Easy Rider!! Gah!! Possible Spoilers

[HorseradishTree]

Sure, people say that it was the first movie 'bout rock and roll. They say that it was revolutionary. Revolutionary or not, I think it stunk. I'm just starting the conversation here, so I won't say much. I just wish to state that the ending was so abrupt and pointless that it made the entire rest of the movie even worse.

[Russ]

Horseradish Tree

Gotta disagree. Sure, Easy Rider might have been a simple story about a couple of drug addicted pushers on bikes on their way to New Orleans and all the fun and excitment that is mardi gras - but it was well crafted and the soundtrack would have to be one of ther best ever.

And how could it have ended any other way? These blokes were never gunna live forever, and weren't intended to be old men. Still each to their own. Any film with Hopper and Nicholson has to be a goodie.

[Johann]

NEET NEET NEET!

INDIANS!


Hey, man! I saw a satellite....

[Johann]

Before Dennis Hopper unleashed Easy Rider on an unsuspecting America, he showed it to Bob Dylan who also hated the ending: "Don't end it like that, man! You gotta have those guys get back on their bikes and kill those fuckers.."

Dennis adamantly said no, and needled Bob for a song. Bob gave him The Ballad of Easy Rider , saying "just don't play it over the credits". The Byrds made it into a hit.

The rest is cinematic history.
I love Dennis Hopper.
A misunderstood guy until his dying day...

[HorseradishTree]

Whoa whoa whoa, you're not saying he died, are you?

I sure hope not, because I really like him in many other things.

[Johann]

Dennis Hopper is not dead.

I meant he'll be misunderstood until his dying day.

[Johann]

Peter Fonda claims that he is just as responsible for Easy Rider as Dennis. (Dennis took most of the credit for it's success).

Yes, they are really stoned in the scene in the desert. "You gotta hold it in your lungs longer, George".

Very brave film, and the ending must be analyzed in context. Hard to believe that Hopper was right, considering his crazy mental state during the making of the film. (Fonda threatened to kill Dennis at one point)

See, at the time, America was a hotbed of political and cultural upheaval. Dennis could have had those guys "get back on their bikes", but it would have eliminated sympathy for the freedom-loving pushers. The "establishment" would have won, you see, and the film would be viewed as arrogant. With that ending, you feel angry that these two "losers" or "dope fiends" got killed.
They didn't deserve that, and Dennis wanted to reflect the attitudes of the "psychedelic rebels".
Good on him. That movie is one of my all-time favorites. The soundtrack helps BIG TIME in assessing the damage.

Did you know Dennis wrote a song with Linda Ashcroft and Jim Morrison? It's never been recorded, but it's handwritten lyrics are reprinted in the book Wild Child by Linda.