Knightriders (1981)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

KNIGHTRIDERS is the kind of imaginative independent movie (like the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and MARTIN and DAWN OF THE DEAD) that puts the lie to the notion that only Hollywood can produce good films. KNIGHTRIDERS lacks the "sameness" typical of most Hollywood movies and is, instead, suffused with a strong '60s sensibility- and a genuine sentimentality. Romero seems to be saying that, if this is NOT how we are, it's certainly how we OUGHT to be. "If you die," one character tells Ed Harris, "your ideals die with you." To which Harris replies: "The TRUTH is our Code." KNIGHTRIDERS is a "busy" movie, to be sure, with a great deal going on (and familiar faces abound, including Stephen King chewing the scenery on the sidelines), but it's all happening under the sure-handed direction of the Master of Maverick Movie makers. Michael Gornick's cinematography is as gorgeous as ever, and the score by Donald Rubenstein is itself enough to bring a tear to the eye. The motorcycle stunts are spectacular and rival anything anyone else has ever put on screen. Romero and Company crafted something special this time out; this was, in retrospect, The Golden Age of Romero. Things would never really be the same again, "but still, alas, the echoes first that rang..."

I liked this movie a lot, I really did. George Romero is one of my favorite directors and always manages to make a great movie in my opinion. His "Dead" series are my favorite zombie movies. "Martin" was a great vampire movie, and "Creepshow" was a unique movie. This movie was also very good, its only problem was that there were a lot of things that weren't properly explained or introduced. A lot of characters were left unnamed and weren't given a proper introduction. Also, a lot of actions were never properly explained, and many scenes seemed to pop out of nowhere and vanish without a trace (as many characters did). However, the story was excellent. And a lot of the great actors I had seen in other Romero movies were here: Billy Harris (Creepshow), my man Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Martin, Creepshow 2, Land of the Dead), Patricia Tallman (Night of the Living Dead(1990)), John Amplas (Martin, Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Scott H. Reiniger (Dawn of the Dead), David Early (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow), Taso N. Stavrakis (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead), James Baffico (Dawn of the Dead), Joseph Pilato (Day of the Dead), Anthony Dileo Jr. (Day of the Dead), and even Stephen King (Creepshow). The cast was great, the equipment they used was great and realistic looking. I give this hit or miss movie a 7/10.

...it seems like you do your best work when shuffling, flesh-craving reanimated corpses are involved. There's a reason the "Living Dead" tetralogy is the stuff of legend and Romero's 'side-projects' are mostly little-known footnotes within his career--while often artistically innovative and unconventional, efforts like "Monkey Shines," "Bruiser," and "Knightriders" are--at best--tonally uneven experiences. Here we have a modern-day Ren Faire tent community that travels from town to town, putting on jousting competitions (done on motorcycles, natch) and living the medieval lifestyle in a modern world. Romero uses this postmodernist fairy tale to frame a heavy-handed (and overlong) meditation on man's code of honor and what it takes to hang onto it in a world where everybody else is "selling out" to live a life of luxury (yes, an up-and-coming rock band could have easily been substituted for the Ren Faire). The film is ponderous at points (with many sledgehammer-obvious monologues), repetitive at others (while the jousting tournaments are a marvel of slick editing, they don't vary much), and the premise is treated so seriously that at times it's hard not to laugh (and granted, there is a lot of intentional humor as well). Despite all this, Romero's voice does come out in certain dialog scenes, and the production is wonderfully photographed by Michael Gornick; the performances vary (with a young Ed Harris all over the map), but Tom Savini shows some formidable chops as a potential traitor to the cause. The commentary on the 'knights'' displacement in a world given in to modernity meets an uneven end (blatantly ripping off "Easy Rider"), but "Knightriders" is an oddly transfixing--albeit inferior--piece of work.

Knightriders does more than prove that George A. Romero, most known for his Living-Dead pictures, is really overall a great storyteller and developer of characters and, above all craftsman. But it also shows how a filmmaker can subvert a genre that is really hard to define (is there such a genre as medieval racing, as it doesn't really fit into the typical 'biker movie' mold either), while sticking to an ideal that is more old fashioned. Romero has an ensemble put together than could almost remind one of an Altman film, as if this was his Nashville. Yet in spirit I'm more reminded of a Howard Hawks film- a director who was an influence on Romero- in having a group of characters fitting an amusing, rousing adventure story where the old director's credo still stands- there's not much drama without action. What's even more surprising, or really what might come as more surprising to those who just stick to the Romero zombie movies if they happen to come across this, is the attention to characters, mood, and above all superlative craftsmanship.Ed Harris plays a King-like role that, much as in a Hawks film, could have been played by John Wayne. Like a Wayne character Harris is set in a very specific mind frame (to the point, of course, of being stubborn and head-strong) that can hardly be changed, even if he is a nice guy once in a while through his tougher moments. And, indeed, sometimes his delusions of grandeur have to face up to reality past the fantasy. But unlike Wayne, Harris has a constant, unwavering appeal as an actor, who is constantly watchable even in a role that doesn't give him as much to do as in some of his more memorable parts. He's surrounded by actors who have made up many of Romero's other films- Tom Savini (who is quite good as an actor here, usually known for his great make-up), Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Christine Forrest, John Amplas, and Anthony Dileo Jr- and help back up his traveling troupe of medieval-times type of motorcycle riders, all who provide more or less very human characterizations. The story basically focuses on these guys and how the times seem to be catching up with them- and tempting some- away from the lower-end type spectacles for the locals. But, in the end, things get patched up and a 'for-themselves' tournament is launched to determine the new 'King'.The film is not impervious to criticism. It's a little overlong (perhaps one too many a coda at the end, even as Billy's payback to the Deputy is one of the highlights of the film), and the usual social commentary that Romero strikes his hottest at is really, aside from the small bits of reality checks for the troupe, break down to the media being shallow and self-destructive by luring away Savini and some of the others. Such parts kind of seem weaker, and even for this kind of old-fashioned adventure/action story too conventional. Nevertheless there is so much in the film that is richly entertaining and interesting, with many little moments being some of the funniest in any Romero film (including some high flying bits, and a hysterical cameo from Stephen King), and touching ones to boot in the climax. On top of Knightriders being an excellent showcase for what a director like Romero can be capable of with different material that covers dramatic ground, is his technical prowess. Coming off of another ambitious picture, Dawn of the Dead, his editing chops are still tight as can be, and seeing the riding sequences is downright exhilarating. Romero's eye and timing with the storytelling in action- and knowing how to keep things breathtaking (as with Dawn) without becoming too chaotic- is really un-canny and one of the most underrated aspects of his whole career, of which this would be his last credited as.Also accompanying the film is a sweet, pitch-perfect score by Donald A. Rubinstein (not credited the site) to the proceedings, and what pops out in the end of this epic tale of reality facing un-reality and the kinds of people to different degrees who stake their lives to such a cause and living. It's a near-masterpiece that is a nifty find if you come across it in your video store.