the death of one of the absolute worst stunt dummy's ever seen on screen. It doesn't even look as life-like as a store mannequin.
The script is ludicrous, the acting is tediously bad, and all the filler scenes of bikers and hippies "making the scene" in the legendary sixties are nothing but boring and goofy. I guess you had to be there to have fun because watching others act like idiots is not entertaining.
The use of "real" Hells Angels added nothing to this movie. They surely cannot act and they have a hard time struggling not to look at the camera. They are self-conscious when it comes time to show off and act bizarrely, so it's hard for the viewer to believe this comes naturally to them. There's one hopelessly plotted scene where Sonny Barger (who was out of prison for a change while this junk was filmed) jumps off his bike at a red light to deeply kisses the Angel sitting on the bike next to him. It's supposed to be shocking to the "squares", but it just comes off as forced and pointless. And Sonny acts like he obviously is aware he's performing for a camera.
The several fight scenes in this movie are very poorly executed and unrealistic - especially when somebody ends up dead (beaten to death, we are told) in a fight any Girl Scout could have skipped away from. Most of the fights involve compliant stunt men patiently waiting for an actor to wind up and throw a big punch that anybody else could have easily blocked, ducked or slowly walked away from.
There's minimal blood considering all the alleged violence, and there's even a fatal car wreck that didn't appear to have wrinkled a fender because the car just went off the road and rolled down a hill. The driver was an old man, so maybe he had a heart attack. But that doesn't stop Jack Starrett from making his obligatory appearance, as he did in all biker films of the day, as the menacing cop with a deep, smooth voice who is always showing up to spoil the fun and threaten the happy-go-lucky bikers with all sorts of imprisonment. In this flick he gets his man (his second choice, anyway) but doesn't hold on to him long. I never did understand how the Angels thwarted the motorcycle cops who were supposed to be escorting the evil Angel to jail, but the cops did roll down a hill for some reason. And the Angel rode off on his bike. Were cops really that stupid back then that they'd arrest someone for causing the death of an innocent and then let him ride his motorcycle to jail while they rode along as escorts? And all the cops in cars took different routes? Wow, it must've been great to be a criminal 50 year ago.
Then at last there's the final fight and a fake dummy dies, and the movie very suddenly ends. Really strange way to end this thing. I'm willing to bet everybody just got bored and wanted to go home.
Jack Nicholson was lucky his career survived this nonsensical slop, especially since he kept being referred to as a "kid", even though he was 30 years old but looked 40, with a deeply receded hairline and a forehead with so many wrinkles it looked to be made of linen. But everybody loves Jack now so we can forgive him this junk.
Jack's career somehow survived and kept on growing. The same cannot be said for anybody else involved in this cinematic abortion. The director, whose name I've already forgotten in the last two minutes, seems to have limited his directorial efforts to telling the actors to "act zany and whacky until I say 'Cut!'". There's not much plot beyond the premise of Jack joining up with the Hells Angels until he rubs the leader the wrong way, then yet another very poorly choreographed fight scene ensues, which ends with the death of one of the absolute worst stunt dummy's ever seen on screen. It doesn't even look as life-like as a store mannequin.
The script is ludicrous, the acting is tediously bad, and all the filler scenes of bikers and hippies "making the scene" in the legendary sixties are nothing but boring and goofy. I guess you had to be there to have fun because watching others act like idiots is not entertaining.
The use of "real" Hells Angels added nothing to this movie. They surely cannot act and they have a hard time struggling not to look at the camera. They are self-conscious when it comes time to show off and act bizarrely, so it's hard for the viewer to believe this comes naturally to them. There's one hopelessly plotted scene where Sonny Barger (who was out of prison for a change while this junk was filmed) jumps off his bike at a red light to deeply kisses the Angel sitting on the bike next to him. It's supposed to be shocking to the "squares", but it just comes off as forced and pointless. And Sonny acts like he obviously is aware he's performing for a camera.
The several fight scenes in this movie are very poorly executed and unrealistic - especially when somebody ends up dead (beaten to death, we are told) in a fight any Girl Scout could have skipped away from. Most of the fights involve compliant stunt men patiently waiting for an actor to wind up and throw a big punch that anybody else could have easily blocked, ducked or slowly walked away from.
There's minimal blood considering all the alleged violence, and there's even a fatal car wreck that didn't appear to have wrinkled a fender because the car just went off the road and rolled down a hill. The driver was an old man, so maybe he had a heart attack. But that doesn't stop Jack Starrett from making his obligatory appearance, as he did in all biker films of the day, as the menacing cop with a deep, smooth voice who is always showing up to spoil the fun and threaten the happy-go-lucky bikers with all sorts of imprisonment. In this flick he gets his man (his second choice, anyway) but doesn't hold on to him long. I never did understand how the Angels thwarted the motorcycle cops who were supposed to be escorting the evil Angel to jail, but the cops did roll down a hill for some reason. And the Angel rode off on his bike. Were cops really that stupid back then that they'd arrest someone for causing the death of an innocent and then let him ride his motorcycle to jail while they rode along as escorts? And all the cops in cars took different routes? Wow, it must've been great to be a criminal 50 year ago.
Then at last there's the final fight and a fake dummy dies, and the movie very suddenly ends. Really strange way to end this thing. I'm willing to bet everybody just got bored and wanted to go home.