The Wild Angels (1966)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

Charles B. Griffith (writer)

Release Date:

20 July 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action

Tagline:

Their credo is violence...Their God is hate...and they call themselves 'The Wild Angels'

Plot:

Peter Fonda plays 'Heavenly Blues', the leader of Hell's Angels chapter from Venice, California while Bruce Dern plays 'Loser'...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Hell's Angels | Gang | Funeral | California

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Heavenly Blues
Nancy Sinatra	...	Mike aka Monkey
Bruce Dern	...	Joe Kearns aka Loser
Diane Ladd	...	Gaysh
Buck Taylor	...	Dear John
Norman Alden	...	Medic
Michael J. Pollard	...	Pigmy
Lou Procopio	...	Joint
Joan Shawlee	...	Momma Monahan
Marc Cavell	...	Frankenstein
Coby Denton	...	Bull Puckey
Frank Maxwell	...	Preacher
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Suzie
Gina Grant
Art Baker	...	Thomas - Mortician

Also Known As:

All the Fallen Angels (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for drug-related material.

Runtime:

Germany:86 min | USA:93 min | USA:87 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1973) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1990) | Finland:K-18 (heavily cut) (1973) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1992) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | West Germany:18 (f) | Netherlands:12 (2008) | UK:15 (video) (2008) (uncut) | UK:18 (video) (1993) (uncut) | UK:X (theatrical release) (1972) (cut) | Canada:R (Canadian Home Video rating) | Norway:18 (1971) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Roger Corman actually used several members of the real Hell's Angels as extras.

Goofs:

Factual errors: A nurse that is assaulted by a biker wearing wraparound sunglasses is asked to identify him by looking through a book of mugshots. She finds his mugshot and he's wearing the same wraparounds in the photo. No police department would ever allow someone to wear such a disguise while being photographed.

Quotes:

Medic: [said jokingly to girl dancing] Hey, don't get none of that on me!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Loser's Burial

Free to ride our machines!

Not really a-happenin' here. By this point Corman wasn't having his characters pontificate in neverending speeches to deliver the big message, but having essentially amoral characters isin't exactly the solution to his problem. The drawn out tedium raises its head in wobbly shot beer guzzling sequences, Harlys flying down the road, and the like. A good story could be had of it all, but Fonda's Blues displays all sorts of sympathies without showing any real motivation, before settling on resignation at the end. Another problem, initially, is figuring out which theoretical main character is being addressed - "Blues" and "Loser" sound an awful lot alike. It would have made a good riff on MST, along with Fonda's classic "We wanna be free" speech, which most likely WILL stick with you if nothing else does. Except maybe Dern's superbly anti-climatic performance: on screen for about 15 minutes before being shot by the fuzz, he spends most of the movie as a corpse his buddies lug around. Garnish with a case of Pabst and some primo weed, ALRIGHT!