Easy Rider (DVD) > Reviews > Dazed and Confused...

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	seminal road movie .
Disadvantages:	not really sure .  .  .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Easy Rider. Whoa. It took me twenty-five years to see it, but I finally did it. And it’s exactly like I thought it would be. Man, I really feel for those counterculture hippies now. I really wanna grab a bike and find… whatever the hell it is they’re trying to find…

I think that perhaps I didn’t get it. Maybe it’s a generational thing, but as far as I could figure, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (who also directs,) get a bunch of money from a drug score involving Phil Spector, and then ride about a bit, have a trip with some prostitutes and then… the end.

That’ll be it. I’m just too young to appreciate the undertones of just how dangerous this movie is, man. It’s making a statement about dropping out: Don’t do it in the South. Like Deliverance, this does for Louisiana tourism what goths with shotguns do for the ‘Stay In School’ campaign. I think it’s saying that being a hippie, or trying to be yourself, or just plain being a little diff’rent, marks you out and turns you either into a complete nutbag or a corpse. Or maybe they just get their just desserts for that drug deal at the start. Drugs Are Bad says Dennis Hopper…. Hmmmm…. Don’t quote me on that.

One suspects that this is a movie of it’s time. I have long hair and have never experienced the sheer stupid bigotry that something as simple as this would subject you to in the late sixties and seventies. It doesn’t translate; Times have moved on, our bigotry and racism have found larger targets. The hippies have mostly dropped back in and run the world.

Oh yeah, the movie.

The performances are great, although this is probably because none of the leads are actually acting. Hopper’s drug intake was legendary (just see him in Apocalypse Now for further examples of his type of method acting,) but his directoral style of cutting between scenes using a slow strobe/cut is jarring and ultimately annoys. Nicholson doesn’t really deserve the plaudits he received for this, but that’s with the benefit of hindsight and knowing exactly what Jack is capable of. Fonda spouts obscure things like ‘We blew it, man’ and comes off a little smug and the soundtrack is very, very cool.

And that’s all I can think of to say.
If you’re partial to altering you states, see it altered. If you’re not, It’ll probably leave you cold.

That’s it. It’s only ninety minutes, after all. Maybe it seems longer if you’re stoned.

UPDATE -
Because I am that shallow and because I have nothing else to do except chase the validation of strangers: Dennis Hopper (the weird handlebar-moustached cowboy hat wearing one,) directed, Peter Fonda (The other one, mostly called 'Captain America' because of the American flag motif on his bike/jacket/helmet,) produced. The soundtrack is a scorching mix of 'Born To Be Wild' type stuff, along with some extremely dodgy hippie guitar music. There.
Lousy 'H' rating. Love me now!