Review of Easy Rider (1969) by Patrick P — 02 Sep 2009
When I first saw this, and the movie was over, I felt sick to my stomach. Not because it was a bad film, but because the film is a tragedy in classic tradition. It is substantially a complex film that represents sixties mentalities more than the filmmakers (Fonda, Hopper and Terry Southern) intended.
It shows negative sides of the young people of the time, as well as positive. When Wyatt and Billy go looking for America they are only looking for a good time and cheaply bought freedom at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
That's the trouble with cheap thrills; when you find them you discover that having is not necessarily worth the trouble put into getting. Along the way Wyatt and Billy find that freedom is hard earned, and that those who don't have it and are frightened by those that do are dangerous.
The film had problems being made thanks to sixties thinking; initially a bunch of kids were handed cameras and thought they were as good directors as Dennis Hopper. You can guess what happened.
This review of Easy Rider (1969) was written by Patrick P on 02 Sep 2009.
Easy Rider has generally received very positive reviews.
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