Knightriders - George Romero

[ravenus]

KNIGHTRIDERS – George A. Romero

This is Living Dead fame director George Romero’s tale of a modern day King Arthur, Billy (Ed Harris) and his band of jousting knights. The ‘royal’ rag-tag entourage, in nomadic fashion, makes its way from place to place, holding jousts. Only instead of horses, these knights ride motorcycles and Merlin is a practicing doctor (who likes to dress up as a shaman type). The story is about how Billy/King Arthur follows a strict moral code regarding the sanctity of the tournaments and vehemently opposes any form of corruption or commercial exploitation. This leads to differences with others from the tribe, principally the knight Morgan (Tom Savini), who at one point breaks off to form his own troop with the intention of attaining fame and fortune by his trade. But the effects of his brush with the material world disillusion Morgan and he returns to the old ways, in the end challenging Billy to honorable duel that will decide leadership of the knights.

It’s a very simple and sentimental story, told with a lot of warmth and affection. There are certain caveats: the characters are archetypal, with only Billy and Morgan having any real shades and even these are not explored to any great extent. Given the length of the movie and its VERY leisurely pace, it calls for a certain amount of patience, without really rewarding you in terms of depth/complexity in the narrative. There are some pointless and obviously stretched out moments in the film, most notably after the final duel.

But the movie has some solid strengths, which in my view, effectively offset all its weaknesses. First off, it’s likely Romero’s most beautifully executed film, with really lush photography (Michael Gornick) and careful splicing of scenes. He has taken a lot of pains to achieve the look of the film and the way he presents, it really gives off a certain old-world charm, a whiff of the times of chivalry and honor. In short, the movie looks AWESOME. The lives of the travelling knights are depicted in a very appealing and credible quasi-documentary fashion, even if the pace sometimes drags. All the actors do a likeable job and help tremendously to accept the notion of theirs being an extended family. Special mention goes to Ed Harris and Tom Savini who do right in the principal roles. Hats off also to Donald Rubenstein who comes up with a beautiful medieval score that fits in perfectly with the ambience of the film.

[Foxbat]

I've only ever seen this movie once - quite a few years ago (this must have been made mid to late 80s or very early 90s) and absolutely loved it. It was the first movie I saw Ed Harris in. Also, I had no idea that Romero was the director and I would never have guessed given his usual type of work.

This has just been added to my 'must get' list

[ravenus]

@Knightriders:

I was going through the commentary track of the film today. It's an ensemble commentary with Romero, Tom Savini and sundry other members of the crew, including Romero's wife Christine (who is an actress and played a role in this movie. According to the commentary, they got married on the last day of filming...a hilarious story accompanies that)

It's not a scene dissection kind of commentary but a more rambling dialog that gives you a lot of info and anecdotes about the various people that were associated with this movie, and there is even talk of some of Romero's other films including Dawn of the Dead, Martin, Creepshow and Bruiser.

It's quite entertaining in most part, although also saddening in that so many talented people that worked with Romero never got to do much other work, some of them turning to non-film professions later. An IMDB check also shows that cinematographer Michael Gornick and composer Donald Rubenstein who have done such spectacular work on this and some of Romero's other films haven't really got any other assignments worth the name and both of them have not done anything after the mid-80's. A shame really, but then we're in the world where even a Romero has to struggle for years to get his films made.

In fact, Knightriders is often (correctly IMO) regarded as a metaphor of Romero's own struggle to maintain the integrity of his work against a money-minded studio system.

[ravenus]

@Foxbat:
It was made in 1981, right after Dawn, on the strength of whose success, Romero had snagged a 3-film deal with Laurel Pictures.
I guess too many people had the Romero=Horror kind of mindset so this movie did very poorly on release (the commentary wryly mentions "all the nine people that saw it"). It has gained some kind of a cult response on the video circuit, although nowhere near Night/Dawn.

If you haven't already, I also recommend you look for Martin, Romero's vampire deconstruction tale. It's one of the most beautifully tragic films I've ever seen, with a heart-breaking performance by John Amplas in the lead.

[ravenus]

If you really want to get it, have no hesitation in ordering the Anchor Bay edition. The print is wonderfully good. You only get 2.0 sound but it's clear enough.

[Foxbat]

I managed to find a copy at Amazon.com so it should be winging it's way across the Atlantic in the next few days. I'll certainly look out for Martin sometime.

Donald Rubenstein who have done such spectacular work on this and some of Romero's other films haven't really got any other assignments worth the name and both of them have not done anything after the mid-80's.

Sometimes Hollywood leaves me flabergasted. These guys along with Romero et al are critically acclaimed for their work...and yet they don't get any work!
It beats me

[Foxbat]

Just thought it was worth resurrecting this thread because I've finally gotten around to watching it again. I wholeheartedly agree with Ravenus' positive review. Age has not withered this film in the slightest. I enjoyed it as much now as I did the first time I saw it. Highly recommended.