Quentin Tarantino attempts (intentionally or not) to resurrect the dormant acting career of one of his favorite actors from the 1970’s: Larry Bishop. Larry he has acted in many movies and guest starred on numerous TV shows, but he is best known for his fine performances as badass bikers from movies like "The Savage Seven," "Angel Unchained," and "Chrome and Hot Leather." Tarantino himself gave Larry a fantastic and hilarious cameo as the manager of a strip joint in “Kill Bill, Vol. 2” where he tells Michael Madsen’s character that he is not working for him again anytime soon. Now Tarantino has given Larry a chance to bring back the biker movies that he loved watching in his youth. The result was “Hell Ride” which was written, co-produced, and directed by Mr. Bishop himself. Larry also plays the lead role of Pistolero, the leader of the Victors biker gang.
In short, here is what I can say about “Hell Ride:” Great look, awesome cast, crappy screenplay shitty movie. “Hell Ride” is a mess of a movie that wastes some very talented actors in a story that makes almost no sense at all. The movie only runs about 83 minutes, but it sure felt like a LONG 83 minutes all the same. The movie involves, as far as I could lift out of the mess of a story, Pistolero and his gang going after a rival biker gang known as 666 to revenge the death of one of their own. I can’t really explain it anymore than that because all the little details got lost on me. This is a loud movie to be sure, but I almost passed out while watching it.
The story, like many a Tarantino movie, shifts back and forth in time to help give more depth to the story and the characters. What it really ends up doing is confusing the hell out of me and the rest of the audience. We see a young kid on his bicycle, and we think that’s Pistolero, but it could be someone else. We see the names of other characters who knew this kid, and we see other bikers burn this Cherokee woman to death because she stole money or something like that. By the end of the movie, I really didn’t care much who did what because I was too busy looking at my watch waiting for the movie to end. When I look at my watch while I am watching a movie, that is NEVER a good sign.
“Hell Ride” also features a plethora of naked ladies and bloody violence. The look of the movie is very rough, and it is one of the very few pluses here. To its credit, the movie never glamorizes anything about the lifestyle of these beer-hungry gang bangers, and shows the hideous nature of these outlaws for what they are. There are not really any good guys to be found here. I cannot say that I didn’t enjoy the naked ladies here, but I am glad to say that they are not bad actors. I wish some of the ladies in this movie would talk to me the way they talk to Pistolero.
This movie does want to make me see some of Larry’s earlier biker movies to see what was so great about them, and to see how good he was in them. I am sure they make for a great drive-in movie going experience. But Larry’s performance in this movie is so one-note, and he brings nothing more to it than a growling menace. He speaks just about every line in the movie the same way, and I kept wondering if he was one step away from getting a tracheotomy. I have heard a lot of people arguing about the voice Christian Bale gives Batman in “The Dark Knight,” but if you really didn’t like his voice there, you will hate the way Bishop speaks even more.
As a director, he shows no signs of pacing at all, and there are too many lingering shots of men on their motorcycles driving their way down that lonesome highway. Those scenes could have been shortened, even at the threat of turning this into a short film. Yes, yes, they all look cool on their motorcycles and even more so without helmets, but that gets boring after a while.
As a screenwriter, Larry’s dialogue falls flat no matter how good the actor is delivering it. It’s clear that Bishop was trying to ape the Tarantino style and make it his own, but there is no flattery in his imitation. It’s bad enough that the movie makes no sense, but for the dialogue to suck as well is a darn shame. I can forgive the “Star Wars” prequels for their hideously hollow dialogue, but I cannot forgive it here.
Is there anything good about this movie? Sure. Some of the actors are definitely on their game and rise above the ridiculousness of the material. Michael Madsen puts on his Nice Guy Eddie persona for the role of The Gent. Michael excels in this kind of role, and he is a funny fight scene between him and Eric Balfour (“24”) which helps redefine the term “tough love.” Dennis Hopper has a small role here as Eddie ‘Scratch’ Zero, and he is always a crazy hoot to watch as he channels his “Easy Rider” mojo while riding his motorcycle. David Carradine is barely in the movie, but he has a strong presence here just like he did in the “Kill Bill” movies. David remains an intimidating presence however softly he speaks.
This movie has a very rough look to it which fits the movie and its characters perfectly. After being subjected to so many slick and sterile Hollywood productions where everything is spick and span, it is actually refreshing to see a movie that is willing to get down and dirty to the utter annoyance of studios trying to make everything as inoffensive as possible. There is nothing clean at all about this movie and its characters, and that proves to be both a positive and a negative.
In the end, this movie is irredeemable trash. I certainly didn’t go in expecting anything epic. This was clearly meant to be a B-movie along the lines of last year’s “Grindhouse.” That movie unfortunately bombed at the box office, and this movie is not likely to do any better. Tarantino obviously wanted Bishop to make the best motorcycle movie ever, and it didn’t happen. At best, this movie is a fight against what the late George Carlin termed:
“the continued pussification of the American male in the form of Harley Davidson theme restaurants. Harley Davidson used to mean something! It stood for biker attitude! Grimy outlaws and their sweaty mamas full of beer and crank, rolling around looking for a good time!”
