Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)

A maverick motorbike racer wanders into a top-secret time-travel research test site which unintentionally teleports him to the mid-1800s and ends up having to fight violent outlaws for his survival.

Director:

William Dear

Writers:

William Dear, Michael Nesmith

Stars:

Fred Ward, Belinda Bauer, Peter Coyote

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fred Ward	...	Lyle Swann
Belinda Bauer	...	Claire Cygne
Peter Coyote	...	Porter Reese
Richard Masur	...	Claude Dorsett
Tracey Walter	...	Carl Dorsett
Ed Lauter	...	Padre
L.Q. Jones	...	Sheriff Ben Potter
Chris Mulkey	...	Daniels
Macon McCalman	...	Dr. Sam
Jonathan Bahnks	...	Jesse
Laurie O'Brien	...	Terry
Susan Dear	...	2nd Technician
Bruce Gordon	...	Earl
Ben Zeller	...	Jack Peoples
William Dear	...	3rd Technician

Storyline

Lyle, a motorcycle champion is traveling the Mexican desert, when he find himself in the action radius of a time machine. So he find himself one century back in the past between rapists, thiefs and murderers....

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Plot Keywords:

motorcycle | cult film | backwards time travel | time travel | predestination paradox | 

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Taglines:

Lyle Swann is a champion off-road racer. But to the people of 1877, he's something very, very different...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was screened in Los Angeles under the title "The Adventures of Lyle Swann".

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Goofs

At the climax, as the helicopter flies over the plateau it casts a shadow over the motorcycle. Reese can be seen crouching down on the left side of the bike even though the previous shot shows him farther back down the hill.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Company Spokesperson: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, it is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of International Computel Corporation to Project Timerider. Project Timerider is the 16th in our series of experiments in time travel, and today will be our first experiment with a live animal.
[murmurs in the audience]
Company Spokesperson: A live female Rhesus monkey named Esther G.
[some chuckles heard in the audience]
Company Spokesperson: This experiment, once again under the direction of Dr. Samuel Stellar, hopes to send Esther G. back in time to...

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Crazy Credits

More than Props - Bob Ziembicki

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Alternate Versions

In the original theatrical release, Porter Reese was so distracted by the destruction of the motorcycle that he did not notice the approach of the helicopter's tail rotor until it was too late -- there was a scream, a splattering sound, and a shot of empty gore-drenched boots. For the Anchor Bay DVD release, the shot was replaced with a shot of motorcycle wreckage on the ground and a pickup shot of Reese cowering; the audio, however, was not changed. The original sequence is preserved in the laserdisc release as well as the more recent Shout! Factory Blu-ray. The Spanish DVD release preserves the boots scene but entirely omits the sequence where Swann scares the old man to death.

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Connections

Featured in 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)

User Reviews

Great action/Sci Fi flic!

Fred Ward deserves more attention as an actor...he did a great and believable job in this movie! (I especially like that part where he's asked where he got that map...he say's "got it at an EXXON Station") Peter Coyote was awesome!. What a bad BAD guy he was! and Belinda....WOHOO!....now that's a hot woman!, she can Rape me at gun-point anytime she wants! (ehh...don't tell my wife I said that!)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 1983 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Timerider

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zoomo Productions, Eaves Movie Ranch

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 80 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1