A very loose modern day (Well, the 1970’s) take on the Knights of the Round Table legend that switches pretty horses for rough and tumble motorcycles. Director George Romero (Grand pappy of the Zombie movie genre) steps away from his horror roots and gives us an epic tale of love, loyalty and lots of people flying through the air and crashing to the ground!Ed Burn stars as Billy, the leader of a travelling troop of motorcycle stunt-men that patent their whole outdoor show on the medieval days of old. The shows have been running into trouble lately with the law and a rival knight’s (Special Effects Legend, Tom Savini, in a rare major acting role) quest to take the crown. Billy is rooted in his beliefs that show to be nothing more than a group of people sharing an experience. He swears to never sell out even if it means having to end it all.
It’s a shame that that Knightriders never got a chance to dig itself into the collective consciousness, because other then it’s length (Two and Half Hours! Urgh!) there’s actually a truly complex character piece at play here. I was surprised to find Billy/King Arthur painted as a very conflicted character that often made bad decisions due to his iron-clad values and the so called ‘Villain’ Morgan actually coming out on top in the logic category. The subject of personal values, discovery and friendship is constantly thrown in the audience face and we’re never given any easy answers. The expansive casts of characters that populate the travelling troupe of performers all get their time to shine and there’s almost too much good stuff on display here. Romero (who also doubles as screenwriter) should have toned down some of the entertaining (yet extraneous) sub-plots and really concentrated on the main storyline. The extremely visceral (No CGI here folks) motorcycle based action scenes are long and abundant, but also pointless in a way. Their conclusions rarely affect the plot and the big ‘confrontation’ at the end is a friendly competition that has its fair share of suspense but has a pre-destined climax that may not please, but is the only way it could go. The acting on display reeks only a tiny bit of the 70’s curse, with Ed Burns knocking it out of the park as Billy and a few Romero repertoire players like Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead) making welcome appearances. Romero’s direction is non-showy but does its job. The editing is extremely frantic during the action scenes, almost a grand-parent to today’s prevalent MTV style.
It’s rare that a film’s final fifteen minutes stay with me after the end credits roll, but Knightriders lifts over its exploitation film trapping and reaches for the sky. It may not be a little too big for its britches, but you can’t help but praise it for the effort all the same.
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