Timerider

Starring:Jonathan Barnes, Belinda Bauer, Peter Coyote, Susan Dear, Bruce Gordon (II), Reginald Johnson, L.Q. Jones, Ed Lauter, Tommy Leyba, Richard Masur, Macon McCalman, Chris Mulkey, Laurie O'Brien, Ernie Quintana, Miguel Sandoval, Manny Smith, Tracey Walter, Fred Ward, Ben Zeller
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

As time-travel adventures go, this 1983 outing is an enjoyable one: a loosey-goosey shaggy-dog story about an '80s kind of guy who gets tossed back to the '70s--the 1870s, that is. Fred Ward plays the hero, a motocross racer who, along with his motorcycle, accidentally rides into the middle of a science experiment and is transported to the Old West. There, he runs into a cast of bad guys that includes some of the best character actors of the period: L.Q. Jones, Tracey Walter, Richard Masur, Ed Lauter, and Peter Coyote. It's your classic fish-out-of-water setup, with Ward as the slightly dippy wise guy who startles the heck out of the cowboys and pioneers of the period with his motorized bike, until he runs out of gas. The movie runs out of fuel as well, but it's an enjoyable ride while it lasts. Notable for its coproducer and cowriter: Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Motorcycle Guy Drives into the Past.......2007-06-19

Lyle Swann (Fred Ward, "Escape from Alcatraz," "Silkwood," "Tremors") is running a cross-country motorcycle race when he is launched more than 100 years into the past. He meets a motley cast of characters that includes criminal Porter Reese (Peter Coyote, "E.T.," "Sphere," "Patch Adams,"), and Claire Cygne (Belinda Bauer). Lyle never does realize that he has traveled to the past during the movie.

This movie is actually fun to watch if you like time travel movies. There are aspects of this movie that are vaguely reminiscent of time travel stories by Robert A. Heinlein, such as "By His Bootstraps" and "All You Zombies..." I enjoyed how Swann reacted to his surroundings as though he had gotten lost in modern America, though he had traveled into the past. Most time travel movies have the principal character or characters know that they traveled into the past and have them react accordingly.

This movie does have some plot holes, typical for time travel movies in general and especially for low budget time travel movies. However, the movie is sufficiently interesting that you keep watching to see what Lyle Swann will do next, most of the time anyway. The biggest problem the DVD release has is that it replaced the ending originally seen on HBO and available on VHS with an awful ending that has significantly less irony and I found personally less satisfying. I would probably have given this movie 3 or 4 stars had the original ending been retained.

Michael Nesmith co-produced this movie. He also wrote the music and appears in a cameo. People who remember the 60's well may recall that Nesmith was a member of The Monkees (the tallest member, who was also one of the two members who could actually play instruments when they joined the band). Nesmith became a powerful force in the music video business, producing videos and records while still recording music. This movie was one of his numerous projects after departing The Monkees.

Even with the awful change to the end of this movie, it is a good movie to watch if you want to see a different take on time travel movies. The movie was filmed with a serious and sincere tone rather than being played for laughs. Indeed, there are several violent deaths in this movie that make this movie unsuitable for family members younger than 12 or 13 years old.

Because of the change to the ending I recommend either trying to track down the VHS with the original ending, or wait until another DVD comes out with the original ending.

Good luck!

TimeRider.......2006-03-10

I loved this movie from its original release and have looked for it for years. Kicked myself for not buying it from the old VHS video store that had it!!! Does the DVD edit out the scene and storyline of the cowpoke(famous character actor - what is his name?) getting his nose bit off?? If they deleted the copter scene I am amazed they didn't cut this too!!! I want to buy the DVD but what is the point if it is missing crucial stuff!!! Pam

You got it, dude........2005-10-12

Alan Satterfield writes, "it always made me think that maybe he had slept with his grandmother...."

Yup, that's the point. You will also note that his last name is Swann, and hers is Cygne (French for Swan). And he tells her that he's from Los Angeles, and later notes that his Grandmother came to Los Angeles looking for her lover.

Fun film. Totally ruined by the changed ending. Buy the VHS version instead (although some of these have the bad ending as well.)

Grandmother ?.......2005-10-02

Does anyone remember that he was wearing a necklace that his grandmother had given him & that woman he slept with took it from him just before he leaped back to the present from the past ? it always made me think that maybe he had slept with his grandmother....anybody else.... by the way i loved this film & was delited that it came back.... the helecopter scene was a Killer ~! Alan~! P.S. I often wonder if Niclas Cage & Smalls ( The Wart Hog From Hell) as holly Hunter called him in Raising Arizona ...were indeed Brothers...they were both adopted were they not & indeed both had Road Runner Tatoos ...as he was about to blow up he pulled down on the front of Small's shirt & seen the Tatoo..was his look of shock & horror only for the pulled pin or also the Tatoo.... any way!!!

Good not great.......2005-08-28

I first saw this movie when I was in 8 th grade and loved it. Now that I have seen it 21 years later it doesn't quite hold up, but is still entertaining. Some of the lingo Fred Ward uses is down right cheesey, but that is the 80's. The movies is shorter than I remember it too. It was worth the $10

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