Riding with Death (1976)

Dimwitted, meaty guy foils criminals by turning invisible.

Directors:

Alan J. Levi, Don McDougall

Writers:

Leslie Stevens (created for television by), Harve Bennett (created for television by)

Stars:

Ben Murphy, Katherine Crawford, Richard Dysart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	1st Hood
Fred Waugh	...	2nd Hood
Lawrence Bame	...	Worker

Storyline

Ever-so mellow Agent Sam Casey is in a satellite explosion and the radiation turns him invisible. He gets a watch that keeps him visible, and he uses it to switch from visible to invisible. He is assigned to transport a chemical called Tripolydine, which is purported to be the most efficient fuel; when the cover is blown on that and he uncovers and stops the Tripolydine fraud, he must then stop terrorist Robert Denby from blowing up racecars.

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Plot Keywords:

radiation | explosion | stock car | evil scientist | wristwatch | 

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Taglines:

An unforgettable excursion into adventure.

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Genres:

Thriller | Action | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

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).

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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.

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Quotes

Leonard Driscoll: OPTICAL ILLUSION!

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Alternate Versions

Two versions of this movie exist. In the cut shown on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", background information from the pilot film of "Gemini Man" (episodes of which were combined for this movie) are presented via opening narration and stills, and later flashbacks. In the alternate version (shown at the 2000 Gateway Media Convention in St. Louis), the narration and flashbacks are not present. Instead, the movie opens with a condensed version of the Gemini Man's "origin" from the first part of the pilot film. Also, some of the dubbed-in lines linking the two original episodes this movie is taken from differ in each version.

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Connections

Edited from Gemini Man: Smithereens (1976)

User Reviews

very bad but somehow interesting

Like most folks, I suspect, I saw Riding with Death on MST3K. There's no question that it's a totally hackneyed, badly acted, horribly edited movie. But there's something about their attempt to splice together two separate episodes into a movie that moves me. They're incredibly clumsy in their attempt; mainly it consists of totally obvious voiceovers while the camera shows a shot of a truck or a landscape. Gene Roddenberry, whatever his flaws, was able to do this brilliantly in "The Menagerie." But watching the attempt in Riding with Death can be fun, and all the 70's stuff (e.g., fadeaway jerk handshake) is a blast. So I give it a 2, perhaps my first-ever non-1 for a Msted movie.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Codename: Minus One

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)