HELL RIDE - Blu-ray review

"Bikes, beer, and booty." -- The Gent
Quentin Tarantino fans might recognize Larry Bishop from the bar where Budd (Michael Madsen) hung out in "Kill Bill." But to Tarantino, a hard-core film buff, Bishop is a living legend who appeared in a whole slew of biker B-movies during the 60s and 70s. "The Savage Seven" (1968), "The Devil's 8" (1969), "Angel Unchained" (1970), and "Chrome and Hot Leather" (1971) are the types of films the young Tarantino idolized when growing up. They served as the driving force behind his filmmaking career, and eventually led to his partnership with Robert Rodriguez for their "Grindhouse" tribute.

Around the time "Kill Bill" was still in production stages, Tarantino befriended Bishop and--so the story goes--told him that it was "his destiny" to write, direct, and star in his own feature film. In a way, Tarantino passed on the inspirational torch given to him by producer Lawrence Bender--who guided him on the path towards developing "Reservoir Dogs."

Bishop spent the next five years or so working on his script. His goal was to bring back the retro biker movie, but spice it up a little with some added sexploitation plus a little bit of Tarantino-esque style. The result is "Hell Ride," now on DVD and Blu-ray under Genius/Weinstein's Dimension Extreme label.

It's important to point out right off the bat that "Hell Ride" is nowhere near the masterpiece that was "Reservoir Dogs," although to be fair it's an entirely different anomaly altogether. "Hell Ride" is supposed to be a campy B-movie throwback, more along the lines as Tarantino's "Death Proof." The plot is thin, the acting is flat at times, and the storyline is often disjointed and jumbled, but that's how it's supposed to be. It's the perfect example of style over substance.

The plot for "Hell Ride" revolves around two hell-bent motorcycle gangs at war with each other. On one side we have the Victors, with the president of the club, Pistolero (Bishop), leading the pack. The Gent (Michael Madsen) is Pistolero's right-hand man, who gets his name from his fashion sense--trading in the more traditional leather garb for a fancy tuxedo and Italian sunglasses (I know, I own the same kind of Persols). On Pistolero's left, is the newest recruit in the gang they call Comanche (Eric Balfour). Last but certainly not least, is Eddie "Scratch" Zero (Dennis Hopper), one of the longest standing members on the roster who supposedly faked his death sometime in the 80s.

The bitter rivalry is rekindled when Billy Wings (Vinnie Jones), and other members of the vile Six Six Sixers, return to town. They capture one of the Victors, slit his throat, and torture the dying man by dousing him with gasoline and lighting him ablaze. The Victors naturally seek retribution for this, but for Pistolero in particular, the murder really hits home. Thirty-two years ago, the love of his life, Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones), was also killed in the exact same manner. Now that the Six Six Sixers are back, Pistolero finally has the chance to settle an old score that has been gnawing away at him for decades.

The plot does thicken up a little bit when the Deuce (David Carradine), who is basically the mirror to Eddie Zero on the Six Six Sixers' side, enters the picture. On the surface, the Deuce appears to have gone straight as a legitimate businessman, but underneath it all he's really the puppet master pulling the strings. Not only is the Deuce connected to both killings, he also has a history involving Comanche. I'm not really going to go into further details, as I previously mentioned there isn't much plot as it is and saying any more would just be telling the whole story.

Critics haven't been too kind to "Hell Ride," but I can see why it has had this sort of impact on some viewers. I think part of the problem is that Quentin Tarantino fully endorses the film and even sits in as an executive producer. His name shows up in big lettering on the DVD case and a few more times during the movie's credits. I even noticed it plastered on the R-rated trailer posted here on the main page of DVD Town. Unfortunately, this in turn leads to viewers setting the bar way too high. Maybe at a conscience level, they understand "Hell Ride" is a film by Bishop, but subconsciously, some will approach the film with a certain Tarantino mindset. The reality is if you're expecting to see the next "Pulp Fiction" or "Kill Bill," you're going to be sorely disappointed.

I also might be looking too much into things, but I thought I picked up on some hidden meanings that none of the other reviews seemed to mention. For instance, why are there no innocents around? The only children you see are in flashbacks, but every other character could be considered as a high-caliber sinner. Also why all the references to fire and Hell? Finally, doesn't Comanche look a little young for his age? If you haven't figured out what I'm referring to, don't expect me to put on horns and dance around with a pitchfork just to make my point.

The important thing to remember here is that "Hell Ride" still is a B-movie. I'm not sure of the exact budget, but Bishop was only given twenty shooting days. According to the commentary, they couldn't even afford things like exterior signage, so they had to improvise quite a bit. One example of this was when they zoomed in on the stitched bar logos on the backsides of waitress' short shorts. Now that I think about it, it was pretty innovative quick fix, and it had a spectacular view to boot.

Video:
"Hell Ride" motors in on BD-25 (MPEG-4/AVC video codec) and is presented in a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Unlike Rodriguez' and Tarantino's Grindhouse extravaganza, this one hasn't been purposely given the aged treatment. Colors are bright and vivid--and I was particular impressed with the peyote sequence. Detailing is also sharp, and the transfer never falls short when it comes to deep black levels. A couple of times I did notice some noise and minimal grain, but those instances were very few and far between. At present, I can't really comment on the DVD version, but I must say that Bishop's picture truly shines in high-definition.

Audio:
The disc offers the choice between English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. For obvious reasons, the lossless track is the better of the two, boasting powerful bass when the motorcycles are on the prowl. I found the dialogue a bit quiet, though, and in one or two scenes out in the desert I occasionally thought I heard the wind beating down on the boom microphone. I could be mistaken, but that's what it sounded like to me so it's worth mentioning here. Also included are optional subtitles in English and Spanish.

Extras:
The first bonus is an "Audio Commentary by Writer/Director/Producer Larry Bishop and Director of Photography Scott Kevan." Bishop can certainly talk up a storm, and if I had to guess I'd say he brought Kevan along for the ride just so he had some company. I'm sure anyone would be as energized as a Bishop after gaining Tarantino's stamp of approval, but the problem here is he was so fixated on this that he rarely touched on anything else. Bishop also tends to ramble on and repeat himself to get his points across, which didn't make matters any easier. In short, it wasn't one of the more productive and enjoyable commentaries I've sat through.

Bishop's Tarantino connection is mentioned further in "The Making of Hell Ride" (8:50), which is basically just a lite-version of what was said in the commentary.

Then we have three featurettes: "The Babes of Hell Ride" (5:19), "The Guys of Hell Ride" (14:18), and "The Choppers of Hell Ride" (9:34). I never realized how much thought went into selecting the bikes, so it was cool seeing that process. And who doesn't like choppers anyway?

"Michael Madsen's Video Diary" is about ten minutes of handycam footage taken around the set with a laid-back commentary provided by Madsen.

Lastly, there's a Red Band Trailer for "Hell Ride," although there are no forced trailers upon startup.

The Final Cut:
"Hell Ride" can join the ranks of "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof" as an honorary modern-day Grindhouse feature. It's one of those movies that won't have a broad appeal, but could easily build up a cult following. Now I'm not saying it's a great film, and I would probably hesitate to classify it as a good one. It all comes down to one single question: would I voluntarily watch "Hell Ride" again? If I were to be completely honest here, I'd have to say yes I would. To me, that at least makes it a passably decent film in my book.