Easy Rider (1969) watch along
Added 2024-12-06 18:02:28 +0000 UTCHappy AFI Friday!
#84 on the AFI list Easy Rider (1969)
*******Light Spoilers Below*******
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this film at first, to be honest. It wasn’t the pacing, the breathtaking landscapes, or the introspection—it wasn’t any of that. I just wasn’t sure. Maybe it’s because the film reflects so much of the turmoil and change of the 1960s, and I feel a bit naive about it all.
But as the movie unfolded, things started to sink in. Characters like Wyatt began to resonate with me in a way I didn’t expect. I really came to appreciate the raw, stripped-down style and how unapologetically unique the movie is. It takes creative risks, and I love that. And that ending? It’s unforgettable—it left me shaken.
I’m still not sure where this one will land when I rank the list myself. It’s not a huge favourite for me so far, but I have a lot of appreciation for it. It was cool to see Dennis Hopper both direct and act in this. Now, I’m even more curious to check out more of his work, along with Peter Fonda’s.
Let me know your thoughts!
xx
ames
Comments
"They'll talk to ya and talk to ya about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." "Ya well it don't make em running scared" "No, it makes em dangerous" I carry this quote with me all the time, especially when I hear someone say 'things were so much better back in the day' and I'm like... "No they weren't. Nothing has changed. There have always been small minded, easily confused man-childs who are so afraid of anything outside their bubble they become dangerous. This is a more than a classic. Thanks for riding with me back to the days of my childhood to witness the tragic death of the American dream. Cheers.
Natas Krad
2024-12-27 10:25:06 +0000 UTCTo me, Wyatt (Peter Fonda) represents the “mainstream” of the countercultural left of the ‘60s in the US. He partakes in the counterculture (listens to rock ’n’ roll, smokes grass on weekends, attends a few swinger parties). But he hasn’t gone full hippie like Billy (Dennis Hopper) -- he has a residual sense of patriotism (“Captain America”); his hair is longish, but not out of control; he usually wears a helmet; he’s clean-shaven. At the same time, he’s much further out on the left than most Americans were willing to go. (Fonda’s real life upbringing mirrored his character’s background; he was the son of Henry Fonda, a lifelong Democrat and a devout man of the Left who wanted nothing to do with hippies.)
JM63
2024-12-08 18:35:11 +0000 UTCAfter smoking some grass and meditating for a few hours, I had some thoughts about the characters in Easy Rider. (SPOILERS)
JM63
2024-12-08 18:34:13 +0000 UTCAgreed!
Toc
2024-12-07 17:55:11 +0000 UTCI have a comfy couch. I like the movie. I agreed with your judgments. Also agree that the movie has a wonderful soundtrack and a tragic ending. I like the 1968-72 time period -- aside from the chances of being harassed or killed for being a longhair. I know you hate that people are judged or treated wrongly because of the way they look or for not conforming. Nicholson explained it that some people are afraid of people who seem different -- it arouses resentment and hangups they may have in their own lives. A cool road trip through stunning scenery. Weed gives me anxiety. I like New Orleans. Been several times but intentionally did not go during Mardis Gras. If I remember, I have been to that cemetery (where they took the acid) but the entrance gate was closed/locked. "Just shut up and take it, man." I have been to traditional Mardis Gras in Cajun country (central Louisiana) and Mardis Gras in Galveston. Thanks for the reaction. I like Dennis Hopper in True Romance (1993) (written by Tarantino) and Hoosiers (1986) (w/Gene Hackman). I liked Peter Fonda in "3:10 to Yuma" (2007) (a western as you may know and also having excellent performances by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale).
Clay F
2024-12-07 14:07:15 +0000 UTCWow, that is an incredible remembrance, and I have to say: I did not mean to call it "dated" in a pejorative way. I just mean that it was immediately imitated for the next two years and it quickly became a style that went out of fashion. The RELEVANCE of the movie is more apparent now than it's been in decades. (We were just talking about this on Discord). You are 1000% correct. And after seeing the reaction - which was subsequent to me writing "This movie was dated two years after it came out" - I was blown away by how fresh it felt. Absolutely did not mean any disrespect to Easy Rider or what it means and represents. And again: that memory is an incredible one, I get chills when I read stuff like that. I was one of those kids at the commune, lol . Not literally, but that was a familiar scene in my early 70s childhood. "Easy Rider" has always been around in my life: the soundtrack album everyone had, the posters, my uncle was a biker.......but I never got to see it until the early 80s when it was released on videotape, or PBS showed it, can't remember which.
