Motorcycle Gang

Made for TV (Showtime) and directed by John Milius ("Conan the Barbarian," "Red Dawn"), 1994's "Motorcycle Gang" relays the story of a family traveling through the Southwest circa 1959-60 wherein they run afoul of a small gang of criminal bikers. The daughter is kidnapped and taken into Mexico. The father has no recourse but to take matters into his own hands. Will this crisis tear the family further apart or bring them closer together (i.e. a blessing in disguise)?

Jake "Gary's Son" Busey plays the charismatic bike leader and does it well. The father is played by Gerald McRaney (Major Dad), who's always perfect for father-type roles. The wife is played by Elan Oberon, who doesn't seem all that spectacular looks-wise until you see one shot of her at the motel (whoa!). One of the highlights is Carla Gugino (Silk Spectre in "Watchmen") as the daughter. The daughter's only 16 years-old but Carla was 22 at the time of filming.

There's an interesting subplot about sexuality -- the wife is bored with her husband and was having an affair to fulfill her sexual desires before the trip; the daughter (who suspects the affair) is just awakening to her sexuality and finds it intriguing; the father has grown bored with romance/sex and has drifted from his wife, but the vacation reinvigorates him and stirs his passions; the bikers only regard sex on the most base level.

Another theme is that of universal justice. Scum who choose to give themselves wholly over to their dark side and commit extreme criminal acts don't deserve lovey-dovey mercy and understanding -- they've gone too far; they deserve nothing but obliteration from this realm of existence (say a prayer with 'em if you want).

At a mere 84 minutes the film is short-but-sweet with almost no filler.

The gorgeous Southwest locations are a definite plus.

Being made-for-cable-TV "Motorcycle Gang" is obviously low-budget fare, but that's okay because the biker films of the late 60s/early 70s were just as low-budget. The good thing is that "Motorcycle Gang" is actually better than most of those films. In fact, it's on a par with 1992's "Beyond the Law," although I much prefer "Motorcycle Gang" (Charlie Sheen isn't believable as a hardcore biker plus that film had too many goofy elements).

This isn't "Apocalypse Now," it's a low-budget TV biker flick, so don't expect to be blown away. Just enjoy it for what it is, and maybe you'll discover that it's even more than that.

GRADE: B+

I first saw this film on TV late one night. It starts out with the basic fundamentals of a road movie, a family are driving across the mid American desert to their new home in California in the mid sixties when they become terrorised by a motorcycle gang. The father, Cal, appears to be a mild mannered family man, spontaniously dealing with the angst displayed by his wife and teenage daughter whilst also trying to negotiate moving the family across the country. When his daughter is taken hostage by bikers it would seem he is powerless to alter the events that occur.

Nothing however could be further from the truth, it turns out that Cal is actually a World War 2 combat veteran and despite his humbled and fifty something appearance is a very efficient killing machine. When the final fight sequence occurs the character transformation becomes something to behold, as family man Cal takes on his opponents with a supremely violent and ruthess efficiency.

This movie is a classic. despite being shunned at the cinema, i would recommend it to anyone interested in good film. Neither a road, action or adventure movie, this picture defies a specific genre and in doing so in my opinion has become one of the best low key American classical of all time.

"Motorcycle Gang" benefits from above average performances and interesting, though marginally developed characters. The deliberate pacing is another plus, which allows for more than just the usual cursory dialog. Jake Busey is well cast as the leader of the gang, and Gerald McRaney is good as the dad in pursuit of his kidnapped daughter, Carla Gugino. Nice desert photography enhances the production as well. Overall, this has entertainment value because it never pretends to be anything except an updated 50s biker movie, and at that it succeeds nicely. So what you see is what you get, and that is totally acceptable from my point of view. - MERK

It was a dark, cold evening at 48 Hawthorn Avenue, with only my young Asian friend to keep me company. The night seemed to be innocuously drawing towards an uneventful conclusion, when all of a sudden a last desperate bout of channel-hopping produced a remarkable result - Motorcycle Gang. A superbly crafted piece of modern cinema (although it wasn't actually released in theaters - a travesty!), this film merely serves one purpose - to overawe the viewer with sheer class from every quarter, and it succeeds! Much better than others from the Late Night Classic collection such as On The Line (see review), it features another Oscar worthy performance from Jake "son of Gary" Busey, showing once again why he is widely considered to be superior in every way to his great father (watch starship troopers(1997), which is excellent, and the foot shooting party(1994), which is also probably excellent, for further evidence). The Directing is spot on, with John Milius finally rediscovering the flair shown in Conan the Barbarian (Phew, I hear you gasp in relief. The world is a better place with Milius on top form). But in all honesty, the finale is the pinnacle of this epic. The showdown between the gang and former Army man Cal is quite possibly the best fight scene in history. Cal takes on four, yes four, motorcyclists, and takes each one out with chilling yet breathtaking efficiency, and no little style, saving his pretty young daughter from the grasps of the evil Jake, Crab, Volker and Kincaid. You truly have to see it to believe it.

As you can imagine, that cold dark evening was infinitely warmed up by this unexpected gem of a movie, and if it were up to me, this film would be released on the cinema immediately, opening it up to the wider audience that it surely deserves. Masterpiece!

Cal Morris (Gerald McRaney) and his family are driving to their new home in California and are terrorized by a motorcycle gang along the highway.

From the genius of John Milius comes this film, which I believe is a remake of a 1960s Sam Arkoff film, written by Lou Rusoff and originally directed by Edward L. Cahn ("It! The Terror from Beyond Space"). Starring as the bad guy? Jake Busey, whose father previously worked with Milius on "Big Wednesday".

The film is rated R but is still sort of silly because it has that American International Pictures feel to it. There may be sexual assault and violence, but this is not the dark stuff that Milius tackled in "Apocalypse Now".