Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)

"Timerider" has one of the stupidest plot premises I ever beheld, but apparently the film nevertheless supports a loyal fan base and is considered a modest cult favorite. I thought it was boring, imbecilic and forgettable. All the more proof that the term "cult favorite" is widely open for personal interpretation. Bike-racing daredevil Lyle Swann (Fred Ward) loses his way during a test drive and passes through a scientific test area where he accidentally gets catapulted back in time to the year 1877. Of course, he's completely unaware of the troublesome situation he's in and when confronted with villainous cowboys and superstitious villagers that think he's "El Diablo", he only responds by pulling stupid faces. "Timerider" predates "Back to the Future", the milestone that single-handedly popularized the time-traveling concept in cinema, so it just ends up being a lame crossover between Sci-Fi and comedy. It's a very boring film that does nothing extraordinary or memorable. Lyle Swann only tries to recover his stolen motorcycle throughout the entire film and, in the end, he's rescued by a helicopter that got sent back in time as well. How stupid is that? The concept isn't properly worked out, neither and the plot is full of dreadful clichés and predictable twists. The futuristic guy on his bike is accepted amongst the townspeople rather quickly, rather than to continue regarding him as some sort of demon, and obviously the lead heroine later turns out to be his great-grandmother. There's one notably amusing sequence, when the gang of criminals that stole Swann's motorcycle – led by Peter Coyote – tries to operate it. Other than this short worthwhile interlude, "Timerider" is a dumb film that I cannot bring myself to recommend to anyone.

Can't understand the low rating at all. Only complaint is the movie isn't long enough. Saw this movie 20 years ago and it's even better now. The soundtrack by Mike Nesmith (former Monkees) touches on all kinds a genres. Hard to find DVD too. Fred Ward is a very interesting actor in all his movies. His uniqueness and style adds to the interest. He's one of few actors whose eye gestures needs no words spoken with it. Tremors is another great example where he adds to the quality of the movie.The supporting cast is excellent too. 1) Lauter is great in all his movies. 2) Bauer is awesome and is a shame she hasn't been in more movies in the past. 3) As for Coyote, this has to be his best movie as the bad guy.Thumbs up!!!

Well, it was a good idea. They just didn't do a lot with it. A guy on a motorcycle in the desert gets accidentally catapulted back in time by an experiment, and is himself unaware that this has happened.I liked the people of the 19th Century town, and the chemistry between Lyle Swan (Fred Ward) and the local beauty there (Belinda Bauer) is a plus. Ward's acting is alright, playing the confused dummy lost in the past. However he is undermined by feeble scripting: neither his nor any other character grows or learns anything. The same jokes about futuristic marvels that he shows the astonished people get thin pretty fast, and some of the same dialog, like "Where's my bike?!?" even repeats.There's only one common thread running through the story that has any meaning as far as the impact of time travel adventure goes, and if you blink, even that will zip by. A weak story that's just not written very well.

Fred Ward gives a typically credible and engaging performance as Lyle Swann, a hotshot off-road motorcycle champion who becomes lost in the Mexico desert while in the middle of a motorcross race. Swann accidentally stumbles across a top secret government base that's conducting a time travel experiment and gets transported back to 1877. Grimy, vicious desperado Peter Coyote and his two dumb, craven, greasy, unwashed scuzzbag partners (marvelously played by the ever-grubby Tracey Walter and an uncharacteristically nasty Richard Masur) want to steal Swann's wheels. Swann seeks refuge in a small, remote Mexican village. The God-fearing peasant vocals think Swann is the devil incarnate. Only priest Ed Lauter and fiery, fetching femme Clair (the highly alluring and enticing Belinda Bauer) treat Swann with any hospitality and become his sole allies, protecting him from both Coyote's gang and a couple of bothersome federal marshals (one of 'em is grizzled Sam Peckinpah movie regular L.Q. Jones).The fantastic premise is given a semblance of gritty, lived-in plausibility thanks to the brightly conceived script, believable reactions the 18th century characters have to both Swann and his motorcycle, sound acting from a top-rate cast, and especially director William Dear's harsh, rough around the edges, very dingy and fiercely unromanticized evocation of the Old West. It's this latter element of ragged, dust-under-the-fingernails filthy historical authenticity which makes "Timerider" such an effective and engrossing offbeat sci-fi/Western outing. Former Monkey Michael Nesmith co-produced, co-wrote the quirky screenplay, and supplied the lively, thumping, guitar-blasting, synthesizer-driven rollicking rock score for this interesting anomaly. The Anchor Bay DVD offers an excellent letterboxed presentation of this unsung favorite, along with a disarmingly candid William Dear commentary, two theatrical trailers and a bunch of TV spots.