Being Evel

And as a teen, I used to continuously ride a bicycle with both arms behind my head.

To be honest, i was never aware of Knievel.

It was Roger Moore's question "Ever heard of Evel Knievel?" to Sheriff JW Pepper before the epic car stunt jump in The Man with Golden Gun prompted me to check this guy's history including this documentary.

This one is very informative n Knievel was truly a daredevil.

One needs balls of steel to perform such jumps man.

I used to do such stunts while playing Excite Bike game.

Long before this generation's fail stunt montage and insane extreme sport tricks, there was a famed daredevil who is equally charismatic and audacious. This is a appreciation of Evel Knievel's life in honest manner, delivering the larger-than-life stunts as well as the insightful story of the man even when he's at his controversial peak. It takes someone with bravado to not only present a spectacle, but also an entire captivating visage.

The documentary takes a various account of Evel's relatives, friends and even pop celebrities. It's almost like a tale from 70s movie of hotheaded stuntman, adoration of danger and just the charm of outlandish event beyond daily grind. By using detailed perspective of people who were there at the time, it makes an intriguing story of a flawed hero.

It doesn't hide negative things about the man, instead bringing some of his darker more undesired side into light. As much as Evel has inspired people, the documentary doesn't only glorify his achievements. It candidly, although still delicately, displays the broken habit while his body is continuously worn down. This, in turn, produces a more humane point of view even though his actions at the time might not be agreeable.

It also encapsulates the tension between the jumps, the preparations of it and both the success and failure that follow. Some of these are pretty well-known, yet it's still a fascinating spectacle due to emotion invested on the jumps, even from bystanders. There are a couple of segments that highlight the effort appropriately and these moments can be appreciated decades after the stunts themselves.

From people who celebrate his, this is a documentary of inspiring man behind famous name and costume, his dazzling accomplishments and also some of his unfortunately missteps.

I'm one of those 70s kids that literally wore out my Ideal Evel Knievel toy cycle. There's nothing it couldn't jump (in my mind).

So it goes without saying I adored the guy at the time.

No longer.

I always knew he was a person that lived on the edge, but never knew how abusive he was - emotionally, and notably physically - to the people close to him, until I saw this wonderful documentary.

We learn briefly about his upbringing, and the rough life in Montana. Looking back then it's clear he was a self-obsessed grifter. And we get to hear from the people that knew him best, but no one seemed to like him. At all.

Have no idea why his wife stuck with him for so long. She seems a sweetheart.

Anyway, the movie provides a lot of insight into the man, accompanied by lots of footage I'd never seen before. Well done and moves quickly. A notable piece of 70s Americana. Definitely worth a watch.

This is a great documentary of the life and times of the amazing Evel Knievel. Old footage of his iconic motorcycle jumps,old interviews of friends and family interspersed with interviews of the same people now,all make for fascinating viewing. I found it cool that they included George Hamilton and got his observations,and retrospective commentary about the 1971 Evel Knievel film that Hamilton starred in as EK. (I recently re-watched Hamilton's EK movie,it was better than I remember,I saw it as a young kid on tv in about 1975 or so. Seeing it recently,I thought it was very good and Hamilton did a fine job as EK.) No matter how much you may know about EK,you will almost surely see,hear,or learn something about the man that you never knew before. (I never remember hearing anything,ever,about the scene at the snake river canyon jump,for example) Overall a good and important movie,I don't think there is a boy that grew-up in the 70's that didn't crash trying to jump a wagon or garbage can etc on their bicycle. Good times !

Robert "Evel" Kneivel was a daredevil, a hustler, and a good-looking young man whose motorcycling jumping, attempted without any respect to what we would now call health and safety, thrilled audiences who, as he once said, "didn't want him to die, but wanted to be there if he did". He came to live his own legend, firstly by attempting insanely stupid things (for example, the Snake River "jump") because his reputation demanded it, and ultimately by coming to believe he could make his own rules (something which led him to cheat on his wife, go to prison for assault, and so on). The latter cost him his lucrative endorsements and his later life was lived in the shadow of his earlier fame. On a purely technical level, it could be said that Evel wasn't even especially talented (although his primitive equipment didn't help) - he is after all a man most famous for crashing - but in some ways, the self-promotion is the story, and for those of us who grew up in the 1970s, he remains an iconic figure, a superhero in the flesh. Consider him just a celebrity and the arc of his life, crashing to earth like the Snake River rocket-bike, makes more sense. 'Being Evel' is a fascinating exploration of a complex and iconic figure; and gives you some sympathy for the man, even though he could be a monster. There are easier ways to make a living than he did; and in some ways, simply 'Being Evel' was far harder work than any of his stunts.