Simply Perfect

Just what I expected

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I watched this movie tonight and toward the end I realized I had seen it years ago when I was much younger. I must confess, I didn't realize how good it was back then. There were parts of the movie that were downers, I guess I was looking for a feel good flick years ago.Our main character played by Robert Blake is a straight by-the-rules cop. He has a partner that does not play fair and I suppose that was part of the turn off at the first viewing. Our hero has to deal with all kinds of set backs and surprises, dealing with other police who seem to be too focused on the "job" and less focused on right vs. wrong.There were good, convincing performances all around. Never did I get the feeling they were "acting".There is mystery, surprises, and some incredible scenery of the wild, open Arizona spaces. Even after a second viewing I'm still not certain what the message of the movie was although I did give it a nine rating. Are the majority of cops bad? Are most hippies good? Are most hippies bad? Does the desert make you crazy? I suspect the movie will leave you with similar questions. I don't think it strives to answer any in the first place. I get the impression it simply throws issues at the viewer and leaves you to fill in the blanks.This movie will NOT spoon feed you a clear cut plot, but it will make you think.

The movie's first half sets up an intriguing situation with an intriguing character. John Wintergreen (Blake) is a diminutive highway patrolman stationed along a lonely stretch of Arizona desert—(notice how he insists on his full impressive name, as though that might compensate for a lack of height). He's ambitious, but unsure of himself-- a little man in a big man's world. Nonetheless, he's looking for an opportunity to get off the motorcycle and into the suit of a detective. He gets that chance when he successfully second-guesses the apparent suicide of a desert rat found dead in his shack. Suicide, says the coroner (Dano, in a rare conventional role); murder, says patrolman John, since suicides don't shoot themselves in the chest. This brings him to the attention of big man and cop honcho Harve Poole (Ryan) who appoints the perceptive little man as his new driver. Now Wintergreen gets to dress up in a sharp suit and ten-gallon hat, lovingly shown in a 3-minute sequence by director Guercio. Now, he is a somebody on his way up if he can make good. But will he. At this point, we've got an appealing character to root for with an interesting and unpredictable future.The trouble is that the screenplay doesn't really know where to go from here. Thus, we get a succession of unconvincing scenes that lose the credibility and coherence of the first half. The nightclub scene is badly over the top (Riley), (wasn't there a less florid way of discrediting Harve); also, Zipper's (Bush) last scene appears a forced instance of violence for the sake of violence; while the movie's final scene comes across like a shameless rip-off of Easy Rider, foreshadowed by a picture of Fonda that John riddles with bullet holes. Then there's the slow 5-minute fade-out of vacant road that left me, at least, feeling as though someone's artistic pretensions had turned up empty. Too bad, because the movie was promising in so many ways.Blake plays John Wintergreen's character beautifully. Few actors could convey wistful dreams or wounded sensitivity more effectively, as his role here and in In Cold Blood demonstrate. Basically John is an honest cop trying to get along in what amounts to a dishonest world, where his patrolman buddy Zipper thinks nothing of framing a hippie van driver or picking up a wad of money just lying around. Blake's little man knows he can't change the world, but at least he can earn the dignity that can come to any man regardless of size. It's a fine performance that holds the disparate halves of the film together. Bush is also effective, as John's unpredictable sidekick, Zipper. However, Mitchell Ryan as the arrogant cop honcho overplays to a fault. Then again, maybe it's the fault of the screenplay, but either way, Harve comes across as something of a caricature.There are a number of memorable scenes—John trying to throw the cools on two hippie chicks who tower over him; crazy Willie (Cook) coming even more unglued on the porch of a convalescent home; John sizing up his new spiffy look in a mirror like he's a matador ready for the ring. Despite its strengths, however, the movie still shapes up as a flawed installment in what was then the ongoing saga of the cop vs. hippie wars.

I saw this movie when it first came out as a biker/college student/pot-head/drinker! I loved it then. I OWN the movie now and as a current rider and a retired Police Commander (& former Motor Cop), find it highly realistic & true ('cept for the chases, which may have been OK out here in the West given the time frame). Despite Bobby Blake's problems w/the law & women, he is NOT GUILTY according to a court of law and that fits OK with me! "The Job" has difficult moments and leads down roads unknown. "EG in Blue" personifies it! So much for being the Nice Guy! Cops can't be bad guys and nice guys at the same time!!! Lt JG (Ret)

I always wanted to see ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE for a very long time. I've always been intrigued by the title, the star and the desert but for some (now pretty clear) reason, this film is never shown on TV or I've happen to miss it if it's ever shown. Well, after watching the DVD, I now know why the movie is rarely shown: it's because it's not that good. In fact, I'd say it's pretty much of a mess.ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE was made by a first time director and it shows. The film is mainly a series of vignettes with absolutely nothing holding it together. More like a collection of short movies haphazardly strung together. The movie can be boiled down to this: intro (murder); cop and girlfriend together; intro credits; cops going to work; crazy guy tells story; cop finds dead body; cop and chief and girlfriend at bar; chase scene; etc. The scenes just don't flow together. They're very distinctively independent from each other and because of this the characterization is weak, borderline amateurish. The scene at the bar with the girlfriend, the scene at the farm with the hippies, the scene with Big John and the Chief yelling at each other were cringe worthy. I almost stopped the film during those (awful) moments.The film-maker's lack of experience is in evidence throughout the film. The style, like the 1970s, is all over the map. The intro credit scene makes the movie look like a commercial for law enforcement. Then it tries to be a buddy film (Big John and Zipper) then a murder mystery; then a melodramatic love story; etc. A film doesn't have to have one particular style in order to be successful but I'm afraid the style in ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE was confused. You can clearly see that the director had no idea what he was doing or where he was going with it.The film is not a complete disaster. While the content of ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE is almost amateurish, the look of it is extremely (and deceptively) professional. The cinematography is stunning. Every frame is worthy of an exhibition at an art gallery. Or, because the first (and last) time director was involved in the music business, worthy of an album cover. The beautiful look of the film gives more credence to the finish product than it really deserves. And thanks to Robert Blake's acting (of a really badly written character), the film maintains a certain level of realism, even though nothing else makes much sense. What's remarkable about the look and composition of the film is that it's been copied and duplicated a million times over. The intro credits reminded me of something like TOP GUN, which was made 13 years later. Scenes of Johnny dressing up, with his clothes on the bed, reminded me of American Gigolo. Strangely enough, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE has a very contemporary feel to it, due to the stunning visuals, even if the story and the philosophy behind it are hopelessly outdated.So, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE is, on one hand, a remarkably underrated and overlooked film because it obviously influenced a lot of future filmmakers out there when it comes to the look and composition. Very few films can claim to have achieved this and legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall should take full credit. But, on the other hand, EGIB is also deservedly forgotten because the poor characters, confusing story, and muddled direction, none of which are worth of remembering.