Easy Rider (1969)

Through the open country and desert lands, two bikers head from L.A to New Orleans, and along the way, meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap they are unaware of.

Director:

Dennis Hopper

Writers:

Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper

Stars:

Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 12 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

Netting a hefty profit from their latest drug deal, hippies Wyatt and Billy decide to outfit themselves with among other things motorbikes - Wyatt complete in what they call his Captain America gear and similar motif on the bike - and chucking any structure in their lives beyond the want to get there for the event, cycle from their home base of Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in just over a week. They don't plan to spend their proceeds on this trip - they saving that for a more carefree life in Florida after the fact - they sleeping in the great outdoors along the way. While Wyatt is more easy going, believing in the karmic nature and practicality of helping others when they can and in turn asking for help when they need it, Billy is a little more suspicious of the people they encounter, especially in hiding their wad of cash that is stuffed into the gas tank of Wyatt's bike, that money their future. They will find that not all counter-culturalists have the exact same ...

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Plot Keywords:

road movie | motorcycle | road trip | friendship | 1960s | 

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Taglines:

It's Here - EASY RIDER - the Biggest Hit in the Cinema Today! (British Quad)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Greek, Ancient (to 1453)

Release Date:

26 June 1969 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Loners

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$360,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$74,448, 14 July 2019

Gross USA:

$123,276

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$123,276

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pando Company Inc., Raybert Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are various reports about exact running time of original rough cut of the movie; Four hours, four and a half hours, or five hours. All deleted footage is believed to be lost. Some of the scenes which were in the original cut, but got deleted are: The original opening showing Wyatt and Billy performing in a Los Angeles stunt show (their real jobs), the two of them being ripped off by the promoter, getting in a biker fight, picking up women at a drive-in, cruising to, and escaping from Mexico to score the cocaine they sell, an elaborate police and helicopter chase that took place at the beginning after the dope deal, with police chasing Wyatt and Billy over mountains, and across the Mexican border, the road trip out of Los Angeles, edited to the full length of Steppenwolf's ''Born to Be Wild'' with billboards along the way offering wry commentary, Wyatt and Billy being pulled over by a cop while driving their motorcycles across highway, two of them encountering the black motorcycle gang, ten additional minutes for the volatile café scene in Louisiana, where George deftly keeps the peace, Wyatt and Billy checking in a hotel before going over to Madam Tinkertoy's, extended and much longer Madam Tinkertoy sequence, extended versions of all of the campfire scenes, including the enigmatic finale in which Wyatt says ''We blew it, Billy.''

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Goofs

The commune is set in New Mexico, but the VW bus has California license plates, and the ocean can be seen in the background.

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Quotes

Billy: There's nothin' but sand, man. They're not gonna make it, man. They ain't gonna grow anything here.
Captain America: They're gonna make it. Dig. They're gonna make it.

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Connections

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: Against the Grain (1998)

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Soundtracks

Flash, Bam, Pow
Performed by Electric Flag (as The Electric Flag), An American Music Band
Composed by Mike Bloomfield

User Reviews

Still gets that avant-garde feel after 30 years.

I love road movies. My favorites include "Thelma & Louise" and "Vanishing Point", but "Easy Rider" is in a class all by itself. A movie with Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson in it is hard to disappoint. That scene with Nicholson talking UFO's at the camp fire represents the great actor at his pinnacle. Anyone who has seen that scene surely wouldn't be able to resist inhaling!

The movie started out in an optimistic mood, with Fonda and Hopper setting out to discover America. The audience is naturally drawn into all the excitement. After all, everything that the duo was going through seemed so cool and so within reach too. I try to watch every road scene carefully everytime I play this movie back on my VCR, to try to remember a few spots to see if I could find them in person next time I'm out there in the Southwest. The soundtrack is of course fantastic. What makes it even greater is how well the songs fit the film. After seeing this movie, it's somehow hard to picture Monument Valley without hearing the song "The Weight" in my head.

The Nicholson take on aliens at the camp fire was the high point of the trip. Then things began to turn sour. Very sour. May be that's why I've watched the first half of the movie so much more often than the second half. And I bet I'm not alone. May be that sums up the whole movie pretty well. People are attracted to it because it represents their dream, and we can't bear to watch our dream die.