Post by BIGFANBOY on Aug 8, 2008 6:19:59 GMT -5
HELL RIDE
Review by Gary Dean Murray
The thing about Quentin Tarantino is that it's very hard to successfully repeat his style. Though many have tried, few have done more than come across as copycat failures. The latest to try this genre mishmash of styles and attitude is Larry Bishop (son of Joey). His macho chopper action flick is the grind-house homage Hell Ride presented by the Kill Bill director (serving here as executive producer).
The story of Hell Ride is of Pistolero (Bishop), president of the bike club The Victors. He is a bad to the bone, Harley-loving maniac with a tough as nails death wish. When we first see him, he has an arrow in his body. Then we get the flashback. It seems that in 1976, a very young Pistolero had a run-in with a biker gang the 666ers, who killed his very special lady. Now, Pistolero along with The Gent (Michael Madsen) and a newcomer Comanche (Eric Balfour) are out to avenge the death by taking down 666er honchos Billy Wings and Deuce. The problem is that some of the Victors care more about cash than revenge. So Pistolero has to deal not only with a mutiny with his crew, but with a bunch of pent up feelings concerning his long lost special lady. This all ties back to why the special lady was killed in the first place. And of course, there is a big secret that Comanche carries.
Being a grind-house flick, this is a movie more about style than substance. The screenplay isn’t so much a series of events but more a strung together bit of cool ideas. Since it does jump back and forth through time, the narrative suffers with each leap. If one is actually trying to follow the story, it almost becomes maddening to keep the plot straight. The actors don’t speak with dialogue as they spout cool scattershot tonal poems to a beat rhythm. Hand held camera angles and jumpy cuts overpower a thought out plot line.
Larry Bishop is the man in charge here and needs to take the majority of the blame for the mess on the screen. He never finds the right pace for his action and emotional beats. It seems that he shot it with the hope it could be saved in the editing bay. He either should have directed or acted in Hell Ride, not done both. With his split loyalty, the director can not tell the actor what a bad job is being done on the screen. And poor Eric Balfour just is lost in a role that is nothing like any true character. But there are a few bright spots. Michael Madsen just chews up the screen in a role that demands being over the top. He snarls and bemoans all the while never losing his cool or cool image. Simply put, he rises above the material on the printed page. Kudos also go out to Dennis Hopper in what is basically a cameo role. There is this ‘awe shucks’ grin on his face as he delivers his lines, as if he is just pleased as can be about being in another biker flick. Also David Carradine has a ‘blink and you miss it’ role that only makes the audience go ‘wasn’t that David Carradine?’ And the soundtrack has Mitch Ryder on it, a true barometer of cool.
Hell Ride is a macho journey where every woman is basically a sleeper, even the female white knight in skin white tight jeans. Every girl in this film either gets topless or becomes aroused by sweaty burly men on two wheels. Basically it is an adolescent fantasy about both women and the biker lifestyle. It is posers over substance.
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