Review of Easy Rider (1969) by Shane S — 27 Nov 2009

This film revolutionized film making as we know it. Two young guys write a preachy story about how freedom is dead, slap a pessimistic ending to it (the American bike explodes), and have Jack Nicholson act as the Magi-acting comic relief George Hanson. This is everything Hollywood hated and this is what Hollywood still hates: something so original and so grand that it literally takes apart what we thought was edgy (you know, The Graduate isn't as edgy after you see this) and makes it into arguably one of the greatest indie films of all time.

Dennis Hopper just amazes me with his performance of the free-riding hippie who is really just a tense drug dealer trying to get to Mardi Gras while Peter Fonda contrasts him as the pessimistic, yet friendly Wyatt, seeing to it that freedom is not dead but merely comatose.

Overall, whether or not you're 12 or if you're 82, you need to see this film. You'll relate to it somehow.