Death Riders (1976)

DEATH RIDERS is a simple, very low budget documentary from Crown International Pictures. The film does nothing more than have a cameraman follow around a group of 'death riders', the motorbike stunt guys who visit travelling fairs to take part in daring leaps and assorted stunts. We also see them having a good time and engaging in a bit of rodeo on the side. It's limited in the extreme and you don't really learn a lot, either about the profession or the characters, but a lot of stunt footage plays out and the documentary sufficiently captures a sense of time and place.

An excellent, very observant and illuminating Crown International Pictures documentary which offers an intimate and minutely detailed portrait of a traveling roadshow of fearless, courageous, even downright foolhardy nomadic carnival daredevils known collectively as the Death Riders. The Death Riders, a truly special breed of fanatical, dedicated, four-sheets-to-the-wind wacko lunatics, are shown demolishing cars, driving through intensely hot tongues of flame, blowing themselves up with dynamite, jumping motorcycles over people who actually volunteer for this honor, performing at a nudist colony (one Death Rider thoughtfully does a car wrecking stunt in the buff!), goofing around, riding wild bulls, engaging in a motor-cross race, and trekking across the country to put on their show for hundreds of awestruck spectators. Director Jim Wilson gives a sharp-eyed, insightful and wholly fascinating you-are-there look at a once prevalent, but now sadly vanished subculture and celebrates a uniquely 70's free-spirited desire to live life to its fullest extent, specifically focusing on a rare, now largely extinct type of all-American red-blooded male whose insatiable craving for wealth, fame, women, attention, excitement and adoration compels him to live life to a gloriously crazy, dangerous, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants uninhibited extreme. Vilmos Zsigmond's characteristically proficient cinematography adeptly uses such nifty flourishes as slow motion, freeze frames and split screen to precisely capture the Death Riders' mortality-testing antics in all their gut-twisting, heart-pounding, nerve-frying, marrow-freezing gonzo splendor. Further complimented by a top-rate country and western soundtrack, this fine and unjustly forgotten slice of vintage 70's Americana makes for genuinely absorbing, informative and often quite harrowing viewing.

The director of photography for this film was Vilmos Zsigmond. The photography of the film is one of its strongest points. It hardly represents the work of an amateur "learning on the job". The lack of multiple cameras is most likely a result of budget constraints. This film is worthy in many respects. The time capsule aspect, the photography, and the place it sits in the history of documentary film making. It is interesting to know that the same director of photography shot both Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The human bomb act is especially interesting in the light of modern times. Just thirty years ago people were blowing themselves up for entertainment. The addition of car bombs and suicide bombers in current society adds to the dating of this film. This film is also reminiscent of Endless Summer.

Summer on the road with The Death Riders, a group of motorcycle and car daredevils. The group is made up of guys in their late teens and early twenties. They travel around in vans and cars going from state fair to state fair and race track to race track. They jump motorcycles, jump and crash cars, drive through burning tunnels, blow themselves up with dynamite and do assorted other stunts.This is an interesting look at a brand of entertainment thats pretty much gone the way of the wind. Not so long ago automotive thrill shows used to criss cross the US doing wild stunts and providing an evening or afternoons entertainment, usually in conjunction to the state fair or as part of an evenings program of races. But as safety and insurance concerns grew and the places where you could put on these type of shows diminished they disappeared or changed into something else. If you've ever wanted an idea of what it was like to barnstorm the country this film will give you some idea.To be honest time has not been kind to this film. The one or two camera set ups used often miss a great deal, one crash in the hometown of one of the Riders is not caught on film because the camera was covering the crowd, in particular the grandmother of the one who crashed. We watch as she becomes so upset paramedics have to be called in. At other times the night time filming obscures a good deal of the action. Things get better as the film goes on so its as if the film makers were learning on the job, however it makes some of the early parts of this film slow going. There are other problems, the Riders tend to blend together and the music, while good, never allows for any excitement to creep into the proceedings.Still this is an interesting time capsule of days "long" gone. Anyone interested in racing or motor sports will get a good look at how safety has changed over the years, and how there really was no safe distance between the track and the crowd.The safety equipment for the riders is non-existent. Many of the stunts, such as the people jump, will probably not be done again with such a care free attitude. Its amazing how times have changed.No, this is not a great film, its probably only barely a good one. Certainly if you're looking for just spills and chills and stunts its very disappointing, however if you can accept that this is a time capsule of days gone by, made by guys who had nothing even remotely high tech or flashy, then you will probably enjoy yourself for the hour and a half or so that the film runs.