There’s a reason why Horace Greeley was never associated with the saying “Go East, young man!” It’s just not a natural flow in America. As the ‘60s heated up to a revolutionary peak, the establishment feared for its life as the radicals took to the street. The squares swore bikers and hippies were going to drag this nation to hell with their drugs and free love. Easy Rider exposed the fears of both the radicals and the conservatives on the big screen.
In the midst of this culture clash, the audience was reminded of the beauty of America on either side of the asphalt. Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary Blu-ray brings the experience of revving up a Harley and hitting the highway to the next level.
Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) are two bikers that achieve the modern American dream. They smuggle cocaine over the border from Mexico and sell it to Phil Spector for fat wad of bills. They upgrade their bikes and store the rest of the cash inside Captain America’s gas tank. What’s the plan for this duo? They merely want to ride to Florida and retire. They save their money by not staying at motels. Motels don’t really want to cater to their sort of crowd. They camp out in the wilderness and shack up at hippie communes, usually, although on occasionally they end up in jail.
This is how they run into George Hanson (Jack Nicholson). He’s a small town lawyer who yearns for the highway. Or at least a fun time in New Orleans. His time on the road is rather short, but poignant.
Before Florida, Captain America and Billy stop off in New Orleans to enjoy the Mardi Gras. They hook up with Karen Black (Nashville) and Toni Basil (singer of “Mickey”). The girls are hookers, but don’t seem to mind leaving the brothel with their dates. After bouncing around the parades, the foursome drop LSD at an above ground cemetery. Even with such an intense experience, the call of the road lures the duo out of the Big Easy and back to Florida for the Early Bird Special.
Easy Rider has a hard ending for our heroes. They learn why heading East is rarely a good move for the adventurous if you’re not named Marco Polo. The film was radical as a biker movie by not having the two wheeled outlaws riding around and terrorizing small towns. Peter Fonda wasn’t close to his character in The Wild Angels. Billy and Captain America weren’t looking for an excuse to kill and rape. These were two guys enjoying the trip without wanting to spread destruction. Easy Rider made people realize that people on Harley and folks in Caddies weren’t that different. They had the same dream of millions of Americans to retire to the warm climate of Florida. But Captain America and Billy looked cooler on the road to Miami. And they look even cooler in Blu-ray on Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfers averages around 40 Mbps. For the most part the details look fantastic on a big screen. The footage in New Orleans is extremely grainy since it was shot on 16mm. The vistas of them cutting through the desert is refreshing. The audio is Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Your speakers should bounce when they kick start the Harleys. There are Dolby TrueHD 5.1 dubs in French and Portuguese. The Spanish dub is 5.1 Dolby Digital. They also include the original English mono mix. The subtitles are in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Audio Commentary with Dennis Hopper features the director in a sedate mood. Amazing how much he can remember after all the drugs he took during this era. This was recorded for the Easy Rider: 35th Anniversary DVD.
Book has plenty of production photos and an essay about how the film changed the movie studios. This low budget indie production outdid Dr. Dolittle. The Blu-ray disc fits in the back of the book.
Shaking the Cage (64:51) is a documentary about the movie that was made in 1999. A lot of the secrets get revealed including what people through was a disaster in the making during the New Orleans shoot. Hopper was out of control while directing the actors.
Movie IQ allows you to accsess real time info about the cast, crew, music and the production via the BD-Live hook up.
Normally you’d get complaints that this is merely a repackaging of the 35th Anniversary DVD with the recycled bonus features. But since the feature film is now upgraded to High-Def, Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary on Blu-ray is a must own. You can feel the open road as Captain America and Billy take us cross country. Don’t smile too much cause you might get bugs on your teeth.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents Easy Rider: 40th Anniversary. Directed by: Dennis Hopper. Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Toni Basil and Karen Black. Written by: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern. Running time: 95 minutes. Rating: R Rated. Released on DVD: October 20, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
