MovieChat Forums > Electra Glide in Blue (1973) Discussion > Easy Rider

Easy Rider

posted 20 years ago by mrmoe
12 replies | jump to latest

Is it just me, or is Electra Glide in Blue basically a response to Easy Rider?

The similarities between the two movies seem pretty obvious, but everyone I've talken to about it didn't see them.

The main similarity between the two is that there's two guys on bikes. That much is obvious. Aside from that though, the ending is almost identical (guy on a bike, minding his own business, gets shot down from a nearby car with a shotgun), as is the final shot: Easy Rider is more of a crane shot, while Electra Glide in Blue just goes down the road forever, but they're still pretty similar. Also, the detective's trip to the commune is eerily similar to the same scene in Easy Rider, though with different results.

Electra Glide in Blue seems to me to be the counter opposite of Easy Rider. Easy Rider depicts two hippies on bikes getting alot of crap from ignorant hics and police officers. Electra Glide in Blue depicts one (but sometimes two) cops on bikes, getting alot of crap from ignorant hippies.

Does anyone else see what I see?

[–] ccr1633 20 years ago

"Is it just me, or is Electra Glide in Blue basically a response to Easy Rider?"
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There's most definitely an anti-Easy-Rider undercurrent. Don't forget that there was also a scene with a cop (Blake I think, or his friend) where they're taking target practice on a poster of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda!

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] the_darkness_of_poetic_humor 20 years ago

I didn't see much similarities, but I however also didnt see in the end of Electra the cop minding his own business, he was trying to wave them down again and they quickly resolved the problem. So I dont knowwwww.......

[–] Kumquat66 19 years ago

I guess you know that he was trying to wave them down to give the guy's drivers license back to him. See what he gets for being nice.
That is what killed him - he was too nice to the wrong people.

On the other hand, since he had the driver's license on him...fat chance the guys would get away with it, thereby creating another problem.

[–] EclecticCritic 18 years ago

"That is what killed him - he was too nice to the wrong people."

Interesting that you said (or wrote) that. I took some notes about potential story ideas immediately after watching the movie on TCM (it ended at around 3 A.M. here) and one of them was "Good Samaritan who gives help to the wrong person." Since it was late and there were no distractions, the idea and all the associated ideas that it conjured up resonated with me in a way that it doesn't now. Another idea was "A man who pays the price for following the letter of the law too closely. Ironic ending might be used."

I think a movie like this should be viewed in the wee hours when one is alone. Then it can really wash over one and lead to thoughts about life, with all its unanswerable questions and poignant ironies. And these thoughts and feelings will not be expressible to another because they are beyond capturing adequately with such a limited thing as language. It's enough that they were experienced for that one moment in time.

[–] Adam_P_L 20 years ago

I agree. I saw it for the first time last night, and I think you'd have to be completely mind-blind not to see that this film is a reaction to Easy Rider.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] leegray 19 years ago

I use to actually get the name of the two films mixed up

the ending is one of the most unexpected i had seen

[–] AirborneRanger 18 years ago

Of course it is!! And on the firing range, John shoots a poster of the boys, which is of course how they die in the end.

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

[–] Howlin Wolf 18 years ago

Definitely, although I like Easy Rider better.

"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage... "

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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