Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Pretty Good

An action-packed slog

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

"Timerider" has one of the really killer movie posters. A motocross spaceman, horse-mounted posse in pursuit, the glowing laser grid design like an Omni magazine cover; it's first-rate advertising that really sells you on the movie (one that's taken me a few years to get my hands on). This is exactly the kind of thing you'd stumble on in a video store as a kid. B-movie to its core, it doesn't complicate matters with intricate plotting; just a simple fish-out-of-water story (as simple as a high-tech biker in the Old West can be anyway). No one among this cast has any illusions that they're making high art, and that's a big part of what makes this work. Once the movie actually gets going (the opening is bogged down by POV riding shots, although they're attractive) this is a breezy distraction. There are plenty of other movies that don't live up to their one-sheets, but I dig this one. It's a relic of its time and sensibilities, and I think that's the best part. 7/10

How about that for a movie title then huh sounds like a children's weekday TV series on BBC1 or some cheesy children's adventure book. Looking at the movie poster really concrete's that theory, it looks like some hammy children's adventure book cover, like those old 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books, remember those? I half expected this to be an adaptation of a children's book but surprisingly it isn't...but the whole premise predates the 'Back the the Future' franchise which makes you think.So basically a young Fred Ward plays the protagonist 'Lyle Swann', also known as the Timerider...kinda. During the Baja 1000 cross-country bike race he goes off course and ends up riding into a scientific experiment that has been set up to...errm send things back in time. Without knowing what's happened to himself Swann is now biking around the wild west of 1877 and naturally stumbles into all manner of problems with hilarious results. Well not really but you can guess the type of childish stuff that's gonna happen here right.Without trying to sound too predictable myself, this movie could easily be a spin-off of sorts to the third 'Back to the Future' movie, watching this really made me wonder if Zemeckis took a bigass leaf out of its book. The start of the movie virtually shows us nothing more than the title character riding through the barren Mexican desert on his bike, literately that for around 20 minutes! oh and a touch of plot revolving around white coats and and their unprotected unguarded science experiment. Seriously they are conducting this major experiment in the desert yet there's no one there to safeguard it or keep people or roaming animals out the way.Once in the wild west of Mexico Swann comes across all the things you'd predict he would such as bandits, outlaws, a lovely lady, priests and terrified locals. It is reasonably amusing how Ward's character doesn't know he's gone back in time, there are some nice moments based on that idea but most of what happens you can see coming a mile off like the locals thinking he's a demon from hell, Swann falling for the pretty female, the bad guys wanting his bike etc...I can't really complain about the clichéd plot line because the film was made in 82 and back then this wasn't clichéd or predictable, ditto the situations Swann gets into, nothing original or particularly exciting but back in the day it would have been different.I did like the twist ending surrounding his great great grandmother and father, bit of a time paradox thinker which shows that had Swann never gone back in time he would have never existed. There are some loop holes though like the fact his dirt bike get left behind, it gets destroyed but its still back in time...so wouldn't that alter history somewhat? Then there's the usual old silliness of all the outlaws shooting at Swann on his bike yet failing to hit him every time. I also liked the bit of dialog from Peter Coyote (the grizzled baddie) saying had the south (Dixie) had the bike they would have won the civil war...not too sure how a dirt bike would have won them the war to be honest. Funny how the bad outlaws in this movie are from the south, because anyone from the south at that time was obviously bad.Another thing I noticed towards the end of the movie which made me sit upright was the death of Coyote's villain (spoiler alert). In one sequence this baddie is suppose to get killed by a chopper tail rotor which is rescuing Swann. Now you see his final moment with a close up of his face, then it cuts away to screaming, but seconds later you see the character alive and well whilst you still hear his screaming in what appears to be a huge editing blunder. Either that or I'm simply mistaken which I really don't think I am because hey...its me.Yep I'm sure there are some folk out there remember this and will be outraged at the fact I'm saying its a dull bland boring ride. Unfortunately its just that...its just really unexciting without much genuine action to keep your attention. Ward is stoic as ever and Coyote hams it up nicely with plenty of snarling alongside a western drawl, but watching some dude bounce around on his dirt bike like Evel Knievel whilst slack jawed yokels attempt to shoot him gets mighty lame mighty fast. The story only becomes really interesting right at the very end with the nice time paradox twist, up to that point its no way as cool as the movies poster makes it out to be.4.5/10

Well, it was a good idea. They just didn't do a lot with it. A guy on a motorcycle in the desert gets accidentally catapulted back in time by an experiment, and is himself unaware that this has happened.I liked the people of the 19th Century town, and the chemistry between Lyle Swan (Fred Ward) and the local beauty there (Belinda Bauer) is a plus. Ward's acting is alright, playing the confused dummy lost in the past. However he is undermined by feeble scripting: neither his nor any other character grows or learns anything. The same jokes about futuristic marvels that he shows the astonished people get thin pretty fast, and some of the same dialog, like "Where's my bike?!?" even repeats.There's only one common thread running through the story that has any meaning as far as the impact of time travel adventure goes, and if you blink, even that will zip by. A weak story that's just not written very well.

This was the first Cable movie I ever saw way back in 1983.The best things were its gadgets and predictions, more or less about our time believe it or not. He had a tricked up motorcycle with a heads up display on the inside of his helmet. Today I wish I had one of those with an lcd panel for my cubicle at work, complete with 5.1 dolby and bluetooth, oh well. The movie was great and I believe an ex-Monkey fellow named Mike Nesmit was somehow involved. It kinda fits in that genera that included 'The Comet' and Fred Wards later movie 'Remo Williams'. The helicopter scene is legendary even today. And Peter Coyote and Richard Masur have gone on to bigger and better things. I think it would play very well even today it has a timeless quality to it. The dead on predictions about gadgets though were erie, like Captain Kirk and his cell phone and Quantum Leaps Albert and Zyggy's Palm Pilot or iPaq.. just goes to show that Art doesn't often imitate life, its usually the other way 'round. I'd highly recommend this movie even for a contemporary audience. Though, the shocker scene I think is often edited out.. even on the VHS or DVD releases I've heard... it doesn't take too much away from the story.