Carlin would like the fact that “Hell Ride” fought against the pussification of that, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a crappy movie with a barely existent plot and schizoid characters who can never seem to figure out if they want to shoot their friends or hug them. It’s not enough to have biker attitude. You need a good film to go along with it, and this was a blown opportunity. All the same, it makes me want to check out some of the biker flicks Larry Bishop became famous for. They certainly can’t be any worse than this.
* out of ****
In short, here is what I can say about “Hell Ride:” Great look, awesome cast, crappy screenplay shitty movie. “Hell Ride” is a mess of a movie that wastes some very talented actors in a story that makes almost no sense at all. The movie only runs about 83 minutes, but it sure felt like a LONG 83 minutes all the same. The movie involves, as far as I could lift out of the mess of a story, Pistolero and his gang going after a rival biker gang known as 666 to revenge the death of one of their own. I can’t really explain it anymore than that because all the little details got lost on me. This is a loud movie to be sure, but I almost passed out while watching it.
The story, like many a Tarantino movie, shifts back and forth in time to help give more depth to the story and the characters. What it really ends up doing is confusing the hell out of me and the rest of the audience. We see a young kid on his bicycle, and we think that’s Pistolero, but it could be someone else. We see the names of other characters who knew this kid, and we see other bikers burn this Cherokee woman to death because she stole money or something like that. By the end of the movie, I really didn’t care much who did what because I was too busy looking at my watch waiting for the movie to end. When I look at my watch while I am watching a movie, that is NEVER a good sign.
“Hell Ride” also features a plethora of naked ladies and bloody violence. The look of the movie is very rough, and it is one of the very few pluses here. To its credit, the movie never glamorizes anything about the lifestyle of these beer-hungry gang bangers, and shows the hideous nature of these outlaws for what they are. There are not really any good guys to be found here. I cannot say that I didn’t enjoy the naked ladies here, but I am glad to say that they are not bad actors. I wish some of the ladies in this movie would talk to me the way they talk to Pistolero.
This movie does want to make me see some of Larry’s earlier biker movies to see what was so great about them, and to see how good he was in them. I am sure they make for a great drive-in movie going experience. But Larry’s performance in this movie is so one-note, and he brings nothing more to it than a growling menace. He speaks just about every line in the movie the same way, and I kept wondering if he was one step away from getting a tracheotomy. I have heard a lot of people arguing about the voice Christian Bale gives Batman in “The Dark Knight,” but if you really didn’t like his voice there, you will hate the way Bishop speaks even more.
As a director, he shows no signs of pacing at all, and there are too many lingering shots of men on their motorcycles driving their way down that lonesome highway. Those scenes could have been shortened, even at the threat of turning this into a short film. Yes, yes, they all look cool on their motorcycles and even more so without helmets, but that gets boring after a while.
As a screenwriter, Larry’s dialogue falls flat no matter how good the actor is delivering it. It’s clear that Bishop was trying to ape the Tarantino style and make it his own, but there is no flattery in his imitation. It’s bad enough that the movie makes no sense, but for the dialogue to suck as well is a darn shame. I can forgive the “Star Wars” prequels for their hideously hollow dialogue, but I cannot forgive it here.
Is there anything good about this movie? Sure. Some of the actors are definitely on their game and rise above the ridiculousness of the material. Michael Madsen puts on his Nice Guy Eddie persona for the role of The Gent. Michael excels in this kind of role, and he is a funny fight scene between him and Eric Balfour (“24”) which helps redefine the term “tough love.” Dennis Hopper has a small role here as Eddie ‘Scratch’ Zero, and he is always a crazy hoot to watch as he channels his “Easy Rider” mojo while riding his motorcycle. David Carradine is barely in the movie, but he has a strong presence here just like he did in the “Kill Bill” movies. David remains an intimidating presence however softly he speaks.
This movie has a very rough look to it which fits the movie and its characters perfectly. After being subjected to so many slick and sterile Hollywood productions where everything is spick and span, it is actually refreshing to see a movie that is willing to get down and dirty to the utter annoyance of studios trying to make everything as inoffensive as possible. There is nothing clean at all about this movie and its characters, and that proves to be both a positive and a negative.
In the end, this movie is irredeemable trash. I certainly didn’t go in expecting anything epic. This was clearly meant to be a B-movie along the lines of last year’s “Grindhouse.” That movie unfortunately bombed at the box office, and this movie is not likely to do any better. Tarantino obviously wanted Bishop to make the best motorcycle movie ever, and it didn’t happen. At best, this movie is a fight against what the late George Carlin termed:
“the continued pussification of the American male in the form of Harley Davidson theme restaurants. Harley Davidson used to mean something! It stood for biker attitude! Grimy outlaws and their sweaty mamas full of beer and crank, rolling around looking for a good time!”
Carlin would like the fact that “Hell Ride” fought against the pussification of that, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a crappy movie with a barely existent plot and schizoid characters who can never seem to figure out if they want to shoot their friends or hug them. It’s not enough to have biker attitude. You need a good film to go along with it, and this was a blown opportunity. All the same, it makes me want to check out some of the biker flicks Larry Bishop became famous for. They certainly can’t be any worse than this.
* out of ****
Well if anything, it has a great poster.
Larry Bishop is a very odd director-- this one looked like it owed too much to his biker days!!
I agree. Loved the imagery and the acting, but was totally confused by the movie.