Carrera desenfrenada

As much as the drive-in obscure "Drag Racer" (1970) (previously IMDb-reviewed) is the quintessential drag racing drama, "A Great Ride" is the ideal motocross drama of the 1970s -- albeit the acting and cinematographer, here, is superior. Independent and low-budget-crafted, "A Great Ride" is an expertly-directed film that served as B-studio soundtrack composer Don Hulette's passion project. A child piano prodigy, as well as a successful Porsche and Lotus road racer in his teens, he made his directing debut with Chuck Norris's US film debut, film "Breaker! Breaker!" (1977).

While the drag-racing latter is more dramatic-driven -- with its ne'er-do-well punk who finds his place in the world of NHRA racing -- here, we get the same (but a decade late) existential counterculture flick of the "Easy Rider" (1970) variety. One will recall that 20th Century Fox's analogous "Vanishing Point" and Universal Pictures' "Two-Lane Blacktop" (both 1971; but with cars) were the subsequent responses to that Columbia Pictures-distributed hit. Motorcycle enthusiasts watching "A Great Ride" will cite United Artists' "Electra Glide in Blue" (1973) as another "road trip" movie examining the era's establishment verses counterculture wars. The questions pondered by our off-road dirt bikers, here, remains: What is freedom. What does one do with freedom once found. What will you do if someone tries to take freedom away?

That storyline, co-written by TV scribe Walter Dallenbach (from the '70s "Adam 12" to the '80s "The Fall Guy" to '90s "Law and Order") and screenwriter Thomas Pope ("The Manitou" and "The Lords of Discipline") was inspired by the national media attention dirt bike riders received for their defying the US Bureau of Land Management by racing across (i.e., "damaging," per the government) federally-protected lands -- in a quest to secure civil rights for public land use.

Our "Wyatt" and "Billy," here, are professional motocross racers: the level-headed Steve Mitchell (TV actor Michael Sullivan) and his impetuous protégé Jim Dancer (Perry Lang; later of the major-studio pictures "The Big Red One," "1941," and "Eight Men Out"). Another set of championship trophies in hand, the duo embarks on an openly illegal, never-before-done off-road trip from the Mexican to Canadian borders. During the journey, adventurous, disconnected vignettes ensue as our dust-devils meet the roadside deserts' colorful denizens (e.g., a soft-sexual encounter with an attractive middle-aged woman operating a dusty junkyard) before engaging in an off-the-cuff road race with a local hotshot who accidentally dies. The youth's crazed, paramilitary father (an excellent turn by longtime TV actor Michael MacRae; he collects scorpions and re-assembles M-16s by egg timer) seeks revenge in a souped-up, flood-lighted, scorpion-emblazoned pick-up truck (complete with a '70s-styled onboard computer that calculates fuel consumption and tracks our heroes!). That imposing danger, of course, doesn't stop our moto-lads from engaging in more soft-sex-by-campfire with two ATV-driving hippie chicks, and other freedom-seeking proclivities.

While one may not find that plot engaging, there's no denying cinematography warhorse David Worth (1975's "Poor Pretty Eddie" and 1977's "Death Game"; came to lens films for Clint Eastwood) and editor Steve Zaillian (came to script 1993's "Schindler's List" and 2019's "The Irishman") expertly captured and assembled Hulette's passion project; either in the blazing sun or moonlit dark, this film looks incredible. The soundtrack, composed by Hulette, is complemented with songs by Birdy Numnums, aka bassist Trace Harrill and drummer F. Scott Moyer; Harrill is noted for his work with actor-musician Kim Milford (7th Heaven) and his membership in ex-Byrds Gene Clark's Firebyrd.

One's '70s motocross-movie cravings can be completed with more films that expertly capture the sport on the quality-level of "A Great Ride": the early Robert Redford obscurity "Little Fauss and Big Halsy" (1970), the Academy Award-nominated documentary "On Any Sunday" (1971), the TV-movie made "Pray for the Wildcats" (1974), the Marjoe Gortner/Michael Parks-starring "Sidewinder 1" (1977), the British sports-drama "Silver Dream Racer" (1980) starring musician David Essex and Beau Bridges, and the early Paul Verhoeven-directed, Netherlands-made, "Spetters" (1980).

For more on the work from Don Hulette, Walter Dallenbach, and Perry Lang: check out the martial arts romp "Death Machines" (1976), "David Cassidy: Man Undercover" (1978), and the daytime after school special gem, "Hewitt's Just Different" (1977), respectively.

In the purest form possible a look at the American motorcycle lifestyle in a way not seen since EASY RIDER. This is a film that will be interesting to all but should have a cult following in the USA biker community.

Considering the resurgence of the motorcycle in world culture it is only a matter of time before this film is rediscovered. It has many elements that are timeless and faces issues that are even more important today than when the film was made.

In the broadest sense, are you free? What would life be like if you truly were free? Who would try to take that away from you and what would you be willing to do to stand up and fight for what was rightfully yours. Look at A GREAT RIDE and be prepared to look into the mirror.

Two motocross racers, one young and impetuous and one older and more settled, drive their bikes off road from Mexico to Canada. What they are doing is strictly illegal (they have to ride a good part of the way through Federal land), so they have to be careful to avoid law enforcement. They encounter a bunch of folks, some friendly, some not so. A young bike racer challenges them to a race and is accidentally killed. His father, a weapons enthusiast, pursues them in his truck seeking revenge. A decidedly okay film. Nothing special, but nicely shot and appealing in a "guys doing their own thing" kinda way. It would have been great if it was a good 20 minutes shorter.

Very independent road/buddy thriller finds two young men embarking on a Mexico-to-Canada offroad motorbike adventure. Along the way, they are challenged to a track race by another, younger motorbike enthusiast. When the boy crashes on the course and dies, his distraught nutcase father vows revenge...a cat/mouse chase across the nation's BLM territory ensues.

While the revenge story presented here is fairly tense, it comes off somewhat subplot-ish to the more random events in play...the difficulties faced during the ride with direction and refueling, and the fleeting(and occasionally sexual)interactions with various characters along the route.

A surprisingly well-made little film, A GREAT RIDE works on every level. The characters are well written, especially the two leads...they have a believable brotherly chemistry, and are strongly played. What made this film most special to me, though, was its exhilarating youthful spirit...that eagerness for reckless adventure and breaking the rules which comes with our carefree early years.

An overlooked gem. 7.5/10