Rating: 
Summary: Video Museum
Review: Regardless of how the story line grabs you or how much many of the actors maybe miscast this movie is worth it just to see all the old bikes. From Triumphs, BSA's, Nortons & Vincents to Harleys & Indians it gives you a firsthand look at the wide variety of classic bikes that were available back then...I only wish it were so today.
Rating: 
Summary: He's really just a pussy cat
Review: The "bikers" are like Broadway show extras. The dialogue is embarrassingly unauthentic. Believe me, nobody outside of 42nd Street ever talked like that, daddy-o. The story plays out like some kind of "B" Western with a horse shortage. The "town" even looks like a Western set made over for what somebody in Hollywood thought might be a new genre. There's a café and a saloon rolled into one and a gal working there to catch the eye, and a town posse and a jail and a sheriff (father of the gal) and some "decent citizens" turning into vigilantes, and instead of outlaws we have "hooligans." The bikers do everything but tie their bikes up to the hitching post after roaring into town as though to take over.Okay, that's one level. On another level this should be compared to Rebel without a Cause (1955) as a mid-century testament to teen angst. Or to Blackboard Jungle (1955) with the fake juvenile delinquency and the phony slang. Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler, whose claim to fame (aside from being the leader of the pack) is that he stole a second-place biker trophy, stars in a role that helped to launch his career, not that his acting in this film was so great. (He was better in half a dozen other roles, for example., as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire 1951, or as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront 1954). What stands out here is his tough-guy vulnerability with women: the irresistible little boy playing big. In one sense, this is, despite all the men running around and the macho delirium, something very close to ladies night out. It's a period piece love story, as delicate as a teenager's heart. Mary Murphy, who in my opinion really steals the show, is at the very center of the drama and the psychology (not to mention that she looks downright yummy in her cashmere sweater and close fitting skirt). She plays Kathie Bleeker, a small town girl whose heart yearns for something--anything--to break the tedium. Along comes Johnny to sweep her off her feet. Only he isn't sure how. Furthermore, she has a problem: although she falls in love with the wild one, she sees right through him. The scene that makes the movie begins with her jumping onto the back of his motorcycle (of course) and, after roaring down the night highway, they retire to what looks like a park. She is about a breath away from what used to be called swooning, but despite her fluttering heart, she sets him straight on who he is and how she feels and why. It's like a woman talking to a wild boy. Then she falls to the ground and just about caresses his motorcycle. It really hits home because she sees through all his pretense and exposes his vulnerability, but is vulnerable herself. Lee Marvin plays the rival gang leader with a lot of showmanship and Robert Keith plays the ineffectual father. Just about everybody else (including longtime LA sports anchor, Gil Stratton) amounts to an extra. See this for a glimpse at mid-century psychology as seen through the eyes of Hollywood's seduction machine, and especially for Mary Murphy (running in those heels) who, for whatever reason, never became a star.
Rating: 
Summary: brando before he got fat and untalented.
Review: The entire time length that takes place in this movie is like less than one day. Brando and his Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cronies spend the day being retarded in some bar in some town. The only reason I could think to watch this movie is so you could see that at one point, in a galaxy far far away, Marlon Brando was a cool dude. Before arrogance seeped out of his body like sweat, he was a guy you'd want to see in a movie. Now, obviously, he's dead and like most actors who were in old movies, has been elevated to 'legend' status, despite only being in a handful of good movies. This movie was released in 1954, and I know I've become a bit jaded by Pulp Fiction and anime, but as far as I'm concerned, 1950's B&W movie or not, its not very good. The begining, end, acting, story, etc., just isn't that great, and it's really nothing more than a cult film about motorcycles.
Rating:
Summary: Attitude is Everything
Review: The gangs appear to have strayed from a Bowery Boys slapstick onto a set from a 1930's western, with a budget of $50 and a director nowhere to be found -- still and all, the film proved remarkably adept at capturing a postwar mood among the young. Nothing may have looked real, but kids of the day got the message. History had not ended in 1945: there was still a restless spirit out there that could not be captured by pre-war malt shops and Saturday night hops. The inarticulate Johnny (Brando) is the perfect embodiment of that angst. He's groping toward something, but what. The gang rides around aimlessly, with no more knowledge of the road ahead than of themselves. Then too, it's the elderly Jimmy, representative of an older, slower America, who's revealingly run over by a run-away cycle. The sweetly pretty Mary Murphy attracts Brando, but she's a baited trap -- he could end up like her father or the townspeople. Does he ever return to her... is the trophy gesture a promise or a farewell... Though severely lacking in some respects, the script wisely leaves such ultimate questions unanswered. And through it all, Brando, in black leather jacket, remains a powerful yet enigmatic presence. A worthy and enduring icon.
