Pretty Good

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann" has an intriguing premise: What if a modern day motorcycle rider was transported back in time with his motorbike to the age of the cowboy? The movie manages to mine some interesting and entertainment moments from this, ranging from the reaction of nineteenth century people to this modern figure and his machine to some interesting action moments. It's also fun to see cult stars L.Q. Jones and Ed Lauter.While the movie passes the time acceptably, at the same time I couldn't help but feel that the screenwriters didn't punch up the script enough. The bad guys are for the most part brutal thugs, and the reason for the chief bad guy wanting the motorbike is never revealed. The hero is also weak - we don't get to see much of him before he's transported back in time, and he seems mighty slow to figure out he's been transported back in time. And the movie doesn't take much opportunity for the modern day hero to use what he has and what he knows on these backward people.Overall, the movie is worth watching, though when you aren't feeling that demanding. It also helps if you like westerns.

My favorite Fred Ward movie is Remo Williams:The Adventure Begins. Of course, the adventure ended with that movie as well as they never did a followup. I have seen him in Silkwood and The Right Stuff as well. All of these movies, including this one were released about the same time (1982-1985). I don't know why I haven't caught him in anything since, but I certainly enjoyed that period of his career.I really enjoy time travel movies. They don't have to be first quality, just the idea captivates me. When I watched this, I had just finished another time travel film with William Devane and Lauren Hutton (Timestalkers). Not first quality, but interesting nonetheless.This one starts off with Swann (Ward) getting caught in a time travel test and being shot back to 1877 with his motorcycle and full gear. You can imagine the impact that had on an old Mexican.Swann spends his time trying to figure out where he is, while he tries to escape the bad guy, played by Peter Coyote, who wants his "machine." Interesting twist at the end of a mediocre, but fascinating movie.Would have liked to see more of Belinda Bauer, but I'll have to check out her appearance in Winter Kills for that.

Star motorcycle racer, "Lyle Swan" (Fred Ward) goes missing as he is in the middle to a race. At least that's what his friends think. In reality, he stumbles upon a secret government time travel experiment, and is sent to the late 1800's.While in the past, he comes across a band of outlaws, who become obsessed with his "machine." He also meets the residents of a small town, who believe him to be the devil, as well as a woman (Belinda Bauer) and the local padre (Ed Lauter).The entire time, "Swan" is unaware that he is in the past. He eventually falls for the woman, and desperately tries to get away from the villains.There are some problems with the movie. First of all, this movie gave no time to the romantic subplot. It was like they met, and jumped into bed as soon as possible. There was no development into the storyline at all.Another problem is that the movie didn't spend enough time in the present to show the search for the racer. You got a couple of scenes where the friend tries to contact "Swan" over a CB radio, and that's it.I could not connect with any of the characters. "Swan" seemed to settle into his situation a little too easily if you ask me. I also didn't like that he never really realized that he was in the past. Not once did you see anything that would hint at it until he found something with the date on it.There are some fairly good performances in this movie. There are also some lackluster ones as well. Ward and Baur were easily the best, although their romantic subplot seriously lacked. On a romantic level, the chemistry between the two was just not there. I also think that the outlaws were not evil enough. You just could not hate them There was some fairly good action in this movie. It wasn't perfect though. You got a lot of chases, especially when "Swan" came across the outlaws for the first time. You also get some gunfights, but nothing spectacular.Music for this movie was written by Michael Nesbith, best known as a member of the 1960's band, The Monkees. The music he composed certainly had an 1980's feel to it. The music was not memorable though, and did not sound like anything the Monkees would have done.The only thing when it comes to wardrobe is the protective suit worn by "Swan." Because it's an all-red, leather outfit surrounded by 1870's costumes. Other than that, nothing stands out.Overall, it's not a bad movie. It is good enough for a time-waster. Just don't expect a blockbuster motion picture.

I loved every minute of it, when HBO showed Timerider, I watched it everytime like I see it the first time, it perfectly fit my interest in motorcycles, it was funny (poor old guy), endless enjoy watching it, Years after, I was searching to get this movie, had hard time to find it, and I bought it on a used video tape for $70 bucks, later I find it on DVD, I bought that too. I still watch it ones in a while.