Timerider, le cavalier du temps perdu

Suspend yourself for a time. Watch motocross goat roper style.

Lyle Swann (Fred Ward) rides his bike off-road and by accident back a century. There he encounters Some bad characters including Peter Coyote and Ed Lauter who covet his machine and a woman Belinda Bauer that covets his... well, not his bike. Will he come out of both encounters unscathed? Does he ever hear the truth of his situation or will he be lost forever "a stranger in a strange land?"

Maybe not the best production. However, it is quite fun watching them go through the motions. It is fun to see top actors from different films all come together for this one. You may find out what happened if you stick your nose into the situation.

I love time travel films, but there are two that disappoint me, this one and "Return to the Future". This one was absolutely corny and I think primarily designed for American Motor Cycle enthousiasts ( the film is not even known in Europe and hasn't appeared on VHS or DVD ). All time travel film is of course fantasy, but the story of this one is too corny. Throughout almost all the film the bike rider doesn't even realise he has crossed time and the villagers, apart from being fascinated by his machine, don't understand where he has come from. Both these ingredients being missing, one is more or less guaranteed that the film will be a failure. In fact if you look well much of the time you just see a motorbike zooming around all over the desert. So what's interesting about that. Nothing. There is little dialogue of any consequence between the protagonists and the anacchronism of the main character is not put to good use (as it is for example in Time After Time ). There are no comic situations arising from the time difference and hardly even a romance to titillate your taste buds. This is one of the few films where I bought the dvd without having seen the film and then regretted my purchase once I had seen the film ! In addition to that picture quality on the dvd is not up to much, and there are no other language tracks, subtitles or extras. So all in all a bit of a dead loss (like Joe Loss's Brother ) !!!

The following comment includes a piece of the plot. If you plan to see the movie (and I recommend you do), do not read the rest of this.

Both Gene and Roger felt that the title character seemed stupid in that he didn't understand what had happened (i.e. that he went back in time) until the very end. I, on the other hand found it most believable. If you were lost in the desert, and you came across a _rural_ town, wouldn't it take quite a lot before you'd reach the conclusion "Oh, I must have gone back in time!"

This film is a great example of what can be done with a low budget, decent story, and a great cast. The direction is broad, and at the same time both light-hearted and dark. I think it's a good example of balance in that regard. Please see my comments in the message board regarding the ending of the DVD version. I think you have to be able to remember back to the day - 1982 - to appreciate this movie. Superior low-budget time-loops starting with "The Terminator" were still 2 years away....

Timerider was one of the first movies I ever saw on video back in 1983 (when renting a video was a "new" phenomenon). The movie was pretty good. However, the music was unforgettable. I later discovered that Michael Nesmith (of The Monkeys fame) wrote the music as well as had some involvement with the production of the movie.

The sound is pure 80's with the punchy and familiar distorted electric guitar. Occassionally, a synthesizer will appear on the track. When I rented the movie in 1983, I recorded the music (along with some of the dialogue) onto an audio tape... which I still listen to today. Fortunately, I also discovered that Michael Nesmith has a web-site where both the video and the soundtrack can be found. I think I'll purchase both... since it has been nearly 20 years since I've seen the movie.

This is a classic movie for the music alone.