Knightriders (1981)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero (written by)

Release Date:

10 April 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The Games...The Romance...The Spirit...Camelot is a state of mind.

Plot:

A travelling troupe of jousters and performers are slowly cracking under the pressure of hick cops,...

Plot Keywords:

Fair | Biker | Motorcycle | Reference To Jim Jones | Independent Film

Cast

Ed Harris	...	Billy
Gary Lahti	...	Alan
Tom Savini	...	Morgan
Amy Ingersoll	...	Linet
Patricia Tallman	...	Julie
Christine Forrest	...	Angie
Warner Shook	...	Pippin
Brother Blue	...	Merlin
Cynthia Adler	...	Rocky
John Amplas	...	Whiteface
Don Berry	...	Bagman
Amanda Davies	...	Sheila
Martin Ferrero	...	Bontempi
Ken Foree	...	Little John
Ken Hixon	...	Steve
John Hostetter	...	Tuck
Harold Wayne Jones	...	Bors
Randy Kovitz	...	Punch
Michael P. Moran	...	Cook (as Michael Moran)
Scott H. Reiniger	...	Marhalt (as Scott Reiniger)
Maureen Sadusk	...	Judy Rawls
Albert Amerson	...	Indian
Ronald Carrier	...	Hector
Tim DiLeo	...	Corncook
David Early	...	Bleoboris
John Harrison	...	Pellinore
Marty Schiff	...	Ban
Taso N. Stavrakis	...	Ewain
Robert Williams	...	Kay
Molly McCloskey	...	Corncook's Woman
Judith Barrett	...	Musician Trio (as Judy Barrett)
Ian Gallacher	...	Musician Trio
Donald Rubinstein	...	Musician Trio
James A. Baffico	...	Lester Dean (as Jim Baffico)
Iva Jean Saraceni	...	Helen Dean
Chris Jessel	...	Boy Billy
Bingo O'Malley	...	Sheriff Rilly
Nann Mogg	...	Mrs. Rilly
Nancy Hopwood	...	Sam
Victor Pappas	...	Photographer
Stephen King	...	Hoagie Man
Tabitha King	...	Hoagie Man's Wife
Jennifer Elizabeth Davis	...	Baby in Stroller (as Jennifer Davis)
Hugh Rose	...	Jess
William Bardwell
Greg Besnak
Nancy Blum
Elva Branson
Leilani Cataldi
Sal Carollo	...	Mob (as Sal Carullo)
Mark Carson
Nancy Chesney
Ramona Dowiak
Julia Dunster
Patrick Dunster
Cliff Forrest	...	Mob
George Jaber
Jeannie Jefferies	...	Mob (as Jeannie Jeffries)
Janet Kennedy
Louis Koepper
Tommy Lafitte	...	Mob
Gary Lee Leventhal		(as Gary Leventhal)
Tom Madden	...	Mob
Rick Marchisio
Jim McKissock
Ann Muffly
Chris O'Connor
Jeff Paul
Joseph Pilato	...	Disgruntled fair worker (as Joseph F. Pilato)
John Mark Ridings
Joe Shelleby
Mark Tierno
Fred Tietz
Bobbi Van Eman		(as Bobbi VanEman)
Ramona Zini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anthony Dileo Jr.	...	(uncredited)
Barry Gutterman	...	Bemused Fan (uncredited)

Directed by
George A. Romero

Writing credits
George A. Romero		(written by)

Produced by
Salah M. Hassanein	....	executive producer
Richard P. Rubinstein	....	producer
David E. Vogel	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Donald Rubinstein

Cinematography by
Michael Gornick		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Pasquale Buba
George A. Romero

Production Design by
Cletus Anderson

Makeup Department
Liz Augenstein	....	makeup assistant
Luigi Caesar Caruso	....	hair stylist (as Luigi Caruso)
Jeannie Jefferies	....	makeup artist (as Jeannie Jeffries Brown)
Mick Lanzino	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Zilla Clinton	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pasquale Buba	....	first assistant director
Clayton Hill	....	second assistant director
John Roddick	....	second assistant director

Art Department
William Brewer	....	assistant to the production designer
James C. Feng	....	set and props (as Jim Feng)
Ed Fountain	....	construction coordinator
William H. Franko	....	set and props (as William Franko)
Martin Giles	....	set and props
John Ivo Gilles	....	set and props (as John Gilles)
Michael Gorman	....	properties master
Virginia Hildreth	....	properties mistress (as Virginia E. Hildreth)
Ellen Hopkins	....	scenic painter
Roderick Mayne	....	set and props
Michael McMackin	....	set and props
Bruce Miller	....	assistant to the production designer
Bruce Moore	....	set and props
Christine Oagley	....	assistant to the production designer

Sound Department
Carl Augenstein	....	sound
John Butler	....	sound mixer
John Butler	....	sound
Fred Christie	....	sound recording engineer
Jim Forrester	....	sound
Don Garvin	....	sound engineer
Richard M. Sieg	....	boom operator (as Richard Sieg)
Jack Walworth	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Larry Roberts	....	special effects

