Riders (2002)

Director:

Gérard Pirès

Writers:

Mark Ezra (adaptation)
Mark Ezra (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 2002 (France)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Slim, Otis, Frank and Alex (three boys and a girl) form a group of snowboard and skate young bank robbers...

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Heist | Fake Moustache | Passenger List | Flight Attendant

Cast

Stephen Dorff	...	Slim
Natasha Henstridge	...	Karen
Bruce Payne	...	Lt. Macgruder
Steven Berkoff	...	Surtayne
Clé Bennett	...	Otis
Karen Cliche	...	Alex
Steven McCarthy	...	Frank
Alain Goulem	...	Pandelis
Andreas Apergis	...	Nixdorfer
Tom McCamus	...	Jerry
Andy Bradshaw	...	Sargeant Garret (as Anderson Chet Bradshaw)
David Gow	...	Charlie / Brinks
Jamie Orchard	...	Newsreader
Stephen Spreekmeester	...	Eddie / Brinks
Mariusz Sibiga	...	Police officer / Karen's street

Also Known As:

Steal (Canada: English title) (working title) (Europe: English title) (DVD title) (France) (working title)
$teal (France) (working title)
2-11 (France) (working title)
Extrême inconduite (Canada: French title)
Heist (UK) (working title)
Riders (France) (dubbed version)
Team Riders (France) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

France | UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:16 | Philippines:R-13 | South Korea:15 (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Goofs:

Continuity: As the van turns into the parking garage after the bank robbery it looses a hubcap. All hubcaps are present in the subsequent shots.

Movie Connections:

Features Heist (2001/I)

Soundtrack:

Lack of Communication

Really well made genre movie but man, what bad storytelling!

The movie is really good looking with a great visual style, that makes this a great genre movie to watch. But the movie has such an incredibly bad story and storytelling that the movie still manages to almost become unwatchable at times.

Not only just the story is simple and formulaic, it also is told in about the worst way possible. The story never flows well, which is probably also due to some bad editing. Seems like director Gérard Pirès only concentrated on the style and action of the movie and not on its story at all. Definitely a case of style over substance.

The story features lots of clichés and some highly unlikely moments, even for action movie standards and the movie also doesn't exactly become much better as the movie develops. The movie even gets truly ridicules at times. Too bad because with its style and cast involved, the movie really showed some potential.

The movie really has a great cast. Stephen Dorff is a great actor and he also even shows that in this movie. Bruce Payne goes way too much over-the-top with his role, which causes him to be an unlikely and not likable enough villain. Steven Berkoff is way better, in an also over-the-top but very fun role, as a Southern villain, with an Elvis-wig. It's a role you normally wouldn't expect from him. And thank goodness that Natasha Henstridge's role is smaller than she is credited with.

The action is fair enough. Definitely no big-budget kind of stuff but obviously also way better than the average B-action movie. The movie provides a couple of thrills and kicks. Some of the special effects are a bit too fake looking at times unfortunately.

A fair enough enjoyable guilty-pleasure to watch but don't forget to switch off your brain first.

5/10