Easy Rider (1969)

Two counterculture bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America.

Director:

Dennis Hopper

Writers:

Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper,

Stars:

Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Antonio Mendoza

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Fonda	...	Wyatt
Dennis Hopper	...	Billy
Antonio Mendoza	...	Jesus
Phil Spector	...	Connection
Mac Mashourian	...	Bodyguard
Warren Finnerty	...	Rancher
Tita Colorado	...	Rancher's Wife
Luke Askew	...	Stranger on Highway
Luana Anders	...	Lisa
Sabrina Scharf	...	Sarah
Sandy Brown Wyeth	...	Joanne (as Sandy Wyeth)
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Jack (as Robert Walker)
Robert Ball	...	Mime #1
Carmen Phillips	...	Mime #2
Ellie Wood Walker	...	Mime #3 (as Ellie Walker)

Storyline

Wyatt and Billy are two motorcycle riders (bikers) on their way to Mardis Gras, and encounter hitchhikers, a drunken lawyer, a jail cell, a whorehouse and the death of a friend.

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Plot Keywords:

biker | mardi gras | jail cell | motorcycle | hitchhiker | 

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Taglines:

A man went looking for America. And couldn't find it anywhere..

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 June 1969 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Loners

Filming Locations:

157 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Pando Company Inc., Raybert Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Fonda was an experienced motorcycle rider and the bike he rides in the movie is seriously stretched and raked and has tall "apehanger" style handlebars. Dennis Hopper was not as experienced a rider, therefore his bike is less radically chopped.

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Goofs

The scene just before he throws away his watch is a mirror image. The bike appears to be leaning to the right on the kickstand (instead of the left) and his jacket has stripes down the right side but in the rest of the movie they're down the left side.

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Quotes

George Hanson: I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace.

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Connections

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: America's Greatest Movies (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Do your ears hang low?"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Heard at the commune

User Reviews

A generation-defining counter-culture classic!

'Easy Rider' is much more than a 60s relic - it's still a great movie even today. I find it fascinating that Hopper and Fonda took Roger Corman material and gave it an arthouse approach influenced by Godard and the French New Wave. Combined with breathtaking visuals, a well chosen rock soundtrack and some classic, stoned, improvised dialogue this is still an impressive movie all these years later. Fonda had recently made 'The Wild Angels', Hopper the less remembered 'The Glory Stompers', and Jack Nicholson 'Hells Angels On Wheels', but 'Easy Rider' reinvented the biker movie, and things were never quite the same in Hollywood for the rest of the Seventies. The supporting cast is interesting and includes a great role for the fantastically underrated Luke Askew as the "Stranger on Highway", and cameos from the stars buddies Luana Anders ('Dementia 13') and Sabrina Scharf (Nicholson's love interest in 'Hells Angels On Wheels'), as well Karen Black and Toni Basil's New Orleans hookers, Phil Spector's coke snorting bit part, and a fleeting glimpse of a young Grizzly Adams. You either love this movie or you don't, and I'm most definitely in the former camp. A 1960s generation-defining counter-culture classic!