B Plus Movies

The name George Romero is most often associated with the shambling hordes of the undead, being one of the men most responsible for the modern vision of the zombie due to films like Night of the Living Dead, its sequels and their remakes. It would be easy to forget that he did other work that soaked less into the public imagination.

For instance, knights jousting on motorcycles as in Knightriders.

Knightriders starts with Ed Harris as the head of a sort of roving Renn Faire, featuring the aforementioned motorized violence. Harris’ character attempts to run his kingdom in the style of Arthur which often comes at odds with the day to day practicalities. It also comes to odds with one of his knights played by Tom Savini.

The story revolves around Harris’ attempts to keep his band together while simultaneously trying to face a world that has little time for idealists. Along the way he must face a corrupt cop, dissent from his own people and ultimately, his own fear.

The only caution I give is that this isn’t an action movie. It resonates more with films like Billy Jack, hippie epics about being misunderstood in a creul world. It’s a movie that is about ideals which, thankfully, never gets preachy about them nor uses them to club the audience over the head.

The acting in this movie saves it from being merely a campy gimmick  and elevates the whole film to a level befitting it’s epic roots. It is very much a tale of man vs. world, sometimes that world being his own. Totally realistic and very much relatable, Knightriders is a pleasant reminder of the talents of Romero, Savini and Harris as well as perhaps a cautionary tale from the early 80’s, a decade in which comprimise became overly fashionable.

Knightriders is B+ all the way.