The Savage Seven

Biker movies have never been my can of beer. Fortunately, THE SAVAGE SEVEN is better than what I discovered so far. What it has for a basic plotline makes up for the perfect setting ever devised in the genre, an Indian resort. Pretty hilarious at times, and wait for the finale where the whole place goes up in smoke! Listen for the film's signature line: "Hey man, you just barfed on my broad!". Penny Marshall makes a very early screen appearance here. If you like classic drive-in movies, then this will be a whole lot of fun.

About the uneasy alliance between a gang of bikers and dirt poor Native Americans with the establishment, naturally, as their common foe. Directed by Richard Rush, who would go on to make the brilliant "The Stunt Man", the film delivers on all the action and stunts you'd expect from this genre while also injecting some obvious but effective social commentary. (The powers-that-be pit the bikers and Indians against each other to dissolve their strength and perpetuate their fringe status.)

The lead biker, Adam Roarke, is commanding and charismatic - he's not the meathead you'd expect from this sort of film. In fact, there is a gravity and depth to his performance that catches you off guard at first. He's a bewildering but fascinating mix of aggression and sensitivity, someone grappling with the scrambled values of the era. I liked Robert Walker Jr. too as the hot-headed, blue-eyed Indian. Often too boyish and elf-like, he's edgier and more natural here.

The movie has style to burn and stands up as an unusually well-mounted (and richly photographed) biker flick, with some brains behind the chains. Rush doesn't seem inhibited by the common-ness of the material - he builds the characters and moves his camera (it glides and whirls like a gymnast) in typically startling fashion. The whole exercise seems to center around Roarke's memorable line "If I'm going to be a bear, it might as well be a Grizzly."

Except for one bloke, who is unfortunate enough to resemble Gerard Depardieu, this is a gang of uncommonly cute bikies. But don't let their looks fool you. They just love their violence, and they're torn between fighting the fat ugly exploitative white man and his henchmen or fighting the spunky indigenous Johnnie with his collection of trendy shirts.

Of course, they just pick fights with anyone they meet for a while, but in the end they'll have to choose.

I actually tried to suspend belief and imagine that blue eyed Robert Walker Jr, (Johnnie) Max Julien (Grey Wolf) and Joanna Frank (Marcia) were actually Native Americans. In the early part of the movie after the bikers, led by handsome Adam Roarke (Kisum), rolled into the shanty town Joanna's character actually looked like a Native American especially in the darker bar scenes, however, once the filming moved in to the sunlight it was obvious that the beautiful lady was most likely a descendant of the Squirrel Hill Tribe. As far as the movie's plot goes the shanty town is ruled by (Mr. Fillmore) Mel Berger who works the Native Americans to the bone and takes all of their money at the company store. The film spends two much time flipping between the Bikers and Native Americans fighting each other or partying together while the evil Fillmore plots against them both. Then there is the subplot of a romance between Marcia and Kisum but there are two many points of dispute between the two and I couldn't help but think it would be better for each if they just moved on without each other.

Somehow, I did make it to the end but just didn't care anymore with all the fighting and especially the campy brain dead dialog between the bikers that really got old. I'm going to be charitable and give the the film three stars because Joanna did give her character Marcia a real calm and mellow presence making Marcia by far the most believable in a fine bit of acting among a lot of bad acting. László Kovács also did his usual great Cinematography and oh yea Penny Marshall in her first role was young and cute. I am happy that things have changed where Native American's principally play the parts of Native American's in the movies and not guys with baby blue eyes. Not that there is anything wrong with the baby blues but you know what I mean. If you want to watch a fun bikersploitation flick check out "Angels Hard as They Come" and skip The Savage Seven IMHO.

I hate you, I love you, I hate you, I love you, I stab you, I'm sorry...WOW....think 1960's TV Batman as Billy Jack, but in motorcycle gang garb, with a spacey Cher look-a-like floating dreamily around, alternately fighting and smootching the Chirakowa from F Troop, with King Tut and his henchmen pulling the puppet strings....

In the late seventies, I saw a Second City voice-over of an episode of The Cisco Kid, which was hilarious. This script is so bad, the acting so goofy, the music so jarringly inappropriate, the fight scenes so laughable....I thought I was seeing another Second City spoof. This would make an unbelievably fun evening for a Mystery Science Theatre 2000-type event. Gather your smarmiest friends, some likker and snacks...and have a blast. Perhaps one of the worst movies I have ever seen, I would GLADLY buy a copy. Monty Python couldn't have done it better. There's even a bit with a VERY young Penny Marshall getting raped by the campfire, asking "Does this make me seem cheap?" The intensely serious, psychoanalytic review provided by IMDb on the main page made me laugh even more.... just have fun.