Les démons de la violence

I'd watch "Hell's Angels 69" a hundred times before I'd watch "Easy Rider" again. If you are tired of stoner biker movies where essentially nothing happens other than perhaps several pretentious ego trips, then skip "The Wild Angels", and come along for a ride with the real deal, "Hell's Angels 69". This is a film that actually has a plot, infiltrating a biker gang to pull off a casino heist, while leaving the bikers holding the bag. Things don't exactly go as planned, ending with a desert chase on dirt bikes, and a final showdown. Sonny Barger and his authentic cycle gang buddies deliver realistic performances not found in other biker films. Recommended of it's type. - MERK

This movie is about two dudes that most likely hung out with real Hell's Angels after they became popular and sold-out in the late 60's and came up with a "perfect heist" type movie using the Angels as props for their caper.

Unfortunately for their characters, the Hell's Angels are a force of nature, similar to fire, and you can't play with them without eventually getting burned.

And unfortunately for you, I really can't tell much more about the movie without giving everything away. I'm not sure if the plot and character development was intended to develop over the course of the movie, or if they just made it up as they went along; but that was the main thing that made it interesting, so I'm not really able to tell you anything more without ruining it.

Oh, but the best part about the movie: they used real Hell's Angels to play the Hell's Angels. They even use their real names. And if you think that the REAL Oakland Angel's were going to be in a movie in which they end up the suckers, you've got another think coming. As I said, the Hell's Angels are a force of nature and are not to be trifled with. Just give them their due, and pray they let you walk away.

This movie begins with two brothers by the name of "Chuck" (Tom Stern) and "Wes" (Jeremy Slate) who mysteriously decide to head out west in order to meet the Oakland branch of the Hell's Angels. Donning a jacket with their own motorcycle club logo they manage to partially ingratiate themselves with the group and then proceed to coerce them into riding to Las Vegas. What the Hell's Angels don't realize is that these two brothers have a secret plan which carries a great amount of risk for all concerned. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had a bit more mystery than most "biker films" out there and tended to get better as the movie progressed. Admittedly, the acting wasn't exactly top-notch but even so it was adequate enough. Likewise, there were a couple of scenes toward the end which seemed a bit too unbelievable but that's typical of Hollywood I suppose. In any case, I thought that this was a solid biker movie and because of that I rate it as about average.

The Orson Wells of Motorcycle films, Tom Stern, turns in one of his best performances. For nothing more than a "B" film, this turns into a highly enjoyable robbery heist flick in the nature of Ocean's 11.

Stern teams up with his buddy Jerome Slate to play spoiled,bratty, millionaire brothers who decide to rob a Vegas hotel while posing as members of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. The story plot is surprisingly good and the acting and action scenes are very well done.

The Vegas of 1969 is captured, and boy has it changed! Hell's Angel leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger steals the show simply by playing himself. Overall an impressive effort by Tom Stern.

"Hell's Angels '69" takes the premise of "The Thomas Crown Affair" and re-tools it as a biker flick. It's a clever idea, and "Hell's Angels '69" is better than most biker flicks from this period, with a bit more story, character development and subtext. Unfortunately, it's still not much of a movie.

The movie's first misstep is revealing its hand from the beginning: Tom Stern and Jeremy Slate are crooks, not "real" bikers. Knowing this from the get-go removes an element of mystery, and the story might have been a bit more interesting had this fact been revealed later. Then again, the moment Stern and Slate hook up with the Hell's Angels -- featuring actual members of the notorious biker gang -- it's obvious they're not the rough n' tough bikers they claim to be. A big tip off: Slate asks the gang's sole "old lady," Conny Van Dyke, if she's ever considered settling down, getting married and raising children. Van Dyke is too clean-cut looking to really pass as a jaded biker chick (she looks much more at home in the powder blue dress and low-heeled pumps she dons later in the movie), but since that's the role she's playing one would assume she'd become suspicious when Slate starts talking like a high school guidance counselor. Apparently, these Angels were so impressed by Stern and Slate's bike tricks ("Watch this!") they're willing to overlook the guys' square tendencies.

Another misstep -- and one I'm surprised was allowed to happen -- is featuring real Hell's Angels and sanitizing them. In this movie, the gang just likes drinking Olys, riding their choppers and perpetrating vandalism, pretty much in that order. The guys get nasty in the final act, but for much of the movie they're presented as nothing more than 1950s juvenile delinquents with beards and a fondness for Nazi memorabilia.

Finally, "Hell's Angels '69" makes the same mistake of almost all biker movies: overestimating the entertainment value of guys riding bikes. You get plenty of footage of the gang riding down two-lane highways, riding through Vegas, riding through the desert, and, of course, riding through town while frightened squares look on. Yeah, they're bikers, we get it, but a little goes a long way, and it makes "Hell's Angels '69" go on a little too long.