Thousands of bikers take part in Ring of Red remembrance ride
Journalist, photographer, songwriter and film maker, Nick Berkeley of Bikerglory navigates the dangerous minefield of bike movies
Ever since film and motorcycles first co-existed there has been an irresistible urge to point the camera at some two-wheeled action. It should make for thrilling screen time, yet most productions are woefully unwatchable. But not all. The first surprise is just how wide the choice is: bikesploitation was a genre all of its own. In 1969 at least 12 biker themed movies hit theatres across America and the genre remained popular through the next decade. There’s something for everyone: undead bikers (Psychomania), transvestite bikers
(Pink Angels), and blacksploitation cross overs (The Black Six). Nearly all are available online, some for free. So which should you watch to stave off cabin fever for a few hours over the coming months?
Electra Glide in Blue (USA, 1973), a neo-noirish troubled cop on two wheels narrative, is in a class of one as biker movies go: an existentialist road trip, beautifully shot by Conrad Hall (Butch Cassidy, American Beauty) in the Arizona Desert.
Then there’s 12 O’Clock Boys: Why we Ride (USA, 2013). The scene that turned into the Bikelife movement: black kids stunting on the Baltimore Streets. Essential viewing for anime students is Akira (Japan, 1988). An animated cyberpunk saga set in post-meltdown Tokyo, featuring plenty of hardcore biker action. Eat your hearts out retro hipsters, The Leather Boys (UK, 1964) is very much the real thing. Complete with vérité footage of the Ace and the even more significant Chelsea Bridge scene, Sidney J Furie’s kitchen sink drama is also regarded as something of a cornerstone of Brit Queer Cinema. It remains one of the few biker movies to explore the timeless link between bikes and gay culture. If Stone (Australia, 1974) were a US film, it would be labelled as a straight-up bikesploitation flick with no new angles. The fact it was a low budget Australian production forced director Sandy Harbutt to rely on real bikers, to the movie’s advantage.
Great bike flicks are out there, hunt them down and leave the earnest biker movies or butch adventure series on the shelf.