The film was inspired by photographer Danny Lyon’s book, also titled “The Bikeriders.” Lyon hung out with a club (or gang, you choose the word) calld the Outlaws from 1963 to ’67. It’s clear from the intimacy of Lyon’s environmental portraiture that he had their trust and access during that time.
“The Bikeriders” was published in 1968. He went on to have a significant career as a photojournalist and “The Bikeriders” was reprinted in 2014 by Aperture, a respected publishing house that specializes in photography. It’s still in print.
The motorcycle industry may not approve, either
When “The Wild One” came out in 1953, Triumph resented the fact that Marlon Brando’s character rode a Triumph Thunderbird. (They’ve since softened that position.) Since the 1980s, Harley-Davidson has carefully co-opted some “biker” imagery but it’s the exception. The rest of the motorcycle industry has worked hard to distance itself from the outlaw gang phenomenon. It would be reasonable for a site like Common Tread, which generally sees riding motorcycles as a sport or pastime, to want nothing to do with a movie in which motorcycle riders stagger out of a bar and ride off bare-headed.
Early in Jeff Nichols’ film, “The Bikeriders,” the director references “The Wild One” (1953). Late in the film, he gives a nod to “Easy Rider” (1969).
Although there was only 16 years between those two movies, they established iconic “biker” images of two very different generations; the first being a post-WWII and Korean War cohort, and the second springing from Vietnam-era counterculture. Nichols’ screenplay tells the story of a Chicagoland motorcycle club caught up in that same convulsive generational change.
The film was inspired by photographer Danny Lyon’s book, also titled “The Bikeriders.” Lyon hung out with a club (or gang, you choose the word) called the Outlaws from 1963 to ’67. It’s clear from the intimacy of Lyon’s environmental portraiture that he had their trust and access during that time.
“The Bikeriders” was published in 1968. He went on to have a significant career as a photojournalist and “The Bikeriders” was reprinted in 2014 by Aperture, a respected publishing house that specializes in photography. It’s still in print.
Did Hollywood finally make a good motorcycle movie?
I pitched Lance a story on “The Bikeriders” before I had a chance to see it. The early buzz and impressive cast had me hoping that, finally, someone had made a really good film in which motorcycles were more than props.
“The Bikeriders” debuted at the Telluride Film Festival nearly a year before its commercial release. (That delay was caused by the Screen Actors Guild strike; even movies that had already been made were affected because union rules forbade actors to promote films during the strike.) The unplanned hold may have helped build the critical buzz that raised my hopes for it. It was the subject of two big stories in The New York Times; even National Public Radio did a feature on it. I hoped that Hollywood had finally made a genuinely good motorcycle movie. By that, I mean something really good and watchable that accurately introduces some aspect any aspect of motorcycles and riding to a mainstream audience.
Have you seen it? leave us your comments.
