The Hard Ride

It's a good thing that Robert Fuller got himself a long running gig in Emergency for six years after this film got inflicted on the movie going public. I'd hate to think of this as his career epitaph.

The former star of Laramie plays a Marine Vietnam vet who accompanies his dead buddy's body back to his small California town for burial. He also has been willed 'Baby' his late friend's motorcycle .

It's quite a machine. In fact the local bikers who the late friend rode with don't think it should go to an outsider. Therein lies the plot of this silly epic.

I mean if you're into motorcycle movies with curvaceous women than you can't go wrong here. Marlon Brando or James Dean wouldn't have been caught dead in this film.

While the two leads here are adequate for this type of bottom-of-the-bill movie, one has to admit that this is the kind of film one would find at a drive-in in 1971 -- a drive-in occupied entirely by couples far too busy making out in their back seats to ever glance at the screen or even hook the speaker to their car windows. It's hard to figure what's worse here -- the lousy script and direction, idiotic soundtrack music, the cheapo production techniques, the poor editing, the badly choreographed fight scenes ("heightened" by inexplicable slo-mo) or the stupidly clichéd plot and characters. The motorcycle sequences are almost laughable. The childish dopes the movie tries to typify would have been just as awesome on bicycles with training wheels. What an embarrassing waste of film.

After his best friend "Lenny" (Alfonso Williams) is killed while serving in Vietnam, "Phil" (Robert Fuller) is given permission to escort the coffin back to the United States and make the necessary funeral arraignments. To that effect, since Lenny was an orphan and had no family members, his only requests were to have his priest "Father Tom" (Marshall Reed) to preside over his funeral and for a motorcycle gang led by a man named "Big Red" (Tony Russel) to attend as well. To help with that, Lenny advises Phil to get in touch with his former girlfriend "Sheryl" (Sherry Bain) who might know where to find him. On a final note, Lenny also bequeaths an extremely valuable motorcycle to Phil with the hope that he can make good use of it. The main problem, however, is that this motorcycle just happens to be highly coveted by another motorcycle gang leader named "Grady" (William Bonner) and he is willing to do anything to get possession of it. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film started off reasonably well and had a few good action scenes here and there along with a fairly good musical score as well. Unfortunately, there was one particular scene that I didn't especially care for and caused me to lower my evaluation somewhat lower. Average.

For a "B" film, it is not too bad. Controversial for its time with themes of interracial love, illegal drug use, free love, liberated women and Viet Nam. Some decent music and a surprise ending in a relatively "tame" biker flick, make it entertaining enough if you like Robert Fuller.

I honestly don't know what the previous poster was watching but he obviously ain't a bike lover as this movie has probably one of the best choppers ever seen on film, and when the song Fallin' In Love With Baby is playing you just can't help but smile like Bob Fuller who looks over the moon to be on this baby. I collect bike movies and the vast majority are rubbish with minimal bikes, this is different with i'd say 75% of the movie riding scenes! Fantastic opening sequence too with about 50 scooters riding in formation across a desert with magic music by Bill Medley. The soundtrack LP is easily obtained and is well worth getting hold of too. This movie only lets its self down when it goes into bikie movie clichés like the rumble/brawl scenes. Special mention to the stunning Sherry Bain, a realistic beauty who carries this movie, why she didn't become a major star is a mystery????