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5
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Ryan
Brewer |
Over
the last year or so Media Blasters has been repackaging some
of their earlier releases in three and four-disc box sets, priced
for only a few bucks more than just one of the titles
goes for when sold individually. They're culled from every Media
Blasters imprint (Shriek Show, Tokyo Shock, Guilty Pleasures,
etc.) and represent excellent values for anyone who passed up
the various DVDs in their stand-alone form. One of these box
sets is the Bikers From Hell Triple Feature Pack, which
includes Run, Angel, Run, Hell's
Bloody Devils and the movie discussed here, Hell's
Angels '69.
The film concerns two rich, idle brothers
(Tom Stern and Jeremy Slate) who are always ready for thrills
and excitement, much the same as one of those Thomas Crown movies...
only lacking any big name actors playing the leads. Just for
kicks (!) the two brothers decide to knock over the Caesar's
Palace casino in Las Vegas. The intricate plan relies on their
ability to infiltrate the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang (in
less than one day, no less). The brothers, posing as bikers
with membership in the East Coast club The Salem Witches, approach
the Hell's Angels and ask if they can tag along. It seems strange
that the Angels would hang out with members of such a feminine-sounding
outfit... (I would have picked The Salem Craft or The Salem
Warlocks.) The brothers get along well with the Angels and are
invited to go riding with them through a small town, harassing
folks and doing stunt tricks on their bikes. After the town
assault the gang retires to their hangout for some boozing and
brawling. So upon infiltrating the Hell's Angels our protagonists
explain to the leader of the gang, Sonny (the real-life Sonny
Barger, president of the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels),
that the group should set its sights on the Vegas Strip.
The gang makes their roaring debut in Sin
City and it's not long until local law enforcement, in the guise
of veteran character actor G.D. Spradlin (Apocalypse
Now, Ed Wood),
makes it clear to the Angels to watch their step. The gang holes
up at one the member's aunt's house while the scheming brothers
return to Vegas. They book a room at the Caesar's Palace hotel,
change into conservative middle class attire and then call the
Hell's Angels on the phone, claiming they're being harassed
for being bikers. It's all designed to bring the Angels in as
a diversion while the robbery goes down. The brothers pull their
Ocean's Eleven heist (or rather,
Oceans Two) and get out with $600,000. They part
ways with the Hell's Angels — not on the best terms — and head
home, taking a cross-country desert route. All goes well until
the sheriff lets the Angels know that they've been duped. Now
there's gonna be hell to pay.
I will not give away
the ending. (It's no big surprise.)
Hell's
Angels '69 won't win
any awards but it's actually not that bad, either. Much less
sleazy than many of its ilk, the film is a little bit more structured
than the typical biker pic (due to the heist angle) but, characteristic
of the genre, there's still plenty of running time in which
not much of anything happens. And the Hell's Angels are played
by genuinely authentic Hell's Angels (even though none of them
has even a micron of acting ability). Contributing to the movie's
appeal are the supplements that come with the DVD,
chiefly an introduction and audio commentary by famed drive-in/B-movie
connoisseur Joe Bob Briggs —
they at least make it worth watching.
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video on this release is presented fullscreen, with no noticeable
cropping issues. Picture quality tends to be mangy and does vary
at times, giving the film a vintage look. It is a no-frills transfer
that does manage to beat VHS. Audio is presented in a serviceable
two-channel mono track. It will not knock your socks off, but
dialogue is clear and without any distortion. The
aforementioned commentary is informative, lively and funny —
Joe Bob Briggs continues to
be a very entertaining guy. (I'm still upset he got killed in
Face/Off.) Listening to this track
made me interested in checking out other Media Blasters releases
that feature Joe Bob commentaries (such as Samurai
Cop). There's also a video interview with singer-turned-actress
Conny Van Dyke; she plays the biker mama who throws her lot in
with the brothers. A Van Dyke photo gallery, trailers for other
Media Blaster titles and a liner notes booklet top off the extras.
(NOTE: The DVD Rating of "8" applies only to the disc
reviewed here, not the entire Bikers From Hell Triple Feature
Pack.) 5/11/08 |
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