L'aube sauvage

In SAVAGE DAWN, Lance Henriksen stars as the mysterious Ben Stryker, drifting righter of wrongs. Returning to his old stomping grounds, Stryker reunites with his friend, Tick Rand (George Kennedy).

Oh no!

Serendipitously, a hellish biker gang, including the gigantic "Meatrack" (Charles Hyman) and "Pigiron" (William Forsythe) rolls into town. They're called The Savages, and they're one of the most colorful, hyper-violent gangs since Billy Jack took on the Born Losers!

True to form, The Savages start bullying the locals right away. Can Stryker and Tick defeat these unwashed ogres before they wipe out the entire populace?

When Stryker opens up his arsenal of kung fu, the war begins!

Action-packed and sublimely bananas, this movie delivers the goods! Henriksen is at his best in this nearly non-stop fight fest!

Co-stars Karen Black as Rachel, and Richard Lynch as the slimy Rev. Romano...

I saw SAVAGE DAWN -- for the first, and, sadly, last time -- when I was 14 years old (I'm 32 now); my cousin and I rented it on tape from Southern Star (a cool, now-defunct video store that featured movie rentals and, in the back, a couple of pool tables, a pinball machine, a couple of arcade games, a jukebox, and some tough-looking, pool-playing locals (who were not unlike the bikers in the film) -- and it was a place that turned a blind eye when a horny, gore-obsessed teenager wanted to rent an R-rated picture). SAVAGE DAWN was cheaply made (which was one of the things I liked about), featured lots of guys on motorcycles (another thing I was crazy about) and one bike in particular -- a cool-looking, silver-gray Suzuki GSP1000. I remember a fantastically gory scene -- maybe it wasn't visually gross, but in my mind it was -- where a guy is (taken off his motorcycle, I believe, and) impaled on the teeth of a huge hay-rake. I recall a couple of seedy scenes that really warmed my pubescent loins: (1) where two slutty-looking gals approach a guardhouse (to a trashed-out, post-apocalyptic fenced-in compound) and commence to entertain the guards with very vulgar, yet sexy, forms of distraction; and (2) where the wayward (maybe alcoholic) priest (was this Henriksen?) succumbs to the beautiful, naked upturned breasts of a young temptress. Sadly, I loved it all!

This is the typical bad late night movie you would expect to see on cable. The movie is about a man who comes to town to save it from a bunch of bikers who have taken over. Some parts were pretty comical, but as far as biker movies go there are a bunch of them out there that are far better than this garbage. You know it's bad when you actually start rooting for the bikers.

I just got this on DVD and watched it. The plot has been done to death, nothing original here. Lance Henriksen does well with his character known as Stryker who is a bad ass war veteran. Stryker comes to town and has a run in with the local bikie gang who eventually over take the town so he goes out on a rampage and starts beating the living crap out of them all. The movie could have been fantastic if was a bigger budget. There were plenty of fight scenes but the choreography was slow and somewhat boring. I love good action movies with lots of fights but I have to say I was disappointed with this one.

I'll give Savage Dawn a 4 put pf 10 just for the efforts put into the movie from the lead actors mainly Lance Henriksen and William Forsythe who eventually move on to become decent actors since they made this movie together. Apart from that I will sadly say Savage Dawn doesn't have much to offer for the die hard action fans.

A word of advice to those that haven't seen this one: do *not* take it seriously. As written by Bill Milling and directed by Simon Nuchtern, this mid-80s update of '60s and '70s biker flicks is pretty damn stupid. But it's a pretty funny kind of stupid. Milling & Nuchtern throw in everything, *including* the kitchen sink, for the sake of a good show. A rich variety of B movie perennials and a heavy dose of chaotic action make this a hoot to watch. Millings' dialogue is often absurd, and his characters are a bunch of cartoons.

Lance Henriksen stars (although George Kennedy is top-billed) as a bike-riding loner who comes to the small Southern town of Agua Dulce to visit his old friend Kennedy. At the same time, other strangers arrive: a bunch of trouble-making bikers who paint the town blood red. Kennedy, who's good at making homemade weapons, Henriksen, and assorted townspeople bring the fight to the bikers.

Punctuated by atmospheric music from ever-reliable Pino Donaggio, "Savage Dawn" offers up plenty of violence, and doesn't seem to ever concern itself with being logical or probable. Henriksen and Kennedy are effective heroes, while a strutting William Forsythe plays the main heavy (he and Henriksen were on the same side six years later in another biker-themed favourite, "Stone Cold"). Forsythe does look like he's having a great time. Karen Black has a particularly ridiculous role as a town harpy who *hates* the place and throws in with the villains the first chance she gets. Sam Kinison makes his film debut in a priceless role as a Born Again barber who annoys the hell out of a biker named Zero (musician / character actor Mickey Jones). Richard Lynch has a change of pace role as a simpering, impotent preacher / mayor. Other familiar faces include Lewis Van Bergen, Leo Gordon, Michael Sharrett, and Claudia Udy.

One highlight (or low point, depending on your sensibilities): a catfight between Black and Udy that seems to go on for days.

Six out of 10.