Running Cool

I caught this on cable and--although I have no connection to bikers whatsoever--I ended up not turning the channel and watching the whole thing through. It's definitely what you'd call a genre piece but it's a lot more enjoyable than you'd imagine. If you can take it as just a cool piece of Americana of a certain time and place, you'll have fun.

The story begins in Sturgis, to introduce the characters and their culture, but quickly moves to the South for the majority of the plot. Our hero, Bone, must help an old friend raise money to save his small plot of family land--which happens to be on beautiful Southern wetlands--from the control of developers. He meets dangers and love along the way, as well as gaining an appreciation for the environment and a new sense of home. The characters are pretty much what you'd expect (i.e., not models of complexity a la French New Wave), but the biker characters are actually really appealing and attractively acted.

Also, the town being portrayed is spelled Beaufort (South Carolina), to be irritatingly pedantic and add a slight correction to the summaries above.

We found this movie w/ Random Movie Decider & watched it via an uploaded VHS version on Youtube. I didn't expect much from a biker movie, let alone one w/ a limited budget but what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be!

The person who wrote the script was an actual biker. Yeah, it's full of cliches, cringe moments, and a cheesy af soundtrack, but if u stumble across it, give it a shot. It shows Biker Communities and their culture. They might be tough, loud and intimidating, but don't judge a book by its cover. These Bikers are part of a brotherhood. A family. They care about each other. The main character's back story is a heartbreaker, and the gang embraces and supports him. Bad things could happen without his fellow bikers.

The story is simple. Bikers Bone & Bear are called upon to help their friend Iron Butt fend off a cartoonish bad guy wanting to take over his land. It's not just any land. It's got a beautiful marsh for a backyard. Unfortunately, Ironbutt, owes $8000 in taxes. Bone & Bear decide to throw a Bike Run to raise money for Ironbutt while the bad guys try to foil their plans. That's pretty much it.

This could have been a terrible movie, but the heartfelt friendship and loyalty between Bone, Bear & Ironbutt, as well as the chemistry between the male & female leads saves it from mediocrity. Their love story is sweet, sexy, & believable. Bikers are portrayed as positive members of the community, as opposed to Harley riding troublemakers. Sadly, the fight scenes remind me of a lesser Roadhouse. Rough & tumble punching, kicking bad guys into the air and onto tables etc. You've seen it before but that doesn't stop the film from being enjoyable.

It's not a great by any measure, but it's better than u think. Worth seeking out. I haven't seen a lot of biker movies but i bet this is one of the better ones. It deserves its status as a cult movie and I'm glad I was able to find it. 6/10.

I have been on a business trip to India in 2007 when I saw this movie on HBO. As a biker I was immediately thrilled by this movie.

Back in Germany I tried to get a DVD but there was nothing available. Somehow disappointed I started a last attempt and I got a VHS in the US.

In the meantime I have installed a regular "movie evening" with my bro's starting to have a barbecue. After having enjoyed dinner we are all watching this film.

Thanks for this really great biker movie - it shows the attitude towards life a biker should have. I love it!

Bikers Bone (Divoff) and Bear (Baker) visit their old friend Ironbutt (Gammon) to find that he is being forced off his land by ruthless developer Calvin Hogg (Gleason). Desperate to protect his marshlands Ironbutt enlists the help of his friends to raise money to save the land and fight off the developers.

This seems to be trying to cast bikers in the role of Native Americans - stewards of the land and the environment. They're mostly sensitive men who love nature and others - any crime they do is only ever self defence and, yes they like a bit of a fight but overall they just want to be at one with their surroundings (and have wet tee-shirt competitions!). This is my first problem with this is that it tries to cast bikers as misunderstood, caring men who have the environment as one of their many concerns (ignoring the effect of their bikes' burning fuel!).

This also means that the developers are portrayed as "evil" while the lawmen are portrayed as "stupid" or "corrupt". This then sets up various confrontations in which the bikers come off looking good. Much of this is the form of fighting, all of which is slow and lazy. Having seen Hong Kong fight scenes where everything is choreographed down to a move this is quite a bore. All the fights are slow and without excitement or tension, they consist of a series of punches where the "bad guys" are stunned and stand awaiting the next punch. Anyway, the plot and the fights continue until the serious conclusion where everyone, including the bikers and the developers learn an important lesson about love, friendship and others....

The cast are quite good - some of the bikers look frighteningly like Ewoks from Jedi! Divoff is quite good but only needs to give an one-dimensional performance as the sensitive, strong guy. Little Pfeiffer is good as Michele and Bubba Baker brings some comedy as Bear. Gleason is good as Calvin Hogg, but Tracy Sebastian is terrible as his son. All the rest of the cast are so-so, but really this isn't material where a shining performance would be really possible.

Overall the film is quite lame, the characters are all one-dimensional with a far too positive shine put on the bikers to be totally believable. The fight scenes are boring and the plot is predictable. The happy "we all learnt a lesson here today" ending is terrible. The only group that'll get a kick out of this movie are those that are or like bikers.

This movie is dead on with every biker I know! I am curious about what, if anything Bob the Moo even knows about American bikers...I have been one and have been around them for my entire adult life...I have a job, pay my taxes, raise my family, and do pretty much everything else, no different then everyone else. I have never been to jail, or even arrested- for anything, and even spent 10 years of my life as a cop. There are trouble makers in every segment of society and bikers are no different...but the vast majority of bikers are just normal working people that like to ride! They get upset when good people get screwed, but unlike a lot of folks, they stand up to help people in need. That is exactly what this movie is about...the little guy standing up to the big guy and saying "No, you will not walk on me!" For many years, all Hollywood put out with regards to bikers was the dark side of the culture- the so called 1%ers. They are the minority! There are very few movies out there that show the way most bikers are...but this is one of them. Sure the acting was a little rough...there were only a handful of real actors in the movie...all the bikers in the background are the real thing. The story line was simplistic, but it was a first time for the writer- also a member of the biker community...I know these things because I have seen a making of documentary of the movie with interviews of the people involved.

If you overlook the fact that it is not a high dollar production and just relax and watch the movie- you will love it...

Unless you have watched one to many of the stereotypical biker movies and are biased against it from the start.