Review of Easy Rider (1969) by Kevin M — 04 Nov 2009

"Easy Rider" exudes a very rough yet assured style, oozing all kinds of period details and radical stylistic experiments. In the US of A, Summer 1969, this must have been a mind blowing experience; 40 years later its dated soundtrack and naive "screw the system" mentality inspire unintentional laughter. Given how it's impossible not to laugh at a song with a chorus that repeatedly evokes us not to "Bogart that joint" to the tune of hippie dippy Western guitar twanging.

This is all beside the point. The film is a perfect sort of time capsule, capturing that uncertain period where the counterculture still believed in change, yet was also processing the recent wave of political assassinations as well as increasing unease about Vietnam, etc, etc. Jack Nicholson's stoned speech about aliens is classic. Photography by Laszlo Kovacs is gorgeous, clearly LSD influenced, and the soundtrack is packed with great tunes by Steppenwolf, Hendrix, the Byrds, and everything else that was popular in mid-1968 or so. Act 3, with its wave of senseless tragedy, is heartbreaking in its cumulative power.

However it's clear from his later work that Dennis Hopper is NOT a good writer, or director. He chanced onto greatness by surrounding himself with talent like Peter Fonda (also producer) and Terry Southern. Somehow the production did not fall apart even though everyone in cast and crew was tripping more or less 24/7 during production.