Other Titles • Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll
Synopses for Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll (2003)
1.
This BBC production is a companion to Peter Biskind's 1998 book by the same name, an excellent dish on the 1970s American movie scene. It roughly follows the same path, tracing how maverick filmmakers revitalized Hollywood, from Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider to the triumphant quartet of Coppola/Lucas/Spielberg/Scorsese. Any fan will want to listen in as nearly 50 actors and artists remember the day. However, the star meter is on low wattage, with today's most successful directors only talked about, and seen in often bemusingly vintage clips. The better-produced, higher-star-wattage A Decade Under the Influence covers much of the same ground. An on-screen Biskind would have helped matters, but he is nowhere to be seen. Yet there are moments from the book that come to life, be it grainy home movies from Jennifer Salt and Margot Kidder's notorious beach house or Roman Polanski's emotional press conference after the murder of his wife Sharon Tate. The DVD boasts a second disc of extended interviews on numerous subjects, many of which were not covered in the 119-minute film. --Doug Thomas
2.
Inspired by comments from moviemaking luminaries such as Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader, former Premiere Magazine editor Peter Biskind set about chronicling the work of 1970s filmmakers in his 1999 book EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS. After the critical and commercial success of the exhaustive tome, it seemed only natural to transfer his fascinating tales to the screen, and the Trio channel duly obliged in 2003. With a Hollywood system offering unprecedented freedom to writers and directors, some highly individual and influential works from future main players such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg were produced. A golden era for American film had begun.
Naturally there was a downside to the inexorable rise of such talented artists, and EASY RIDERS RAGING BULLS doesn't shirk from highlighting the scandals and tragedies that often beset the industry. Drug use, relationship problems, soaring egos and a growing sense of competition between the formerly tight-knit community saw the decade come to an unfortunate end. The sting in the tail came with the production of "blockbuster" movies such as JAWS, and demands from studios for more of the same. With dollar signs in their eyes, Hollywood producers closed ranks on the movie makers, restricted their talents, and ultimately made them unwitting victims of their own successes. Amongst those relaying stories on an incredibly creative period for the industry are Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Hopper, Paul Schrader, Cybill Shepherd, Richard Dreyfuss, and many others. Narration comes from William H. Macy.
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