Viva Knievel! (1977)

I saw the documentary with Richard Hammond where he met the world's most famous motorcyclist stuntman, I wasn't sure what to make of him, and then I saw he appeared in his own film, so I tried it. Basically legendary stuntman Evel Knievel has come to Mexico to perform one of his greatest stunts, and while there preparing he gets to know some of his fans and catch up with old friends. This includes helping a bunch of orphans, getting his alcoholic mechanic Will Atkins (Gene Kelly) to put things right with his son Tommy Atkins (Eric Olson), and getting to know photographer and journalist Kate Morgan (Lauren Hutton). While all this is going on, villainous drug lord Stanley Millard (Leslie Nielsen) plans to have Evel killed in his stunt so that he can get a replacement biker and smuggle a massive supply of drugs through. Evel is seen to do one jump prior to the main one, but when it comes to the big one he finds out about this plot, goes ahead with the jump, and after recovering there are some chases and stuff to which he saves the day in the end. Also starring Red Buttons as Ben Andrews, Frank Gifford, Sheila Allen as Sister Charity, Cameron Mitchell as Barton, Albert Salmi as Cortland and Dabney Coleman as Ralph Thompson. The critics rate this film two stars, the extra star is probably just from the fact that it is Evel Knievel and there are two stunts in the film, but the supporting one or two big names are wasted, especially Kelly and Nielsen, the story is ridiculous, over the top cheesy and predictable, I can never see myself watching this garbage again, a stupid action thriller adventure. Pretty poor!

Oh, what an incredible trashy bad movie from the '70's this is, starring none other than Evel Knievel himself and Hollywood celebs from the 'old' days Gene Kelly, Red Buttons and Leslie Nielsen as a villain.The movie has a real shaky plot that doesn't make an awful lot of sense. I don't know it has something to do with an evil Leslie Nielsen wanting Knievel death so he can smuggle drugs with Knievel's death body as a cover. Meanwhile there are also several side-plots that makes you wonder why they are even in there. It makes the movie often disjointed to watch and halve of the time you don't know what is going on, also because there is often very little actually happening in the story.The movie was an obvious attempt to launch Evel Knievel a movie career. He was known for his daring motorcycle jumps stunts but he is perhaps even better known because of his inability to land. He crashed- and broken more bones during his stunts than a regular race-car driver would in his entire career.Evel Knievel is in this movie presented as an all American hero. He is loved everywhere, he gets the girl and also does charity. Meanwhile he also gives important life lesson's to kids. by telling them they will eventually blow up once they start using drugs. He gets a standing ovation as well from the crowd after this inspiring speech.The only last month deceased Evel Knievel just wasn't much good as an actor. It also didn't really helped him that he had Hollywood-cannon's Gene Kelly and Red Buttons opposite him. He turns all the more pale in comparisons to them. It's true that Kelly's and Buttons' careers already had their best time and the same goes for Leslie Nielsen, who in this movie plays one of his last 'serious'. This is basically also the only reason why those three appear in this movie. It was a bit weird to see Kelly as an 'old' man, mainly of course since I'm used to seeing him in only just '40's and '50's movies. I can name at least a dozen movies out of the top of my head that are way worse than this one. So perhaps this movie is not entirely deserving it's title of 'one of the worst movies ever made' but nevertheless, this is a great example of bad movie making, which at the same time also makes this movie some delicious bad trash from the '70's to watch. Viva Knievel! 3/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Sometimes a film is so badly made, that in itself is a source of entertainment. Hope on such fun made me watch this movie. I was bitterly disappointed. Not because of the clumsy acting, the rickety cutting, or the lack of anything posing as a storyline or plot. I expected all these flaws and was prepared to enjoy the rubbish. What put me off, was the appearance of Gene Kelly, a performer of some standing in my opinion, in this rag. What baffled me, was the lead caricature mister knievel himself. I admit having had dreams with me in grand roles, saving the world, democracy, freedom and the girl, but to have this wet dream put on celluloid would not arise in a similar dream. The man has an ego like Jupiter (God and/or Planet) and the sense of relativity of an amoebe. And his cinematografical skills equal the latter. Do not watch this movie, even when you want to see it for its lack of quality. This one is too bad for even such entertainment.

In VIVA KNIEVEL, the daredevil foils a drug shipment, charms a Mother Superior, reunites a long-estranged father and son, inspires crippled children to walk, woos a feminist news photographer and makes a 150-foot jump over a cage full of lions. Not all at once, however.Robert Craig Knievel was one of his era's most singular pop culture figures, an endless self-promoter whose failures (e.g. his aborted 1974 Snake River Canyon jump) drew more media hype than almost anyone else's successes. A well-marketed, low-budget Knievel biopic starring George Hamilton did great at the box office in the early 1970s, so it was assumed the real Evel would also pack them into the theaters. But Knievel, unlike a Babe Ruth or Muhammad Ali, has no genuine on-camera magnetism and many of his line readings are horrid; trying to get Red Buttons to pay up on a debt, Evel says flatly, "You stole from me (long, long pause)... PROMOTER." A quintessential 1970s cast (in fact, three POSEIDON ADVENTURE survivors appear here) includes a poorly-wigged Gene Kelly as Evel's alcoholic mechanic, a pre-AIRPLANE! Leslie Nielsen as the drug kingpin, Marjoe Gortner (take my word for it, kids, he was big in the 1970s) as Evel's protégé-turned-druggie and Lauren Hutton as the women's lib photographer who F-stops her way into Evel's heart.