Easy Rider

I received the movie on the 24th of May in excellent condition! I played the movie and the music was not bad but satisfactory for the movie of its time, it wasn’t stereo!! The video was good color but lacked the brilliance of color seen in contemporary movies! To me this shows me that either the movie equipment wasn’t of high quality or the storage of this movie affected the movie quality?? Nevertheless I enjoyed the movie and the storyline!!I was surprised that the sale for this movie came from Australia an an import??I will add this classic to my movie collection!!

Easy Rider is a truly landmark film in the true sense of the meaning of the term. Produced on a very low budget and set in the late 60's it was, in my opinion, the first movie to really capture a particularly interesting moment in time. While many films sort of used the notion of the late 60's, drugs, sex, rebellion, idealism, as a means to make money, this seemed really the first film to accurately reflect a realistic image of the time period with an unflinching eye.Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play Wyatt, or Captain America, and Billy, two free type spirits who, after a making quite a bit of money through a sale of drugs, decide to hit the road and drive cross country to Mardi Gras. Along the way, they pick up George Hanson, a southern lawyer, played by Jack Nicholson.While watching this movie, you may get a sense that it is sort of a western, with the western landscapes and the main characters riding 'iron' horses. This was the intention of the filmmakers, especially the director, Dennis Hopper. One of my favorite scenes was at the beginning, right before Wyatt and Billy are about to embark on their trip, Wyatt removes his watch and throws it on the ground. This symbolized a sense of throwing off the constraints of the old world and an effort to embrace true freedom, if there is such a thing.Nicholson tends to steal the scenes he is in, and gives a particularly wonderful piece about what freedom is, and why people are so afraid of it. He sort of represented to me one who has been fed many misconceptions about the individuals and movement Wyatt and Billy represent, but once in their company, finds that much of what he has been told may not be true. A sort of individual caught between the generations.The film is dated, but that didn't detract anything for me. The only scene I really didn't care for was when Wyatt, Billy, Mary (Toni Basil), and Karen (Karen Black) drop acid in a Louisiana cemetery and proceed to trip for an extended period of time.Along with wonderful performances, much credit must go to the cinematographer, as the landscapes are beautiful, especially the wide shots of the western scenery. They are truly breathtaking. And the music used was exceptionally good, fitting each scene and helping to create the proper mood throughout the film.The movie presented here looks excellent, in anamorphic wide screen, and includes a commentary by Dennis Hopper. Also included is a wonderful 'Making of' featurette called Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage which really helps to illustrate all that went into making this film. The production, at time, often reflected the turbulent times of when the film was made, and helps to give more flavor to the movie, really enhancing the overall effect. All in all, Easy Rider is a wonderful slice of outsider Hollywood that captured the true essence of an exceptionally turbulent time in America.

This is well worth the (minor) investment to have a copy of one of the seminal works of American cinema. Born of naivete, made on an almost-impossibly short budget, filmed in actual locations and making use of pop-music stars as actors, actors as directors, directors as stuntmen, and real locals as (reluctant) actors, this may be the ultimate in independently-minded filmmaking.When I first saw bits of this on American TV in the 1970s, I dismissed it as a story about dope addicts. That was a very shortsighted (and inaccurate assessment. Seeing it now I recognise a very profound story about two almost-lost souls searching for something uplifting and good about America during the Vietnam-war draft era. Pay close attention to how Fonda admonishes Hopper for criticising the commune's food-- this is a guy with heart and compassion. By the time they get to Mardi Gras, all he wants is to be cradled in the arms of his (long-gone) mother, a woman or just Jesus-- the LSD trip in the graveyard echoes with the Catholic rites and catechism reminding him that, for all his fruitless searching, he can never truly go home.The new 'special edition' includes 'making-of' footages and interviews that really enlighten the viewer as to how and why this was made. The best part of that is learning that the Louisiana rednecks and girls in the diner were actually locals, pressed into service as actors. Hopper asked them if they could play the parts of local people who hate hippies-- no difficult task. Imagine how the actors and crew felt in putting a real shotgun into the hands of these guys later!Spoiler: the two motorcycles used for the principal characters were actually four: two were put into storage after the film and were subsequently stolen and two were left right where they ended up at the end of the film, being essentially junk by then. No-one has EVER been able to credibly claim that they have a Harley that was *actually* used in the making of 'Easy Rider'.

Still a good movie but maybe it’s starting to show it’s age. Getting a little harder to identify with the main characters. Getting easier to think “Get a job, hippy!” Hollywood wouldn’t make this movie today because they’d want to make “Easy Rider 2” and “Still Easy Ridin': Spring Break”.

One of the best movies focusing on counterculture! Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper venture throughout America with their motorcycles and run into trouble.

Great 60s movie with action, adventure and view of the 1960s hip people.Famous actors - Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and Karen Black.Worth watching!!!!!