Dos duros sobre ruedas

Two biking buddies team up to help a friend save his L.A. nightclub from an evil banker who wants to replace the beloved bar with an impersonal high-rise. The ensuing plot has the two bikers repeatedly confronting the banker's cold blooded, robotic henchmen, who make quite a fashion statement with their slicked-back hair, their blank faces, and their irritatingly hip, long black coats. The numerous confrontations between the two bikers and the thugs culminate in explosions, fights, and gunfire.

The story is standard Hollywood fluff, aimed at kids, young boys in particular. Except for the unique "airplane graveyard" setting, the plot is mostly a dud. Fortunately, the characterizations of the two leads rescue the film from banality.

Harley (Mickey Rourke) and Marlboro (Don Johnson), swagger, posture, and strut their macho stuff, as you would expect, for two bikers. They swear. They fight. And, of course, they follow the babes. Underneath the public toughness, however, are two nonconformists, and each has his own brand of insecurity. And, they have a conscience. They want to do the right thing. It is this textured characterization of Harley and Marlboro that makes the film worth watching, especially in the first twenty-five minutes, before the action plot interferes.

The is a working man's movie ... with all the gritty realism of urban street life. The film's first half features some good cinematography, sultry music and atmosphere, great production design, and costumes suitable for the most hip biker bar. The best approach to this film is to ignore the silly action plot, and focus instead on Harley and Marlboro, and their unorthodox outlook on life.

A critical and financial failure when it was released in August, '91, but later a hit on video, "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" was directed by the Aussie Simon Wincer, 1 year after his venture into westerns with "Quigley Down Under", written by Don Michael Paul (from the B-movies, "Dangerously Close" and "Cyborg") and starred by two of the macho icons from the 80's Era, Mickey Rourke & Don Johnson.

Set in the future of '96, with a large Bank corporation ruling Burbank, California at a same time that a new deadly drug hits the streets, it tells the story of a loner biker which calls himself Harley Davidson (Rourke), who travels to reconnect with his childhood friends, The Marlboro Man (Johnson); Jack Daniels (Big John Studd) & his now wife, Lulu (Vanessa Williams); José Cuervo (Eloy Casados); Jimmy Jiles (Giancarlo Esposito) & "The Old Man" Jiles (Julius Harris), owner of a Diner established 40 yrs ago, where all the boys met, and now in danger of being foreclosure by The Great Trust Bank. Harley convinces the rest of the gang to rob the same Bank to save the Diner, in which Marlboro, reluctantly, agrees, but things will not go as they thought...

Even if the plot sounds simplistic and formulaic, like dozens of buddy action movies seen before, the writing is very good for this kind of 'genre' film, especially the dialogue exchanges between Rourke & Johnson (some cleary improvised by the actors), that reminds a bit of an earlier Rourke's character, The Motorcycle Boy in Coppola's cult film, "Rumble Fish" ('83).

The well cast duo and their genuine chemistry on-screen it's one of the highlights in the movie, this two were made to ride along together. Rumours said that Rourke only accepted this role because he was payed like 1 million, but even if he acts here with his "i don't give a..." attitude, he was cleary having a blast with this tailormade role for his on-screen persona and, with the exception of "White Sands", it was the last time the classic, charming and cool Mickey from his hair to his extravagant clothes hit the screens... after that all went downhill. Don Johnson, makes the perfect transition from the stylished Miami Cop, Sonny Crockett, to a modern day cowboy and his taglines were the best in the movie.

The supporting cast is full of colorful characters from Harley's gang to the bad guys, played by a fresh faced Tom Sizemore and his first in command, Daniel Baldwin, plus appearances from the forever henchmen, Branscombe Richmond & Sven-Ole Thorsen, plus cameos from Robert Ginty ("The Exterminator") and the beautiful Tia Carrere ("True Lies"). Chelsea Field (in the same year she played Bruce Willis' wife in "The Last Boy Scout") plays here Johnson's mistress, Virginia Slim, a female cop fan of bikes...and bikers !!

The movie itself is loaded with good staged action scenes; tons of humour in the interaction between the two protagonists; nice photographed widescreen visuals, including aerial shots, and a great soundtrack, provided by the maestro Basil Poledouris, and featuring the Bon Jovi hit, "Wanted Dead or Alive", also such bands as Copperhead, AC/DC, Roadhouse, The Screaming Jets, Waylon Jennings, The Kentucky Headhunters & L.A. Guns to name a few.

In short, "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" is a truly watchable 'buddy flick', a modernization of the classic "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and a joy to watch with a pack of Marlboros and a sixpack.

Don't listen to the critics, i give it a 7.5 !!

Good buddy movies don't have to have to seem real. The more far-fetched the better, And not many movies stretch as far as this one. The combined charisma of Rourke and Johnson make up for the questionable story. Tom Sizemore is a great villain, and Daniel Baldwin is not half bad as his cold blooded henchman. The other thing that stands out about this film is the futuristic feel to the movie. It was made in 1986 and the movie was supposed to take place in 1996, so it guesses as to what changes would be. It's another corny, but fun touch. Top that off with a gorgeous cameo from Tia Carrere and you have all the trappings of a great, cheeseball buddy-movie.

If it werent for these 2 cool actors this movie would at best be a B-movie, but Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson are COOL and they save this movie.

The good: lots of gangsters, lots of machos, lots of shootouts and chases, lots of chicks and motorcycles and barfights.

The bad: this story is quite silly, the shootouts are silly and so are the bad guys. Still I didnt mind it because I just wanted to see shootout after shootout by some cool dudes. And COOL THEY ARE! Yes sir indeed.

This was a typical late 80's early 90's action flick....but its memorable for the title alone...just like all of these action movies THE PLOT IS EXTRA! the dialogue is head and shoulders above anything Stalone or Segal ever said...and the bickering between Johnson and Rourke is genuinely funny.... Above Average Action; Very Good Dialogue (for an action movie)