Embittered by his experience working with 20th Century Fox on The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), and weary of the Poe films for American International Pictures, Roger Corman was in dire need of inspiration for his next production. He found it in Life magazine, which featured a photo of the funeral of Mother Miles, head of the Sacramento, California, Hell's Angels. From this picture came both The Wild Angels and the biker-movie genre itself. Peter Fonda, who replaced George Chakiris, stars as brooding Angels chieftain Heavenly Blues. When his pal Loser (Bruce Dern) is shot by police, Blues attempts to bury him in a small town, but the locals resist, and a brawl ensues. Audiences and critics were alternately appalled and thrilled by the extensive drug use and violence, but beneath Angels' leathery hide beats the heart of a Western, especially in its ruminations on personal freedom. Charles Griffith's script (cowritten by Peter Bogdanovich, who also cameos in the film) helped make Angels the sole U.S. entry for the 1966 Venice Film Festival, which irked the State Department enough to try and revoke the honor. Corman's direction, freed from AIP's period pieces, is lean and exuberantly active, aided by Monte Hellman's editing. The film helped give Fonda the counterculture clout to later make Easy Rider, and boosted the careers of Dern and then-wife Diane Ladd; Nancy Sinatra, however, renounced the picture, fearful of its effect on her image. Mike Curb's score features Davie Allan and the Arrows' fuzz-tone-soaked hit "Blues' Theme." --Paul Gaita

Customer Rating:
Summary: don't take it too seriously
Comment: Its a good old Biker flick with cool bikes and scenery if you just kick back with a 12 pack, "get loaded" , and enjoy it. Like the "Wild One", the star(Peter Fonda) is not actually the best. Bruce Dern makes the Movie.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Best B Movie about Bikers Ever....
Comment: ...just because the sound track is so good. The acting is lousy and the story line isn't much better. But the choppers are "righteous".

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: "Dern Good"
Comment: If this movie isn't a cult classic yet, it should be. One of the original biker movies, it came out in the Sixties. If you like Bruce Dern, playing psychos and wierdos, that is the reason to watch this one, in which he plays a character called "the Loser." I have not seen it in a long time but saw it 3-4 times in high school just to watch Fonda and Dern and their acting. Nancy Sinatra is "interesting" as a biker babe.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Wild Corman
Comment: Classic Roger Corman !
Yea , its kinda cheesy , but if you like bikes there are some old schoolers here .
Where else can you see Bruce Dern & Dian Ladd , (Laura Derns parents) , in the same movie .

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Do you want to be free?
Comment: We want to be free! We want to be free to do what we want to do! We want to be free to ride. And we want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man. And we want to get loaded. And we want to have a good time! And that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna have a good time. We're gonna have a party!


60's alternative cinema and a pretty big hit 40 years ago. Poorly acted. But campy fun.

---