MovieChat Forums > Easy Rider (1969) Discussion > This movie aged badly.

This movie aged badly.

posted 9 years ago by jerryco99
29 replies | jump to latest

I watched Easy Rider many, many years ago and loved it. And really, I do still like it a lot but I watched it recently and I can't believe how badly it aged. I know it is a snapshot in time but some of the visuals and ideology hasn't aged well. I mean the fashion and that hippie commune lifestyle in one scene might have been some ideal paradise back in the day but that lifestyle proved to be unsustainable and laughable. That hardcore hippie lifestyle and ideology turned out to be a farce in the end.

[–] JeromeSilberman1 9 years ago

OK, explain Berkeley and the late 20 year old and their generation of "hipsters"?

[–] johndoe705 9 years ago

it sounds more like you became a VERY old Person , this was 1969 and the Movie plays in 1969 , thats it . You are just so old that you forgot :) the fashion repeats itself , same colour same pattern same style , the marketing is different and technology took over

[–] tightspotkilo 8 years ago

Some of us thought the commune was ridiculous in 1969.

Get the facts first - you can distort them later!

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

Hooah.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] Beowulf99 9 years ago

Exactly, and want the Manson clan a hippy commun? Nuff said

[–] lvrepoman 9 years ago

Some movies have a knack for aging well. I don't know quite what it is that gives them this quality. At least one thing is that it's easy to empathize with the characters, regardless of the times. The characters behave in some sort of universal way that transcends time.

This ain't that movie. Does anyone even like these guys? I sure don't. They just remind me of a bunch of jerks that were about 10-15 years older than I was. I guess they got that right.

Take away the people and all you've got is a bunch of dated scenery. Frankly, even outside the constraints of time, I can see why anyone from anytime would dislike this movie.

I suppose it catches a moment, but I would never, ever, waste any more time watching it.

"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak

[–] batpuller007 9 years ago

" a bunch of dated scenery "

Dated...scenery? What the hell does that mean?

[–] Mr. Bug 9 years ago

For me the movie has aged very well. Because its core is timeless.

[–] tightspotkilo 8 years ago

Scenery dates? Who knew?

Get the facts first - you can distort them later!

[–] GraceFromSoCal 8 years ago

Scenery dates? Who knew?

Yep! Can you BELIEVE how dated those mountains and rivers and trees looked?! 

--

http://www.CaliforniaDreamsPhotography.com

[–] neverthereever 8 years ago

Considering none of the main characters survived the moviie, the point was well made that their lifestylle was unsustainable.

For a lot of people in America, the Sixties was something that happened to somebody else, by the time it reached their town it was over. You had to go and look for it, so this movie takes you on that ride. Trouble is you are now 45 years too late, so you have to ask yourself, what was my coming of age all about?

SAT's? Student Loans? Prescription drug abuse? The choice betweem working for Microsoft or Wallmart?

Make us a movie and see if it's entaertainig.

[–] thepartydjz 8 years ago

"For a lot of people in America, the Sixties was something that happened to somebody else, by the time it reached their town it was over."

So true, for many of us it was only on TV

[–] hoyo-mont 8 years ago

We all age. Act accordingly.

[–] kerrydragon 8 years ago

I lived as a teen during this time period,and the only part,I found dated was the rednecks,but Im know nothing about the south,but the movie,is a wonderful glimpse,into the 60's,lifestyle,for the young,and edgy.

[–] ck1-5 8 years ago

Yeah, I agree about the dated scenery...all of those dinosaurs running around, not to mention all of those glaciers in the background that were left over from the Ice Age were just ridiculous!

[–] hbiggar 8 years ago

beautiful scenery and themes, but one other thing occurred to me watching it on tcm last night...Mardi Gras? that's in winter even in New Orleans it gets cold then, and all the earlier scenes even with George Hanson ('2-3 days away from N.O.')are like summer or early fall, oh well...the 60's were a different season

[–] Kompressor_Fan 8 years ago

I think by dated scenery he is talking about the look of two lane highways (instead of modern interstates which are more common now), the old timey telephone poles and gas stations, the type of signage on the roads. Stuff like that.

[–] swlabr 8 years ago

AMEN. This is how is was you babies. This is the story of my late teens and early twenties. It never gets old.

[–] jamesharding 8 years ago

The reason why this film has stuck around is BECAUSE of how "dated" it is. One of the great things about film is how they capture their times, and some of them seem to do this so well that they define the eras they were made in. This film seems to be a great look into the attitudes of America in the 60s. Taxi Driver probably did that for the 70s. Wall Street did that for the 80s. Clerks did it for the 90s. Social Network for the 2000s.

Of course the attitudes in it become ridiculous and outdated. We grow and change. They do not.

[–] joekiddlouischama 8 years ago

I do not understand why one would want a film from 1969 to reflect 2016 ...