Rent The Bikeriders (2023)

Feels like a 70s movie... - The Bikeriders review by Champ

...and I say that as a compliment! Nothing much happens, but I really enjoyed watching it not happen, and getting to know the utterly believable characters.

The quasi-documentary style of this gave it a sense of reality that worked really well for me. The lead actors are superb, especially Jodie Comer who is so embedded in the look and sound of the character, it's impossible to believe she's not real. (Listening to her talk in her normal scouse accent in the DVD extras is a shock!). Tom Hardy delivers more by doing less, his deadpan look and silence conveying more than words ever could, somehow making inevitable his decay from regular guy to mob boss.

On top of all this, the look and sound of the film, especially the music, completely embeds you in the era. You feel like you're looking at footage taken back then, with the soundtrack just playing on the radio as it was filmed.

I enjoyed this film very much indeed, and am very happy to recommend it

One Strictly for Motorbike Gang Fans only - The Bikeriders review by PV

It is rare for me to eject a DVD before the end, but I only lasted half an hour with this - by that time in a film, I know the score, after plot point one I know where it is heading. I only lasted half an hour with Wonderwoman too, so to speak, and Mary Poppins the 2nd.

So, lots of motobike gangs. But really if you want that, watch the original WILD ONES with Marlon Brando or possibly the freewheeling Easy Rider from the hippy era.

I hate using this word, but I found the half hour I did watch 'boring'.

Nothing much happened, just macho posturing and flashbacks to various motorbike gangs - this is all based on recorded interviews from 1965-73, apparently.

I suppose it is a question of taste. So 2 stars from me.

Despite incredible performances & flawless period recreation, there is almost no story... - The Bikeriders review by Timmy B

The Bikeriders is one of the best recent examples of a film with stunning production values & casts which has no real story to speak of, beyond just observing the actions of it's characters. Director Jeff Nichols was inspired after reading the same-titled photo book, documenting the lives of the Outlaw biker gang (here reimagined as the Vandals,) as well as the extensive recordings of Kathy, one of the wives of the bikers.

The plot (what you could charitably call it,) looks at the life of Kathy Cross, from her first encounter with Benny & his motorcycle gang, through to their wedding just 5 weeks later, then their subsequent lives intertwined with the changing circumstances within the Vandals.

For the first 40 minutes or so, you really do become intoxicated with this world. Every single element, from the lovingly recreated biker outfits (painstakingly made to be exact replicas of the original leathers,) through to the locations & bikes themselves, is absolutely flawless. When viewed in 4K Blu-ray, it is literally like you are sat around the campfire or in the smoky bars listening to the gang.

But as the film went on, I then started to get a bit fidgety. Because there is only so long you can be in that world (and not be really interested in the subject matter, which I'm not,) before you start thinking "Errr... this is a lovely setting but I genuinely want a story to keep my attention." And sadly The Bikeriders almost completely runs out of gas in this sense. We see the normal conflicts that this sort of film would have, which are significantly elevated by the incredible cast, but there is nothing more than that.

Speaking of cast, this is the other ace up the sleeve the film has. Jodie Comer, who literally is incredible in everything I have seen her in, makes for a compelling narrator. Adding yet another accent to her incredible repertoire, she is the feisty & vulnerable protagonist of this film, with an acid tongue & buckets of humour. Austin Butler, after his stratospheric turn as Elvis, also does good work here, really putting soul into a role which many others would probably have played as simply a sultry heartthrob. But Tom Hardy is the standout, his Johnny a man with a sharp mind, handy with his fists & a innate knowledge that he cannot keep living the life he does, trying to manage a gang which is constantly evolving & changing.

If you have even a cursory interest in either bikes or that time period, there is much to love here and you would probably add an extra star to my rating. But as much as I wanted to love it more, quite simply the lack of story is this film's Achilles heel.