Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson are the title characters, an outlaw biker and former rodeo cowboy, respectively. Harley rides his bike back to L.A. in a slightly "futuristic" year (1996) to hook up with old pals such as Marlboro, Jimmy (Giancarlo Esposito), Jose (Eloy Casados), Jack (wrestler Big John Studd), and their father figure (Julius Harris), who runs the Rock 'n' Roll Bar and Grill. It's about to be foreclosed by a greedy bank, so Harley gets the bright idea to hold up that same bank for the money. However, the take is not money but a new street drug, "Crystal Dream". Harley and Marlboro must spend the rest of the movie dodging persistent muscle men who represent the villain, Chance Wilder (Tom Sizemore).This movie is not so much blatant product placement (as the opening text tells us), as it is a fairly goofy, mildly amusing action thriller. There's nothing special here, but the pace, the costumes (dig those bulletproof overcoats on the thugs), the soundtrack, the solid supporting cast, and the rapport between Rourke and Johnson make it all watchable enough. Screenwriter Don Michael Paul does give our two leads some good character defining moments, as well as a romantic angle as Marlboro realizes that he's about to lose his girlfriend Virginia Slim (Chelsea Field) for good. Although this movie does get grim and pretty violent, it's still not something to take all that seriously. It sure as Hell doesn't worry about things such as credibility.Field at least has some material to work with, but the other super sexy ladies present (Vanessa Williams, Tia Carrere, and Kelly Hu) barely get anything to do. The cast also includes familiar faces such as Daniel Baldwin (as the primary henchman), Robert Ginty, Branscombe Richmond, and Sven-Ole Thorsen, with old pro Harris standing out. Sizemore is okay, but his bad guy role lacks any sort of personality or real threat. One funny touch is that Rourkes' Harley is NO good with a gun.Unmemorable, but it's decent brainless fun for 99 minutes.Six out of 10.

Here it is 2011 and I'm STILL lovin' this movie! As a matter of fact up until I looked over my IMDb history, I thought I had already reviewed it but much to my surprise I haven't. I guess that will make this review that much more better as it will be one of the more current ones.This is one of those "you-either-get-it-or-you-don't" movies made to appeal to the egos and fantasies of the rugged alpha male. You get that sense at the opening credits as Mickey Rourke's intro scene during the opening credits makes you want to go out and ride a chopped up steel horse. It's the ultimate escape, at least for men! It's laced w/ moral fiber in that it's all about being down-and-out and still managing to drum up the where-with-all to help your fellow man. IMHO I think this movie's setbacks are through no fault of any of its creators or participants. Looking at many of the cynical reviews of movie-goers and critics of its time, it was clearly ahead of its own genre. And although many might find the title as well as some of the names of the characters to be cheesy (Virginia Slim, Jack Daniels, etc), I admire that they took the risk to acknowledge the outlaw, anti-hero biker image through images of Americana. I also read somewhere (probably on this site) that Rourke did this movie out of desperation which doesn't help a new viewer go in w/ a favorable attitude. Hopefully Mickey can look back and appreciate this piece of work like much of us do. I've still yet to see Butch & Sundance but now I'm inspired to check out Redford and Newman's piece even if it's just for the similarities that many reviewers have suggested.I guess it comes down to the fact that this is much like anything else in that it isn't for everybody. Perhaps the audience it was intended for has dwindled substantially (if it's ever really been out there). But if that's so, we can always take comfort in knowing that we have something we can truly appreciate w/o having to be fashionable.

I probably would have liked this flick a lot better back when it first came out. I was still a pro wrestling fan back then, so seeing Big John Studd would have been a treat. Except for being overweight, he looked better and younger here, well after his wrestling career was over. I had to wonder though what happened to his cauliflowered forehead from all those blading jobs he did back then. So now you fast forward to the late 2000's and Mickey Rourke actually becomes "The Wrestler" and it's like coming full circle.I was reading the other reviews on this site, and was intrigued by the number of comparisons given Rourke and Don Johnson to Redford and Newman. I had the same thought while watching the film, but not because this was such a great buddy film. The story actually ripped off two "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" gimmicks - the 'Who are you guys?' line, and the buddy jump off the cliff to escape the posse. As far as their buddy chemistry went, I'm not convinced they were as tight as Butch and Sundance, and certainly not in the same league.As for action and plot, this one's been done dozens of times, and at best is passable for a couple of hours of light entertainment. I was probably most intrigued by the movie references made by all the memorabilia in the Old Man's bar, especially the poster and statue honoring John Wayne's "Hondo". It seems I just saw a film with another Hondo poster in it not too long ago - "The Man With Bogart's Face". One of the benefits of being an attentive movie fan.Anyway, I was never a big Don Johnson fan, and as for Rourke, it looked like he was doing Bruce Willis here just a couple of years after Willis got his big movie break with "Die Hard". Suffice it to say that this was no crystal dream, and if I might point to another buddy flick, "Tango and Cash", this one might not quite have been FUBAR, but it was pretty close.

Look, this movie is one of the most fun movies I've ever watched. Its not some heady uber intelligent movie for one to contemplate and discuss afterwards what the other possible motives might be in the characters. Its for quoting not discussing. Its a buddy movie, its fun and it was in my opinion well done by all with good performances from a majority of the cast. If its on i cant help but watch it if only to see a couple of the great quotes in it as well as the action. I hope Mickey doesn't truly feel like a sell out for this movie because it was in fact a very well done movie and something that was a great deal of fun for many people that were even already fans from as far back as 9.5 weeks.