Younger viewers might keep in mind that the movie was produced not only at the height of the Cold War, but at the height of the Mc Carthy purges in Hollywood. This, I think, accounts for much of the film's schizophrenia -- many punches were pulled. No one wanted a movie that cast America's youth in a bad light. So despite what was hinted at on screen, audiences were also told that everything is really alright. Level-headed authority (Jay C. Flippen) remains in charge and these are really overgrown boys who will eventually straighten out -- just look at their childish horseplay. It's Brando's smouldering presence that undercuts this comforting message. The audience senses that somewhere behind the defiant slouch lies a wisdom superior to the bland reassurances, if only he could find the words. Those, I suppose, would come 15 years later and in far different rebellious circumstances. Anyway, this is a Brando showcase without which the movie would lie long forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: A work of art
Review: This early 1950's film uses a bop jazz score to punctuate all of the fight scenes- whenever a fight breaks out, the trumpets always seem to be playing at their loudest. I thought that detail was interesting and amusing to mention as the story is old news- bikers invade a town and cause havoc. This film and Rebel Without A Cause are the two most famous teenage films of the 1950's. In this film lee Marvin plays the leader of a rival gang and has an antagonistic relationship with Brando. This is when Brando was in top shape, before he gained a thousand pounds and became the spokeperson for the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and the person you would first identify with the save the whales campaign.
Rating:
Summary: Heck on Wheels.
Review: This movie starts out showing that appeasement is wrong and just buys you trouble. The cyclists are repelled from one town by a cop who stands up to them, and then go on to the next place which cottons to them, for a while anyway. There are some good scenes and a few good lines, though. Surely we've all seen clips of Brando's character response to the question, "What are you rebelling against?" with the deft reply, "Whaddya got?" When he starred in this, Lee Marvin wasn't too far out of the WWII Marines, and it shows.
Rating:
Summary: The Chosen One
Review: This truely is an interesting film. I am not quite sure how to recommend this movie to people, but I do. First, and most important about this film is that it was made in 1953, and is therefore rather dated. Brando himself reflected on this film in his autobiography(Songs My Mother Taught Me) saying he felt it was a good picture when he made it, but he thought it hadn't aged well. In the context of this particular film it means these bike gangs, while at the time considered rebellious and dangerous, do not, by modern conventions of "rebels" and "outlaws," really come off as that threatening. At the time they were(the Hells Angels begins in this period). That understood viewers can really enjoy this picture. To me it almost had a comedic value to it. I really enjoy watching the steriotypes of this time for example the locals being called "squares." Marlon Brando is very engaging as Johnny, the leader of this rebel motorcycle gang that happens into a small town and takes it over for a few days. Even today it is possible to see why, in the early 50's, Brando was inspiring generations of actors with his performances, before he became fat and self-indulgant. For this reason alone it is worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: He was a sweet beautiful guy
Review: To think that this film was banned in England for 20 years makes one cringe in disbelief - one of Woody Allen's characters is right when he intones that all the things we were told as children that were good for us turned out bad - milk, meat, sun, big cars- and all the the things that we were told were bad for us turned out good - leather jackets, motor cycles, bebop, nature. But to The Wild One. Yes it's dated. The jive language doesn't fit with white middle class men dressed up in leather jackets, and Mr Brando is much to sweet, self conscious, and beautiful to be considered wild. Men and women alike are rushing to if not hug and kiss him, just look. He's caged for similar reasons. The arty camerawork on the bike ride at night with girl on the back doesn't quite work, but it's not a bad movie. The main attraction is really the beauty of Mr Brando. The first shot of the bikes heading towards us down the country road is a memorable opening.
Rating:
Summary: Are you down with my review
Review: Ummmmmm, I think the reason I like this film stems from the reasoning that any picture that can leave me questioning for years wether I like it or not must have had an impact. No im wrong I do like it I just dont know if I love it.
The film is about a lovely little group of buggerlugs who decide to run a muck in a small town, and thats it. What makes it a bit special is that there is a sparkly allagiorical treat hidden away ( it was a fifties film ) and it has Brando in it.
The film allows you to decide who are the villans of the tale, the gang or the towns people. The bikers are thankfully represented in an aimiable light when contrasted with the lynch mob of towns people, who decide to go against the law to rid their town of the invading scallywags, and the towns folk arent all 'squares', theres a nice balance that lets you decide. Being set and produced in the fifties theres a strong rebellious streak through the film, and rather than just the dramatisation ao an actual event I think it has links with the social climate of the time. I get a strong Macarthyism style wiff from this pungent little snuff box, i could be wrong but the stench is mighty strong.
Brando does his usual job, acting mostly with his expressive face throughout as his character hardly says much, you always get the impression he is continually considering his situation and finding no real purpose, you cant help but watch him and he manages to shine through from a sea of insignificant others.
The film has aged in a way that other youth films such as 'Rebel without a cause' havent, this is mainly down to the jive talk, which is a bit old hat, its funny though how even today white folks still imitate the infinately cooler speech of the black community ( Brando does it a bit better than most kids today though )
If you can look past the jive ( which i think gives the film a touch of style) you will most probably enjoy this, i just convinced myself that i do love this afterall
bye
Rating:
Summary: Does Anyone Under 30 Remember Brando?
Review: Unless you're in charge of the Smithsonian Archive of Hollywood Motorcycle Films, you rented this movie because of one reason: Marlon Brando. Is the film outdated? It was shot in '54. Does Brando disappoint? Come on. Plus, this film has sold more bikes than Zig Ziglar in his wet dream.
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