Riders

A gang of four thieves rob a bank and use roller blades to escape from the cops. This is the first of several daring robberies they have planned – the second involving an armoured car and an underwater escape. When they pull that off they find that, not only do they get the cash they wanted but they have also stolen millions worth of bonds. Things look good for everyone as they know they will at least be able to get half their value through a shifty broker; meanwhile though they not only have to cope with the cops but also some other groups that want the gang for other reasons.

When this film started I immediately thought of a French short film called Argent Content which was a substanceless but enjoyable short about a bank robbery followed by a cool roller skate escape. That short was style over substance but the short running time saved it. However Riders moved past this copy and started to just lift lots of stuff from other films – Heat, Sneakers etc, all the genre clichés are forced into the movie but sadly nobody took the time to structure them into a worthwhile film that made any sense. So many things are thrown at the screen but they make no sense nor do they hang together. So we have stunts for the sake of stunts, characters that lack any motivation, a Heat-style relationship that appears as quickly as it disappears and a plot that is just all over the place. It isn't awful but it is just so inane you wonder how on earth anyone ever though it was a good idea.

The cast seem promising on paper but on film they are mostly confused and poor. Dorff is sexy and has good presence but he cannot make anything of his confused character – but he does look sexy nonetheless. Henstridge is also sexy but other than that you have to wonder how long she worked on the movie – all the rest of her scenes could have been done in a few days before getting sweaty with Dorff. The idea that their characters would have somehow had a Pacino/De Niro relationship is just laughable. Speaking of laughable, Bruce Payne is in this film and is terrible. However at least he is in the movie, which cannot be 100% said for Steven Berkoff who just appears to be in his entirely own, twisted little film. Bennett, Cliché and McCarthy are all reasonable in support but neither they nor anyone else can do anything with this shambles of a film.

The crazy style of Taxi might have worked once but Pires' attempts to do it again here just fall flat and it just falls flat on its face from the very start. Pointless and inane and will please only the very, very undemanding genre fan.

This film was fantastic. the characters were two dimensional and there was no depth to the film whatsoever but other than that it was pretty much perfect.

The stunts were great, the plot was quite well done, the characters well realized - I can't really think of anything wrong with it.

the best thing (and the thing which has annoyed some people on here) is that this film treats people like adults, not the dribbling morons that most Hollywood films treat us like. When they are about to pull off a hiest THEY DON'T TELL US HOW TO DO IT BEFORE IT HAPPENS. It's so nice to see something like that.

I loved it, the five other people I've shown it to loved it. It's worth your attention.

Wow,some reviewers are way too harsh for this movie. Riders doesn't pretend be to be anything more than it is. Honestly I sometimes really ask myself what people are expecting from a movie that clearly is only a setup for stunts and action. And the stunts that are presented in the movies are beautifully done. Of course the acting is bad and the story not surprising. But boy did I have fun watching this movie. And this fun factor is not something that should be overlooked so easily. The fact that this movie and the actors don't take matters so seriously should also count for something. Since there are a lot of similar themed movies that do take themselves serious and which aren't nearly as entertaining as Riders. People craving for french action themed movies a la Luc Besson (like Taxi,Yamaksi or Banlieu 13) will have a blast watching this movie.

The movie is really good looking with a great visual style, that makes this a great genre movie to watch. But the movie has such an incredibly bad story and storytelling that the movie still manages to almost become unwatchable at times.

Not only just the story is simple and formulaic, it also is told in about the worst way possible. The story never flows well, which is probably also due to some bad editing. Seems like director Gérard Pirès only concentrated on the style and action of the movie and not on its story at all. Definitely a case of style over substance.

The story features lots of clichés and some highly unlikely moments, even for action movie standards and the movie also doesn't exactly become much better as the movie develops. The movie even gets truly ridicules at times. Too bad because with its style and cast involved, the movie really showed some potential.

The movie really has a great cast. Stephen Dorff is a great actor and he also even shows that in this movie. Bruce Payne goes way too much over-the-top with his role, which causes him to be an unlikely and not likable enough villain. Steven Berkoff is way better, in an also over-the-top but very fun role, as a Southern villain, with an Elvis-wig. It's a role you normally wouldn't expect from him. And thank goodness that Natasha Henstridge's role is smaller than she is credited with.

The action is fair enough. Definitely no big-budget kind of stuff but obviously also way better than the average B-action movie. The movie provides a couple of thrills and kicks. Some of the special effects are a bit too fake looking at times unfortunately.

A fair enough enjoyable guilty-pleasure to watch but don't forget to switch off your brain first.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I thought the acting by the guy playing the detective was the best thing about the movie. Sure, there's no award for him but he makes the movie funny!

The action was cool, and one of the actors reminded me of Tom Green. I had a great time watching this with my friends, and if you want some action without having to think about the plot, RENT THIS MOVIE.