Stunts
Gary Davis	....	stunt coordinator
Gary Davis	....	stunts
Tim A. Davison	....	stunts (as Tim Davison)
Art E. Fredenburgh	....	stunts (as Art Fredenburgh)
Pat Green	....	stunts
John Hateley	....	stunts (as John Hately)
Freddie Hice	....	stunts
Steve Holladay	....	stunts
Richard Humphreys	....	stunts
Gary Hymes	....	stunts
John Meier	....	stunts
R.A. Rondell	....	stunts
Reid Rondell	....	stunts
Scott Wilder	....	stunts
David Zellitti	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Abeln	....	grip
Carl Augenstein	....	gaffer
Tom Dubensky	....	first assistant camera
Rich Dwyer	....	grip
Jim Forrester	....	gaffer
Michael Gornick	....	camera operator
James Hamilton	....	still photographer
Salah Hassanein Jr.	....	grip
Brian Haughin	....	grip
Lenny Lies	....	grip
Ed Marritz	....	camera operator: second unit
Nicholas Mastandrea	....	key grip (as Nick Mastandrea)
Richard Ricci	....	grip
John Rice	....	second assistant camera
Russell Rockwell	....	camera operator: second unit
Chad Stockdale	....	grip
Nick Tallo	....	grip

Casting Department
Sharon Ceccatti	....	local casting
Jim Wilheim	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Anderson	....	costume construction coordinator
Kathy Grillo	....	wardrobe
Howard Kaplan	....	wardrobe
Elizabeth Murray	....	wardrobe
Nancy A. Palmatier	....	wardrobe (as Nancy Palmatier)
Patricia Risser	....	wardrobe
Claudia Stephens	....	wardrobe (as Claudia Stephens Anderson)
Alison Todd	....	wardrobe
David Velasquez	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Tony Buba	....	assistant editor
Rich Dwyer	....	assistant editor
Nicholas Mastandrea	....	assistant editor (as Nick Mastandrea)

Music Department
Michelle Camillo	....	additional music arranger
Eddy Daniels	....	musician
David Franco	....	music supervisor
Bill Frisell	....	musician
Peter Gordon	....	musician
Gordon Gottlieb	....	musician
Paul Johnson	....	musician
Emmanuel Vardi	....	conductor (as Emanuel Vardi)

Transportation Department
P.D. Levy	....	transportation coordinator (as Peter Levy)

Other crew
Leslie Chapman	....	location manager
Marie Fiduccia	....	production coordinator
Bruce Gattenbein	....	mechanic (as Bruce Gantenbein)
Sandra Jetton	....	script supervisor
Tom Madden	....	production assistant
Simon Manses	....	motorcycle coordinator
Reid Rosefelt	....	publicist
Curtis Sayblack	....	production controller
Earl Schriver	....	bird handler
Debra Shata	....	assistant to producers
Donna Siegel	....	assistant to producers
Jim Stephenson	....	mechanic
Anne Thompson	....	publicist
Susan Vermazen	....	location publicity

Production Companies

• Laurel
• United Film

Distributors

• United Film Distribution Company (UFDC) (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (????) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Media Home Entertainment (1983) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Pickwick/Maslansky/Koenigsberg Inc.  publicity
• Media Sound Inc.  recorded at
• Jeree Records  remixing
• Wedo's  music copying
• Rogal Company  insurance
• Page America Inc.  beeper communications

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Knightriders (USA) (complete title)
Knights (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

145 min | Germany:102 min | Finland:141 min (video release) | Finland:115 min (TV) (1988)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Laurel

Trivia:

Stephen King and his wife Tabitha King played a spectator with a loud mouth opinion and a fairly messy face and his wife in the first scene at the fair. King was on the set because he working on the script for Creepshow (1982) with George A. Romero.

Quotes:

Bagman: You see, the way I see it is this: You got two separate fights. The one for truth and justice and the American way of life and all that. That's gotta take a backseat to the one for staying alive. You gotta stay alive! Man, you can have the most beautiful ideals in the whole world...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dead Will Walk (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

I'd Rather Be A Wanderer

It has soul.

This movie pretty much rocks. The only problem with it is the extras. They remind me of the Toxic Avenger movie - very low class - but the main characters are awesome. Ed Harris totally has the Right Stuff and the mystical qualities of this movie are indescribable. Much like life itself, it strives for the moon and ends up with romantic nonsense and utter disarray. It is perfect.

It is a movie about a group of renaissance festival-type motorcycle jousters who confront the possibility of commercial success - at the expense of the altruistic round-table idealism that the group was founded on. The King Arthur of the group (Ed Harris) attempts to maintain his Puritanical hold on the group. His arch-rival (Sir Gallahad?) is the major antagonist and is a poster-child for commercialism. The end result is a cataclysm of Puritinism versus Commercialism that results in the most nihilistic nirvana that the human mind can imagine. For a romantic, it is pure gold - if you can get past the gimmicks.

I actually saw this movie on cable as a boy, and I loved it. Then I bought it on DVD as a grown up and still loved it, but I also noticed the low production-quality blemishes. The director's narrative kind of makes up for it though, because you get to understand how this movie got its magical aura.