5 biker movies to enjoy this weekend!

And we are back! I spent the last 2 weeks trolling around the internet trying to find good motorcycle related movies to have some fun with. A lot of help was provided by you guys, who commented on the last article and told me whole lotta other biker movies which were good. I watched a lot of them, far too many actually, sometimes one after another after another. But hey, it’s always a pleasure to watch a biker movie, no matter how tired or high you are. It’s actually much more fun when you are high 😉 

This weekend I have another 5 movies for you, 2 of which you can watch right now. The others you’ll have to get from a friend or buy from a store.  Each of these movies is of a different kind, one is about racing, other is about revolution, about dreams and eccentricities and simplicity and insanity and excitement and fun. So take off your undies, grab some popcorn, and enjoy!

1. The Motorcycle Diaries:

This is NOT a motorcycle movie, at all. There’s only 1 bike in the entire film, which is an unreliable little piece of shit that randomly keeps crashing. Even that bike is there only in about 25% of the movie, and is then finally sold off as scrap because they need money, and also because it’s an unreliable little piece of shit that randomly keeps crashing.

On the other hand, it’s probably the best tale about adventure that I’ve ever seen. Even though you have to rely on subs because the entire movie is in Spanish, it actually kinda adds to the charm, because there’s no stupid dubbing over the original sound track. This movie is about a fact that I’ve felt myself over my rides:

Travel changes you.

The Motorcycle Diaries is based on revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara‘s memoirs of their trip around South America. It’s another one of those films that makes your heart ache for travel. I absolutely loved it, and watching it has given me inspiration to keep doing the stupidity that I already am. Watch it at your own risk, you may want to quit your job and wander around too.

Here’s the trailer.

2. TT 3D: Closer To The Edge:

 There are too many movies about MotoGP, then comes Isle of Man, and last it’s Dakar. Closer to the Edge is a movie more or less concentrated on Guy Martin, the weird, shabby, illegible Britisher who’s well known as the fastest guy on a motorcycle who has never won the IOMTT. As far as movies go, it’s brilliantly made, always giving you a third-person view inside Guy’s mind, like he doesn’t even know you are there.

Be warned that you’ll not understand 80% of what Guy Martin is going to say, and that’s like 50% of the movie!

I tried to get subtitles to ease my pain, but it appears that NOBODY in the world can understand him, so very few subs are available, and those which are don’t always match with what’s actually being said. If you grow to like Guy, you can actually pass that off as charm.

The best part is that you can watch the whole thing right here! The movie is surprisingly freely available online, and here’s one I picked up from Youtube. It’s narrated by Jared Leto, who seems to be some famous guy that I can’t seem to remember where I saw him. Anyways, here it is!

 3. World’s Fastest Indian:

Probably the simplest movie ever made, no bullshit, no unnecessary drama, just plain, solid enjoyment. This film came highly recommended in the comments after I asked on Facebook for biker movie ideas, and it totally lived up to the hype. If you thought Anthony Hopkins was good as Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs, you gotta watch him in this one.

This is one of the two movies in this list that talks about the balls of New Zealanders, how these people from the “bottom of the planet” always find ways to do innovative things and fight for their survival. World’s Fastest Indian is kind of a documentary about Burt Munro, the guy who still holds a land speed record that he set in 1967 on a bike that was made in 1920. Talk about insanity!

Watch the trailer here.

4. One Man’s Dream: The Britten Bike Story:

This is a pure documentary, and a badly made one at that. The only reason I was able to sit through this whole movie was because of the guy, John Britten. Another New Zealander who fought against all odds to create a bike in his backyard that was faster and better than the best factory bike of his time, the Ducati.

This movie is completely about Britten’s genius, how he created an ENTIRE bike himself, by constructing more than 6000 individual parts. He did no wind-tunnel testing, negligible track experimentation, and no computer aided designing. The whole thing was in his head, and he was remarkably able to manufacture his imagination into reality.

The most fun part of the movie is when you see this home-made bike go side by side against the most powerful factory Ducati, and while the Ducati rider is trying to tuck in and push the bike to the limit, the Britten guy is doing wheelies trying to control the immense power!

Here’s the trailer, which is frankly better than the movie.

5. On Any Sunday:

A very weird movie, with strange jokes at strange times and an overall very different feel. This movie is kinda like Why We Ride, just made in a very unconventional fashion. Directed and narrated by Bruce Brown, a sequel to this wildly popular movie is expected to be out soon.

On Any Sunday discusses different types of riders and riding styles. From dirt munching to track racing to just riding alone on the weekend. It’s purely about the feel, and in some ways tries to explain why these people do what they do. It’s a very innovative movie, but not very easy to digest in first attempt, especially since it was produced in 1971.

The good news is you just have to click below to watch the whole thing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qklwSsBlbk

These are my 5 biker movies to enjoy this weekend. It’s getting harder and harder to find good, watchable, reasonably long movies. There are many short ones that are nice, but at 6-10 minutes, it’s nothing that’ll help you kill some time on a lazy Saturday. I also tried watching these cult movies like Mad Max, and I was thoroughly disappointed. It may have to do a lot with Mel Gibson’s face, but also hated it because the movie is just extremely negative in every conceivable way.

So, if you know of some movie that’ll be fun to watch for a guy like me, do let me know!