Review: ‘Hell Ride’

Travis:

Writer-director-actor Larry Bishop isn’t a rookie on the filmmaking scene, having written and directed ‘Trigger Happy’ starring Richard Dreyfuss and written another movie called ‘Underworld’ starring Denis Leary. Bishop wrote, directed and stars in ‘Hell Ride’ … an action-packed film inspired by and borrowing heavily from Quentin Tarantino. In fact, it is a feature-length homage in many respects to nearly the entire library of Tarantino’s work… which is perhaps why Tarantino was willing to produce and present this film. Actually, I really don’t know the reason why Tarantino chose to produce this film, but you could certainly get the impression that Bishop was trying to earn extra brownie points by trying to make a film like Tarantino.

Don’t get me wrong, ‘Hell Ride’ is lots of fun and is a very well-made film… a tad unpolished in areas, but still well-done. After all, Tarantino does borrow heavily from and offer homage to many great films, but the difference is that he adds his own artistic and technical signature and style that makes his films uniquely his. No one else out there is making movies like Tarantino and those who try only fall disappointingly short. As enjoyable as ‘Hell Ride’ was to watch, I often felt too many distinct similarities to Tarantino’s films and not enough of Larry Bishop himself. From the beginning and all the way to the ending when Comanche finally opens “the box”… the movie suffers primarily from a lack of originality.

As for it’s strengths, ‘Hell Ride’ is laden with action, guns, graphic violence, nudity, sex, profanity, controversy and really cool actors playing really cool characters… everything needed to make a really great Tarantino film, minus the awesome dialogue that only Tarantino can create. Except, this is a Larry Bishop film. Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, Dennis Hopper and David Carradine are great in their performances, delivering hardcore coolness as usual, but Larry Bishop and Eric Balfour do a stand-up job as the two main characters, Hellbent on their journey of revenge that twists and turns within the plot as we piece together what’s going on… again, borrowed from Tarantino with relative success.

I can clearly see why ‘Hell Ride’ had a VERY limited and short-lived run in theaters. It’s amazing how this movie received an R-rating without any notable fuss, but the MPAA made Kevin Smith jump through hoops to get an R-rating for ‘Zack and Miri’. I guess you wanna know what the movie’s about, huh? Fine, here’s the abridged version:

Pistolero (Bishop) is leader of the biker gang called The Victors, but the 666’s are moving in on their territory and looking to take The Victors out. The 666’s are led by psychotic maniac Billy Wings (Vinnie Jones) but are bank-rolled and take orders from The Deuce (David Carradine) who has a history with one of The Victors that he isn’t aware of, yet. Comanche (Eric Balfour) eagerly joins The Victors as they make their stand against the 666’s. As the movie progresses, things become a tad chaotic for members of The Victors, who begin falling at the hands of Billy Wings, but we soon to find out that Pistolero has everything under control in his efforts to achieve his ultimate goal.

If you’re into the films of Tarantino and similar fare, then I would cretainly recommend this cinematic potpouri combining elements not only from Tarantino’s work but also from ‘Easy Rider’, ‘Desperado’ and a few other influences.

[rating:3/5]

Scott:

Its no secret that I am obsessed with anything and everything Tarantino, and this movie doesn’t let me down. Not only did he executive produce the movie, and loan his name to it. Larry Bishop pays homage to not only Tarantino, but to all bikers/exploitation movies.

Larry Bishop stars as  Pistolero the badass “pres” of The Victors who is out on a mission to take out the 666’ers. Throw Michael Madsen, Dennis Hopper,  David Carradine, and Vinnie Jones into the mix and hold on because they definitely don’t disappoint.

The movie was nearly perfect, beautifully shot, and the story is flawless but there are parts that I had a tough time with. The first of which was  Eric Balfour, dont get me wrong he is a nice guy, but I just couldnt buy into him as a badass biker dude. Did you see him get worked by Leatherface in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Masacre’ remake? I think he cried, and thats the only movie I remember him from, so everytime he was on screen all i can think about is him crying when Leatherface is cutting him up.

The other part I was a little disappointed in was the ending, it was a little to happy go lucky. I was hoping someone would get shot and die or something dramatic, but there wasnt really anything like that. I am not saying the ending is horrible, just not what I was expecting.

Overall this movie is explosive, and should blow you away. The DVD comes out in October so add this to your must buy list.

[rating:4.5/5]

Jeremy:

Seeing ‘Hell Ride’, you realize the labor of love actor/writer/producer/director Larry Bishop had for making a down and dirty biker flick.   Bishop wanted to make an homage picture to the biker movies of the ’60s and ’70s much in the same way Quentin Tarantino makes his homage pictures.   While Tarantino is paying respects to directors like Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa in films like ‘Kill Bill’, Bishop has taken notes from such classics as ‘The Wild Angels’ and ‘Chrome and Hot Leather’.   There’s just one main difference between these two filmmakers.   Tarantino has a God-given talent to piece together a broader picture.   Bishop, unfortunately, doesn’t.

‘Hell Ride’ follows Pistolero (Bishop) and his two, right-hand men, The Gent (Michael Madsen) and Comanche (Eric Balfour).   Pistolero is head of The Victors, a rival motorcycle gang to the 666ers.   The 666ers are a Satanic biker gang who, many years ago, killed Pistolero’s woman.

The tone and feel of ‘Hell Ride’ is really what makes the film watchable.   Bishop isn’t afraid to throw as much blood and nudity up on the screen as humanly possible.   It’s no surprise that the man who wrote the film, produced the film, and directed the film is contantly covered by sometimes three or four naked women.   It’s this “I don’t care” attitude that helps the film in the long run.   In fact, I’m shocked the film even got an R rating there is so much violence, sex and nudity displayed here.   I guess the MPAA didn’t actually think the film would get released.

The story that unfolds in ‘Hell Ride’ is pretty well absurd.   I don’t have a hard time following films.   In fact, I like a film that makes me pay attention to what is going on.   There were times in ‘Hell Ride’ where I had no clue who was on what side, who was trying to kill who, why certain people killed other people, or even when in the film’s timeline it was.   It jumps back and forth between 1976 and today so often to make your head spin.   There were times where I thought the film was being told in a nonlinear fashion, and, even after having seen it from beginning to end, I’m still not convinced that wasn’t the case.   And I’m not even going into the whole peyote/hallucination scene.   It makes no sense and just adds to the confusion.

The film’s biggest sin is that it is ultimately boring.   There are long stretches of dialogue that would work were it Tarantino writing that dialogue.   Bishop’s dialogue, not so engaging.   Even the film’s finale, a quick shootout on an open road, is executed boringly.   After that, we get a coda where you think something, anything, interesting is going to happen.   It gets teased, but I guess Bishop was in the mood for a sequel, so he just ended it.

Bishop is a horrible actor.   Madsen is just too cool to put down.   Balfour was all wrong for the part.   Vinnie Jones in the saving grace, but his screen time is next to nil.   Not even Dennis Hopper or David Carradine are given enough to do to warrent their presence.

‘Hell Ride’ is the absolutely not the sum of its parts.   It wants to be a cool yet hard biker flick.   It wants to be a violent, motorcycle western.   I think it might even want to be a soft-core porno at times.   Maybe Bishop could direct again, and, if it’s written by someone else, it might be a good film.   What he’s given here is poorly written, poorly acted, and fails on so many levels.   The man should go back to the Tarantino school of filmmaking if he wants to try again.

[rating:1.5/5]