Viva Knievel!

Daredevil Evel Kneivel (just say his name out loud - ridiculous) stars as himself. The movie seems to portray Kneivel as some sort of wheelie-popping Christ figure.

You can't see it enough to fathom how truly bizarre it is. Kneivel says he's never taken a drug in his life, which is good so there was plenty enough to go around for the writer, the director and love interest Lauren Hutton.

And Kneivel's not even the weirdest guy in the movie! That honor goes to poor old Gene Kelly who plays Evel's sad excuse for a mechanic. His performance is quite possibly the worst captured on film; Kelly was playing this either as senile or retarded, though I suppose it doesn't matter which.

It's rough when the most convincing actor in the film is from Frank Gifford.

I LOVE this movie!! Ok, it is a terrible, terrible film, but that's what makes it so great! Back in high school, I can't begin to tell you how many beers my buddies & I downed whilst laughing our tails off at this movie. We would rewind scenes so many times that even years later, when we reunite, we can still recite some of these scenes verbatim. It's a classic. First of all, just consider this plot: a mob boss, played straight by Leslie Nielson of all people, wants to assassinate good ol' Evel in Mexico so he can use his stunt trucks to smuggle drugs back to the U.S., because no one is going to stop a "funeral procession for a hero." Try to follow THAT logic!! Another priceless moment comes when Evel delivers an anti-drug speech warning kids that if they use dope - just like race car drivers who use nitro in their cars - they too, will "blow all to hell!" (well, at least after "5 or 10 years" by his estimation anyway). I've never seen Gene Kelly looking so disgruntled and tired, and what would be complete without a way-over-the-top Red Buttons (classic line delivered to a groggy Evel: "What is this, Judgement Day!?). Where's Charro when you need her? And let's not forget that kid at the orphanage who literally throws his crutches to the floor and says, I kid you not, "you're the reason Evel! You're the reason I'm walkin'!" Evel Knievel: miracle man...ordained healer. And then of course there's that catchy theme song. I can't figure out why it was never a hit.

In VIVA KNIEVEL, the daredevil foils a drug shipment, charms a Mother Superior, reunites a long-estranged father and son, inspires crippled children to walk, woos a feminist news photographer and makes a 150-foot jump over a cage full of lions. Not all at once, however.

Robert Craig Knievel was one of his era's most singular pop culture figures, an endless self-promoter whose failures (e.g. his aborted 1974 Snake River Canyon jump) drew more media hype than almost anyone else's successes. A well-marketed, low-budget Knievel biopic starring George Hamilton did great at the box office in the early 1970s, so it was assumed the real Evel would also pack them into the theaters. But Knievel, unlike a Babe Ruth or Muhammad Ali, has no genuine on-camera magnetism and many of his line readings are horrid; trying to get Red Buttons to pay up on a debt, Evel says flatly, "You stole from me (long, long pause)... PROMOTER."

A quintessential 1970s cast (in fact, three POSEIDON ADVENTURE survivors appear here) includes a poorly-wigged Gene Kelly as Evel's alcoholic mechanic, a pre-AIRPLANE! Leslie Nielsen as the drug kingpin, Marjoe Gortner (take my word for it, kids, he was big in the 1970s) as Evel's protégé-turned-druggie and Lauren Hutton as the women's lib photographer who F-stops her way into Evel's heart.

No one noticed the influence of Irwin Allen in this wretched production? The "Poseidon Alumni" of Red Buttons and Leslie Nielsen? The casting of Eric Olsen and Cameron Mitchell (two holdovers from Allen's poorly received "Swiss Family Robinson" series)? And the "Allen Tradmark" of casting over-the-hill has-beens -- in this case Gene Kelly -- in a 'throw away' role? Allen even threw in one of his old 'stand-bys', Albert Salmi (Captain Tucker, the space pirate from two episodes of "Lost In Space").

Almost the entire production crew is from the Irwin Allen camp including legendary special effects man L.B. Abbott (what for you ask -- I didn't see any 'special effects?). Even Allen's costume designer, Paul Zastupnevich, is along for the ride. Allen's wife played the Mother Superior in the famed scene where the orphan throws his crutches away at the sight of seeing Evel as he sneaks into the orphanage in the middle of the night(!).

The story behind this film is that producer Sherrill Corwin (who was the head of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences during the '70s), was a major financial contributor to Irwin Allen's "Poseidon Adventure" and "Towering inferno." Allen needed backing because the studios baulked at the high production costs. But, by the mid-70s Irwin was 'The Man' and now it was 'pay back time' for Corwin when he wanted to hype Knievel, who by that time was a superstar among the teen-set. True, Evel Knievel WAS bankable when it came to packing arenas, selling lunch boxes, action figures and toy motorcycles. Problem was that in the acting department Evel was as wooden as a tree trunk and this movie shows it.

Not helping matters was the horrendous screenplay by Norman Katkov and Antonio Santillian (whoever he is), and the ingredients for a GRADE A Turkey were assured. It is surprising that Katkov co-penned such a bad script since he was also responsible for the famous "Blood and Orchids" mini-series of the early '80s. But then again, he was also one of the primary contributors to the screenplay for another Irwin Allen travesty: "The Return of Captain Nemo" (aka "Amazing Captain Nemo"), a mini-series produced or should I say released the following year.

"Viva Knievel" is best enjoyed by those suffering from insomnia or otherwise get their kicks from bad-movie marathons.

Evel was a great showman, and was incredibly popular in the 1970's. For those who missed that era, or chose to forget it, at least Evel had the skill to back up the hype. There are a few stunt scenes that bear this out, including a great two-person tour around and through a small stadium on Evel's bike.

But that's about it; the plot is pretty simple, and the criminals are as stereotyped as they come. Sit back, enjoy the stunts and flashback to the 70's for a while.