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

Director:

Kenneth Bowser

Writers:

Peter Biskind (book)
Kenneth Bowser (writer)

Release Date:

9 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Tagline:

How the Sex Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

Plot:

A look at 1970s Hollywood when it was known as New Hollywood, and the director was the star of the movie.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Interview | Actor | Producer | Drama Filmmaking

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Martin Scorsese	...	Himself
Dennis Hopper	...	Himself
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Himself
Sam Peckinpah	...	Himself (archive footage)
Warren Beatty	...	Himself
Robert Altman	...	Himself
Arthur Penn	...	Himself
Jack Nicholson	...	Himself
Francis Ford Coppola	...	Himself
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
George Lucas	...	Himself
Tony Bill	...	Himself
Peter Bart	...	Himself
Paul Schrader	...	Himself
Sharon Tate	...	(archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:119 min

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | USA:TV-14

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Many of the subjects profiled in author Peter Biskind's book, including directors Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Robert Altman, and 'William Friedkin', declined interviews for the documentary.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Effective look at the American New Wave

Hollywood up until 1967 was filled with epics, musicals, and overall clean-cut movies. The the violent 60s came with Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Sexual Movement. Then several pauper filmmakers, including the likes of Scorsese, Bogdanovich, Coppola, and even Spielberg decided to capture the zeitgeist with films that contain sex, drugs, violence, and rock n' roll and blew the lid off Hollywood.

It examines the downfall of Hollywood in the mid 1960s, when epic films such as CLEOPATRA flopped causing studios to go to near bankruptcy. Then when the late 1960s came and the world became more turbulent, young filmmakers, inspired by European New Wave films, made their own films their own way, sold them to struggling studios, and made a lot of money.

It begins with BONNIE & CLYDE and ends when the summer blockbuster took over. EASY RIDER, RAGING BULLS, based on the book by Peter Biskind, effectively shows the real Hollywood in the 1970s, when directors became auteur, forever changing Hollywood. Now that spirit is lost, but this documentary can bring back nostalgic memories.