A Major Disappointment

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Like taosphilnm, I was also an extra in the film. I was then the assistant innkeeper at the Holiday Inn in Taos, where the crew stayed. I got to know a few of them, and was asked if I wanted to be an extra one day.If you know the area, they really mixed up the locales, but it worked well for the film.This was a fun movie with many TV actors working on their hiatus. Don't expect high drama, but it can give some moments of entertainment and suspense.Linda Howard and Alex Cord both did fine jobs in their acting roles, and it was fun seeing Michael Parks in another motorcycle role.

This fun, no-nonsense 70's drive-in action/drama entry centers on the exciting and dangerous sport of professional motorcross bike racing. Michael Parks plays it cool and easy as J.W. Wyatt, a blunt, scruffy, aging motorcross champ who decides to endorse and help design a fancy new motorcycle for laid-back businessman Packard Gentry (a pleasingly mellow Alex Cord). Alas, Packard gets killed in a motorcycle accident, thus leaving Wyatt and his cocky, swaggering, groupie-chasing yahoo cowboy buddy assistant Digger (the ever-hip Marjoe Gortner) at the mercy of Packard's smug, rigid, by the book advertising executive sister Chris (expertly essayed to bitchy perfection by Susan Howard).Director Earl ("Speedtrap") Bellamy keeps this playful programmer fresh and lively, maintaining an even narrative keel and firm, fleet pace throughout. The sassy, sparky script by Nancy Voyles Crawford and Thomas A. McMahon astutely captures that distinctly all-American blend of full-blooded machismo, cutthroat competitiveness, and go-for-broke spirit-testing adventure that all the best, most satisfying sports movies ought to possess, dishing out all the guts and glory, plus seize the moment, fly by the seat of your pants charge of adrenaline, that this mighty manly activity naturally entails. Dennis Dalzell's zesty, zeroed-in cinematography depicts all the kick up the dust and dirt, engine-revving, tires a buzzin' motorcross action -- tumbles, peel outs, unlucky riders taking head over butt nasty spills from their mean machines, and so on -- with such bang-up stirring results that you just might be picking sand from your teeth for at least a week. Mundell Lowe's funky, syncopated, aggressively brassy country-flavored score, ably aided by a few tasty Eddie Rabbitt songs, lays on the happening sounds something sweet. Net verdict: quick and steady, this one definitely gets the trophy for being an appealingly unassuming all-around winner.

Being that I got to be an extra in this film, I'm a little partial to liking it. Having raced motorcycles for 30 years, re-watching this one brings back the old memories of the beginning of Motocross in America. There's stunts galore and some that were not planned or in the script - I still have the scars to prove it. The plot is more a love story then anything else, but all the racing and off-track antics are a kick. There's a great mud fight and you get to see the old motocross bikes and a tricked out Maico for the lead SideWinder Bike. Not the best acting in the world, but the directing is top-notch. If your into Dirt Bikes this ones worth a watch. Fun to the end and lots of laughs. Have FUN!

SIDEWINDER ONE sets itself apart from the sleazy biker movies for the time and creates an all-new motocross setting. It's possibly the first ever film of its kind. This is mainly a drama I'm talking about here, but the plot is well worth it from the start of the rider's sponsorship to the miracle finish. The motorcycle guy is quite colorful as he can get downright nuts, but his performance on the track is where the fun is. Listen for a soundtrack by the late Eddie Rabbit in this one. Whether or not this one appeals to you anymore is in question, but here's where it all began.