Brightlyme
i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
preppy-3
Two wealthy bothers--Chuck (Tom Stern) and Wes (Jeremy Slate)--want to rob Caesar's Palace just for kicks. They join the Hells Angels and use them as a diversion while they rob Caesars. The Hells Angels figure it out pretty quick. They don't like being used and go out for revenge.The story is pretty stupid. Seriously--robbing Caesar's Palace for no good reason AND join the Hells Angels to do it??? To make it worse Stern and Slate are pretty terrible actors--VERY wooden. They also wrote the script. It IS kind of fun to figure out what's worse--their acting or writing. (It's pretty much a draw) They also used real Hells Angels in the cast and they're even worse actors than Stern and Slate (which is saying a lot). Also most of the lousy dialogue seems to be post-dubbed; there's endless shots of the Angels riding around; there's a hysterically bad and obviously staged fight between Stern and Slate and this is just pretty boring all around! This gets two stars for some nice shots and a very good performance by Conny Van Dyke as Betsy--but it can't save this. A sleep-inducing mess. Skip it.
John Nail (ascheland)
"Hell's Angels '69" takes the premise of "The Thomas Crown Affair" and re-tools it as a biker flick. It's a clever idea, and "Hell's Angels '69" is better than most biker flicks from this period, with a bit more story, character development and subtext. Unfortunately, it's still not much of a movie.The movie's first misstep is revealing its hand from the beginning: Tom Stern and Jeremy Slate are crooks, not "real" bikers. Knowing this from the get-go removes an element of mystery, and the story might have been a bit more interesting had this fact been revealed later. Then again, the moment Stern and Slate hook up with the Hell's Angels -- featuring actual members of the notorious biker gang -- it's obvious they're not the rough n' tough bikers they claim to be. A big tip off: Slate asks the gang's sole "old lady," Conny Van Dyke, if she's ever considered settling down, getting married and raising children. Van Dyke is too clean-cut looking to really pass as a jaded biker chick (she looks much more at home in the powder blue dress and low-heeled pumps she dons later in the movie), but since that's the role she's playing one would assume she'd become suspicious when Slate starts talking like a high school guidance counselor. Apparently, these Angels were so impressed by Stern and Slate's bike tricks ("Watch this!") they're willing to overlook the guys' square tendencies.Another misstep -- and one I'm surprised was allowed to happen -- is featuring real Hell's Angels and sanitizing them. In this movie, the gang just likes drinking Olys, riding their choppers and perpetrating vandalism, pretty much in that order. The guys get nasty in the final act, but for much of the movie they're presented as nothing more than 1950s juvenile delinquents with beards and a fondness for Nazi memorabilia.Finally, "Hell's Angels '69" makes the same mistake of almost all biker movies: overestimating the entertainment value of guys riding bikes. You get plenty of footage of the gang riding down two-lane highways, riding through Vegas, riding through the desert, and, of course, riding through town while frightened squares look on. Yeah, they're bikers, we get it, but a little goes a long way, and it makes "Hell's Angels '69" go on a little too long.
ST LOUIS SINNERS PRESENT SCHLOCK-O-RAMA FILM FESTI
After the success of Roger Corman's Wild Angels in the mid sixties, there were probably a hundred or so biker movies flung out to the masses. Most with Hell's Angels or some rip off version of The Angels' name. All shared some degree of low budget schlock value. This movie is completely different from the rest! First, it has a decent and interesting plot and even some back story subtext between the two brothers in the movie. Secondly, it has an original soundtrack that, although slightly dated, isn't that bad. A sort of psychedelic garage band plays at the party at the beginning of the movie. Also the movie seemed to have a decent budget spent in all the right places. Lastly, The actual Oakland Hell's Angels appear in the movie as not only extras but speaking and acting roles and their actually not too bad.So I highly recommend this to motorcycle movie and crime caper fans. If nothing else, it's got the most real Harley's and choppers you will ever see in a 60's/70's biker flick.
angelsunchained
The Orson Wells of Motorcycle films, Tom Stern, turns in one of his best performances. For nothing more than a "B" film, this turns into a highly enjoyable robbery heist flick in the nature of Ocean's 11.Stern teams up with his buddy Jerome Slate to play spoiled,bratty, millionaire brothers who decide to rob a Vegas hotel while posing as members of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. The story plot is surprisingly good and the acting and action scenes are very well done.The Vegas of 1969 is captured, and boy has it changed! Hell's Angel leader Ralph "Sonny" Barger steals the show simply by playing himself. Overall an impressive effort by Tom Stern.
