A tough biker gang invades a small California town and terrorizes the residents until the leader falls for the local cop’s beautiful daughter.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 13-SEP-2005
Media Type: DVDThis is the original motorcycle movie, starring Marlon Brando as the brooding leader of a biker gang that invades a small town. The film always looked like one of those synthetic Hollywood ideas of subculture life in the 1950s, which means it looks even more artificial today. But it is an actor’s piece more than anything, and toward that end Brando’s performance really is an important one in the context of his revolutionary reinvention of film acting during that decade. Directed by Lásló Benedek (Namu, the Killer Whale) and produced by the socially conscious Stanley Kramer. –Tom Keogh
Buy “The Wild One” For Only $5.94
March 5, 2010
#1
I’m a Brando fan. And so looked forward to seeing this classic 1954 film on videotape. What a disappointment!
There was nothing intrinsically bad about this gang. And that was what the trouble was. They were just a bunch of young men who liked to let loose on weekends. Not a criminal or outlaw bone in their bodies. They made a lot of noise, fought among themselves, drank a lot of beer. The pranks were rather harmless too, like teasing the uptight residents of the town, making noise, joking around by putting hair dryers on their heads. A small amount of property gets destroyed, but these men are obvioiusly not real criminals.
I giggled throughout the move in places that were overacted and were not supposed to be funny. There was no real tension even though a voice-over at the beginning warns the audience about this awful gang and that people have to make sure that it doesn’t happen here. The love interest seemed silly. And Brando seemed to be totally limited in his range of emotion or acting ability.
I just can’t understand why this movie became so famous and was so acknowledged. It is not just that it was made more than three decades ago. I’ve seen other movies from that period that had good plots and good acting. On the Waterfront was one of them, produced in the same year,and in which Brando emerged as a fine actor.
Recommended only for those into classic films. But be prepared to be bored.
March 5, 2010
#2
First, this was not a movie based on a real event. What happened in Hollister was nothing more than some bikers having some fun. The media blew it up into something it wasn’t. What a surprise! The picture that appeared in Life magazine was set up. They asked people to kick more empty beer bottles into the frame. It was all hype.
From that, Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon. Another surprise. Ever ready to create stereotypes, they tried to do that with the biker image. Well, the bikers in this movie were a joke. Every cliche in the book was used and there guys came off more as movie extras from a musical dressed to play bikers. Lee Marvin came the closest to anything real. Whoever gets the idea from this movie that bikers of the Hell’s Angels type are a bunch of fun loving guys that will dance with each other and sing together and joke around with the local populace is in for a rude awakening.
I am a biker, but not in an outlaw gang. I ride a Harley and have been to biker bars and the like. The Wild One does not draw an acurate picture. Brando and his “gang” would be eaten alive in today’s biker culture. Granted, today’s biker scene is diverse. It runs the spectrum from the 1%ers (outlaw gangs) to the yuppie RUBs (rich urban bikers). Along the way, there are many poseurs who affect the outlaw image. They come across as the bikers in this movie. All bark and no bite.
In short, this is a Hollywood version of an event that did not happen as reported, portraying the principles in a stereotypical and inaccurate way, bearing no resemblence to reality. Think how a John Wayne war movie compares to Saving Private Ryan and you get the idea of how The Wild One compares to real outlaw bikers.
March 5, 2010
#3
I little bit unbelievable. A bunch of beatnick bikers??? Come on!
March 5, 2010
#4
The entire time length that takes place in this movie is like less than one day. Brando and his Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cronies spend the day being retarded in some bar in some town. The only reason I could think to watch this movie is so you could see that at one point, in a galaxy far far away, Marlon Brando was a cool dude. Before arrogance seeped out of his body like sweat, he was a guy you’d want to see in a movie. Now, obviously, he’s dead and like most actors who were in old movies, has been elevated to ‘legend’ status, despite only being in a handful of good movies. This movie was released in 1954, and I know I’ve become a bit jaded by Pulp Fiction and anime, but as far as I’m concerned, 1950′s B&W movie or not, its not very good. The begining, end, acting, story, etc., just isn’t that great, and it’s really nothing more than a cult film about motorcycles.
March 5, 2010
#5
A great old movie with the right type of motorcycles in it.