Awesome Movie

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a very clever movie.I disagree with those that criticize the movie because Lyle can't figure out he has traveled through time; indeed, that's what makes the movie so effective. In reality (if I can say that here), who among us in that same situation would have ever guessed that we had traveled through a time vortex?? For years after seeing the movie on HBO I used the line "found it at an EXXON station" among family and friends. More importantly, I spent ten years (no exaggeration) periodically trying to figure out if Lyle was his own grandfather! I still don't know the answer to that one! Sappy, slap-stick sci-fi, ....maybe so, but a movie with a pseudo-classic line that makes one think about a side-plot years later can't be considered anything less than very effective! It's a shame this flick is not more readily available. A great rainy Sunday afternoon rental that has the potential to keep you entertained years after viewing.

Fred Ward gives a typically credible and engaging performance as Lyle Swann, a hotshot off-road motorcycle champion who becomes lost in the Mexico desert while in the middle of a motorcross race. Swann accidentally stumbles across a top secret government base that's conducting a time travel experiment and gets transported back to 1877. Grimy, vicious desperado Peter Coyote and his two dumb, craven, greasy, unwashed scuzzbag partners (marvelously played by the ever-grubby Tracey Walter and an uncharacteristically nasty Richard Masur) want to steal Swann's wheels. Swann seeks refuge in a small, remote Mexican village. The God-fearing peasant vocals think Swann is the devil incarnate. Only priest Ed Lauter and fiery, fetching femme Clair (the highly alluring and enticing Belinda Bauer) treat Swann with any hospitality and become his sole allies, protecting him from both Coyote's gang and a couple of bothersome federal marshals (one of 'em is grizzled Sam Peckinpah movie regular L.Q. Jones).The fantastic premise is given a semblance of gritty, lived-in plausibility thanks to the brightly conceived script, believable reactions the 18th century characters have to both Swann and his motorcycle, sound acting from a top-rate cast, and especially director William Dear's harsh, rough around the edges, very dingy and fiercely unromanticized evocation of the Old West. It's this latter element of ragged, dust-under-the-fingernails filthy historical authenticity which makes "Timerider" such an effective and engrossing offbeat sci-fi/Western outing. Former Monkey Michael Nesmith co-produced, co-wrote the quirky screenplay, and supplied the lively, thumping, guitar-blasting, synthesizer-driven rollicking rock score for this interesting anomaly. The Anchor Bay DVD offers an excellent letterboxed presentation of this unsung favorite, along with a disarmingly candid William Dear commentary, two theatrical trailers and a bunch of TV spots.

Time Rider made today would be a great film. Somehow the creators of this movie were so wrapped up in showing us how the people in 1870 reacted to modern marvels such as pre-packaged granola snacks and cyalume light sticks that they forgot about the acting and building a better script. Fred Wards continual sweating and saying things like "Where's my bike" and "I gotta get outta here" just don't hold you for 90 minutes. Then there's Peter Coyote (wasted here) gritting his 50 or so gold fillings while saying "That's mine, that's mine" The premise here is good and the film entertaining but another 15 minutes of character building and a better use of Swan's gadgets would have been a big help. 6 out of 10. Re-write the film and put "Arnold" on the bike and you may just have something here!

This film is a great example of what can be done with a low budget, decent story, and a great cast. The direction is broad, and at the same time both light-hearted and dark. I think it's a good example of balance in that regard. Please see my comments in the message board regarding the ending of the DVD version. I think you have to be able to remember back to the day - 1982 - to appreciate this movie. Superior low-budget time-loops starting with "The Terminator" were still 2 years away....