Easy Rider (1969)

With the recent passing of Peter Fonda, I felt that the best way I could commemorate him was by reviewing one of his best known films, the film that landed him his first Oscar nomination, Easy Rider. Released in 1969, the film was directed by Dennis Hopper, who also starred in the film alongside Fonda and Jack Nicholson. I’ll be honest, I did not like this film when I first saw it. I thought it was uninteresting and rather plotless. However, the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me. The film tells the story of Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper), two bikers who, after smuggling and selling drugs from Mexico, take a road trip on their motorcycles to New Orleans to make it to the Mardi Gras celebration in the city. The money from the deal is hidden in Wyatt’s gas tank. The duo is faced with prejudice during their journey from locals due to their physical appearances, forcing the duo to camp out in fields as no inn or motel will accept them. After they are arrested in a town for “parading without a license”, the two meet alcoholic lawyer George Hanson (Nicholson), who helps them get out of jail and then joins the two on their journey. The film is interesting enough as it broke the law during production. How, you may ask? In several scenes, characters smoke pot and/or use LSD. The pot used in the film is real. The actors were actually smoking pot, something highly illegal in 1969. Dennis Hopper apparently used drugs so frequently during filming that he screamed at everyone due to the paranoia the pot was causing him, even pulling a knife on Rip Torn (who also recently passed away), the original actor cast as George Hanson. The film does a good job highlighting the prejudice against the hippies by southerners and really captures the social climate of the time in a great way. I would recommend this film to anyone that wants to watch a film about bikers, hippies, druggies, or anything for that matter. I like this film and I hope everyone can appreciate this film for what it is. I rate this film GOOD on the scale