Toc
2024-12-07 13:10:48 +0000 UTCI have a hard time with this film. There are plenty of things I like about it. Peter Fonda's and Jack Nicholson's performances. The beautiful shots during the road trip. The soundtrack. The quirky editing. And yes, this film helped break the last vestiges of the old studio system. Here's the problem I have. It also opened the door for a lot of pretentious, self-indulgent crap to get a green light (I'm looking at you The Last Movie). Bile released; let's move on. I'm guessing this film introduced most viewers at that time to Jack Nicholson. Unless, like me, they were fans of Roger Corman films. My introduction to Jack was in the original Little Shop of Horrors (1960). One of my shameful faves, I do hope we see Blue Velvet here one day. Dennis Hopper at his scene-stealing best. Thanks for making this an easy ride. 🏍️
James Rogers
2024-12-07 08:41:33 +0000 UTCZap ‘em with yer sirens man, zap ‘em with yer sirens!!! Wrong movie but I can’t see Hopper without thinking of him saying it.
Catchermag
2024-12-07 01:35:34 +0000 UTCIt is a period piece, but I object to the idea of it being dated. Like ALL fads and fashions, after popularity, it goes through about 15 years of rejection and ridicule. Then the "unfashionable"-ness of it just seems of a different era, gone but remaining relevant. I was well into college, dating the girl who would become my first wife. All the music in this film was the music we heard every day on the newish concept of underground radio. We went to the second showing of Easy Rider on opening night... not just the two of us, but a crowd of a dozen. Half of us were stoked on cycles and or sports cars, all of us were college age hippies/counter culture/musicians/writers/artists in various configurations. We were excited about the music, the less exploitive biker film, the road trip from LA to NO. We were laughing, joyful, hopeful... then the crowd from the first showing let out. They were dour, crying, trying to warn us. How is the bigotry against longhairs so different than the current bigotry against migrants, people of color, anyone who is not straight, white, and male? It's a film not only about bigotry, but also about goals... and what to do after the goal is achieved. You ride on without purpose. "I'm hip about time." "Death only closes a man's reputation, and determines it as good or bad." "We blew it." The film came out two years after the Haight-Ashbury funeral for the hippie.
Cliff Adams
2024-12-07 01:11:32 +0000 UTCHmm, it doesn't really feel dated to me because it's a time capsule. I'm not in a rush to watch it again, but I really enjoyed revisiting it. I still dig it!
JM63
2024-12-07 00:49:59 +0000 UTCI don't know man, there were like, some.... y'know, negative vibes about this one going in, but seeing it again after 20+ years was pretty fuckin' groovy man!! Hey, anybody got a light?
JM63
2024-12-07 00:45:45 +0000 UTCActually, one of the best things to come out of Easy Rider is that its enormous success encouraged Universal to give Peter Fonda total freedom on The Hired Hand, a beautiful western that he wrote, directed and starred in two years later. It's one of my favourite films from this era, and if you want to explore Fonda's work more that would be a brilliant next step.
Henry Graham
2024-12-06 22:44:48 +0000 UTCThis is an incredibly influential movie, not just on the culture, but, for several years, on the movie business itself. If it didn't put the last nail in the coffin of the "studio system" or at least the vestigial mentality of that era that still lingered in Hollywood, it surely held the hammer. Having said that, like so much that was once so revolutionary and influential, it is hopelessly dated now, and was so, I believe within just a few years of its release. While I have respect for it, I've never cared much for it--tellingly, the only time I remember actually enjoying watching it I was more than a little herbed up. And I think that says a lot--I've always kinda felt like watching this movie is the cinematic equivalent of being the only sober person at a rollicking party. You can appreciate the skill and effort that goes into creating a good vibe and happening event, but that doesn't mean you really want to be there.
VivendoBem
2024-12-06 21:47:26 +0000 UTCEasy Rider was dated two years after it was made, your review is pretty much EXACTLY how most of us probably feel about it! Like you said....it takes chances! This movie ended the studio system for good! It was being run by the same people who had been running it since the silent era......and after Easy Rider was a huge hit, they just threw up their hands and greenlit everything for ten years. lol. Is it our favorite movie? Not even close. But man oh man, movies would not be the same without it. That's why the book is called: "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls"! Watching now!
Toc
2024-12-06 21:33:45 +0000 UTC
