Evel Knievel

No pun intended there - I didn't come up with the wordplay anyway. Actually this movie did not come up with the character. Apart from real life, there are other outings. Which unfortunately I have not seen. And I would not call myself an expert in all things Evel (another pun?).

Still this is a decent movie in my book. Acting is fine, stunts seem insane (as they must have seemed back in the day too) and Jaime Pressly looks a bit like Margot Robbie in this (or maybe it's just me). Interesting movie to say the least, though it may not work as good for those who know more about what went down (and up, ok yes pun intended) back in the day ...

Whether or not you are a fan of Evel Knievel, the made for television movie has its moments. Having to rush a story in under 2 hours including commercial time, most of TNT movies fall short of anything great. The casting of Pressly and Bridges in the movie was great. Although they are supporting leads, they are what holds the movie together. Beau Bridges is great in pretty much anything he touches. Jaime Pressly has come a long way from her earlier films she was casted in for her "assets." Here, she shows her acting talents alongside her beauty. All in all, Evel Knievel is somewhat of a fun ride that takes you into the story of one of America's misunderstood Dare-devils.

Looked forward to seeing this movie, and thought the casting was a good opportunity to make a good Knievel movie. George Eads seemed he could put in a good performance as Evel, and you can't take your eyes off Jamie Pressley in every scene she's in. Add Beau Bridges and Lance Henriksen, and it sounds like the makings of a good biography that has never been properly made. Not sure what went wrong here, but there were so many odd mistakes in the shooting, and what seem to be unnecessary changes to historical details that create distractions in watching the movie, and make the overall product seen cheap and "hammy". I tried to stay entertained, but the movie does not have factual credibility and lacks any production polish, it makes it hard to watch. The story flows in a choppy manner, including scenes that detail odd perspectives of his life that go nowhere, and then skips chunks of events and even ends abruptly. The product lacks a theme or specific point. Not an offensive movie, nor painful to watch, but I am more convinced after this movie that a quality movie about the legendary figure of Evel Knievel has yet to be made. Upon discovering this movie (it was 5 or 6 years old by the time I saw it) was a made-for-TV movie on TNT or some other station, the production limitations are obvious, and I am impressed the movie was even as good as it was.

Wow. This movie is so gosh-darn awful I'm not sure where to begin. Production costs must have soared into the thousands, from the look of this cheap-by-1978-movie-of-the-week-Aaron-Spelling-standards. If you are even a modest fan of pop culture history, you will notice horrible gaffs all over this thing (The Ideal Toy Company segment of the movie, wherein toys not yet available until the end of the 70's are on display in 1971), the ages of his children in the 60's sequences, all kinds of dopey crap. This movie purports to be more of a true portrayal of Evel's life than the George Hamilton flick from the early 1970's. It was not half as entertaining as the Hamilton movie and fairly glossed over and skewed in so far as depicting Evel's actual career. The jump shots remind me of some of the really cheap stuff you might have seen on Happy Days, where we get to see the Fonz's view of a jump as he sails over it. The History Channel has an excellent documentary hosted by Mathew McConaughey. It's loaded with actual Evel interviews and tons of footage of jumps that I hadn't seen since they aired in the 70's. Please rent/go see this documentary. Shows every aspect of Evel. Or, rent the Hamilton movie for its camp and fun value. Bypass this ridiculous piece of @#$%. Jeff Graham-Tulsa, OK.

I wonder if the real Evel had anything to do with this? Not only was it nothing like what really happened, the movie also used many props that just did not exist! Like the Ceasars Palace jump in '68, Evel is wearing a full-face style of helmet that didn't even exist then! And the music in the background that was playing..Call Me the Breeze, by Lynrd Skynrd was a 1974 song! Was this movie supposed to appeal to todays kids only?

Because if it was, then these important facts don't matter!

Just like the battery flashlights in the 1997 movie Titanic! At least the always scrumptious Jamie Pressley was in it and looking fine!