Roger Corman, though having his rightful clout as one of the pioneers of drive in movies and exploitation pictures, doesn't have a great film with The Wild Angels, but then it's not meant to be. As I watched the film, I thought of an adjective for the film that I hadn't used for one in a while- it's reckless. Like the bikers themselves that Corman and his writers are 'following', the film never really comes together and the parts are definitely greater than the whole. Too many scenes end up kind of flailing around with not much to do except act as filler in-between Corman's rule-of-law of their being an action/fight scene &/or scene of sex every 15 minutes. But on the other hand, as a purely drive-in movie, where people watching aren't necessarily meant to keep track of the whole picture ALL the time (likely 'making out' Corman must've thought), it doesn't break under time that much. And, sometimes, Corman is actually pretty creative and intuitive as a filmmaker.
His cast is Peter Fonda (quite similar to Easy Rider which means maybe too esoteric and contemplative to be the wild leader of the angels), Nancy Sinatra (not that great, though she can fake a crying scene pretty well), and Bruce Dern (in a role that actually does ask for some real 'acting' as opposed to biker posing). There are also other real Angels riding about in the background, and basically the story revolves around the wounding- and later unnecessary death- of Loser (Dern), who is also given a proper Biker funeral. In between there are plenty of fight scenes, some exciting moments of the men on their bikes, a few sexy, bra-clad women, and the 'squares' being almost everyone else not an Angel. Sometimes the scenes are pretty basic, lots of generic (even for the period) rock and roll tunes put to the Angels riding around, and partying, though once in a while Corman actually makes it interesting. A scene that is finally quiet, for example, when Dern is getting operated on, is one of my favorites in the film. But for the most part, it's just the simple tale of youth who just "want to be free, to ride without getting hassled by the man...and we want to get loaded!"
In short, it's kind of like the fast-food equivalent of a biker-movie. It's got many ingredients, it fills you up, but it definitely isn't really 'good' for you despite serving up what's promised (it doesn't have that healthy portion of being cohesive in structure and with at least a little nuance). Though for Corman this could possibly be one of his better entries. (Strong) B+
His cast is Peter Fonda (quite similar to Easy Rider which means maybe too esoteric and contemplative to be the wild leader of the angels), Nancy Sinatra (not that great, though she can fake a crying scene pretty well), and Bruce Dern (in a role that actually does ask for some real 'acting' as opposed to biker posing). There are also other real Angels riding about in the background, and basically the story revolves around the wounding- and later unnecessary death- of Loser (Dern), who is also given a proper Biker funeral. In between there are plenty of fight scenes, some exciting moments of the men on their bikes, a few sexy, bra-clad women, and the 'squares' being almost everyone else not an Angel. Sometimes the scenes are pretty basic, lots of generic (even for the period) rock and roll tunes put to the Angels riding around, and partying, though once in a while Corman actually makes it interesting. A scene that is finally quiet, for example, when Dern is getting operated on, is one of my favorites in the film. But for the most part, it's just the simple tale of youth who just "want to be free, to ride without getting hassled by the man...and we want to get loaded!"
In short, it's kind of like the fast-food equivalent of a biker-movie. It's got many ingredients, it fills you up, but it definitely isn't really 'good' for you despite serving up what's promised (it doesn't have that healthy portion of being cohesive in structure and with at least a little nuance). Though for Corman this could possibly be one of his better entries. (Strong) B+