Riding with Death

If you enjoy watching a discombobulated, incoherent dumpster fire of a movie, then Riding With Death is for you. Please, for the love of God, do not watch this without the MST3K commentary. I tried once without it and it was brutal. You have been warned!

Two episodes of atrocious 70s TV show stapled together to make a film. Secret agent has ability to become invisible due to exposure radiation or something. Has a "Southern" character only slightly less annoying than The Dukes of Hazzard. If you see a copy of it somewhere in a used bin, buy it then burn the video.

Two episodes of a really bad 70's T.V. show crammed together. It's worth watching for laughs. Observe all the bell bottoms, cheap dialogue, and unquestionably the worst actor I ever saw (the guy who plays Dr. Hale). Expensive and hard to find, so stick to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, which appears on the Sci-Fi channel. "Riding With Death" occasionally runs.

This is actually two unrelated episodes of the 70's TV show "Gemini Man" strung together to form a movie. And a really bad one too. It's not hard to see why this show was so short lived. Stars Ben Murphy (of "Being From Another Planet" and "Parasite" fame) and the hideous Jim Stafford. A real awful, rotting chunk of 70's cheese.

Good MST3K episode, though.

Way back in the evil, post-hallucinogenic '70s, the TV execs were trying to figure out a way to make the kids tune in and turn on to NBC, and came up with the series "Gemini Man", a series about a secret agent who can turn invisible with the help of his special watch. The kids didn't find it groovy, man, so it went to Nowhere-Ville.

What does that have to do with "Riding with Death"? Everything, man!

As a gasp of air before going under, the producers decided to not only take a couple of the show episodes and sew them together to make a movie, but did so with different characters in main parts, a five year gap between plots and Jim Stafford. Remember Jim - "I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes"... or cheesy TV movies.

And Ben Murphy... WHY stick with television after "Alias Smith and Jones"? Surely there are other movie projects to be made.... Wait, he starred in "Time Walker". Never mind, Ben.

As far as the '70s go, not every movie of that decade ages well, and fewer TV shows do, either. Therefore, a TV show that they try to make episodes into a movie with is double trouble. So, instead of "Riding with Death", watch "Then Came Bronson" instead. Michael Parks - Ben Murphy, what's the difference, anyway?

Two stars - in fond memory of the '70s, not of this flick.