Riding with Death (1976) (TV)

Directors:

Alan J. Levi
Don McDougall

Writers:

Harve Bennett (created for television by)
Steven Bochco (created for television by)

Genre:

Thriller | Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

An unforgettable excursion into adventure.

Plot:

Dimwitted, meaty guy foils criminals by turning invisible.

Plot Keywords:

MST3K | Helicopter | Edited From TV Series | Invisible Man | Based On Novel

Cast

Ben Murphy	...	Sam Casey
Katherine Crawford	...	Dr. Abby Lawrence
Richard Dysart	...	Leonard Driscoll (flashback scenes)
William Sylvester	...	Leonard Driscoll
Andrew Prine	...	Luther Stark
John Milford	...	Elliott
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Dr. Arthur Hale
Smith Wordes	...	Tina (as Smith Evans)
Don Galloway	...	John Hiller
Ed Nelson	...	Robert Denby
Jim Stafford	...	Buffalo Bill Joe Hickens
Austin Stoker	...	Dive Officer
Alan Oliney	...	First Hood
Fred M. Waugh	...	Second Hood (as Fred Waugh)
Lawrence Bame	...	Worker

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Trivia:

This movie was pieced together from two episodes of the failed "Gemini Man" (1976) TV series, plus some computer room footage and sound effects from the science fiction film Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970).

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Sam states that the Tripolidine will explode and 'level an entire town.' When it finally explodes, it barely blows up the back of the truck. However, there is no reason why Sam would know exactly how explosive the bottle of Tripolidine was, as he had never seen it explode himself and was merely repeating what he'd been told.

Quotes:

Sam Casey: You have any idea who those turkeys were?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Riding with Death (#9.14)" (1997)

Did we need this "movie"?

Certainly not. This, the Master Ninja stuff, and two Kolchak movies (Crackle of Death, and Demon & The Mummy) display the odd penchant for taking two bad episodes of a TV show and stitching them together into one crummy movie. The strategy behind this is the studio wants to save the good episodes for separate syndication, so whoever makes these movies takes the worst episodes and stitches them together. I'm old enough to have seen Gemini Man, and these _are_ the worst episodes of that series, which displayed a modicum of intelligence at the best of times. They deliberately pick out the worst episodes to save the best for syndication, and the result is this unwatchable crap.