RyothChatty ridiculous rating

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

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

aarosedi Lyle Swann, a motocross rider who got lost while racing in the Baja 1000, stumbles across a top-secret research testing site running a series of experiments regarding backwards time travel in the middle of the desert. He unknowingly breaches the unsecured launch pad holding the test subject just in time for the blast-off to become an unwitting hitcher to the mid-1800s where he then comes across some bandits who becomes fascinated with his custom-built off-road motorcycle and decides to kill him just to get their hands on it.Mr. John Hateley's motorcycle stunts are just awesome. Those shots never gets old, even if those can be considered tame now by 2010+ standards, those scenes are just pretty rad. It still packs considerable entertainment adrenaline to punch some bad hombres. Such scenes gets a boost from the groovy electric-guitar and synth-heavy soundtrack courtesy of Michael Nesmith which serves to amplify William Dear's brisk pace in handling those said action-packed sequences.This flick features some of Hollywood's most underrated character actors who are very much aware that all they're making is a popcorn-and-drinks-while-watching-it kind of a movie. Mr. Fred Ward as the titular character, the quintessential man's man, who belongs to that group of American actors exudes that understated charisma and have managed to hover successfully and stay relevant on the Hollywood radar while the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenneger ruled the action genre roost. There's also the late Ed Lauter as Padre Quinn, the shady village priest who is into the buy-and-sell business and peddles blessed water as a means of addressing the increasingly faltering faith of his congregation, LQ Jones as Sheriff Potter, who is hell-bent in his pursuit of the bandit that killed his son and has the marshall, Daniels, played by Chris Mulkey, dragged into crossing over the jurisdiction lines to help him accomplish his personal vendetta. And as for the bad guys, there's Tracey Walter as Carl Dorsett who accidentally suffered because of Claire's defense of Lyle, and Richard Masur playing Claude, the other Dorsett brother, with a restrained goofiness which serves to complement Peter Coyote's relishing that understated campiness in playing the role as the leader of the outlaws, Porter Reese, who's determined to get his hands on the Yamaha off-road motorcycle, which can be considered a part of the ensemble. As with every American Western movie, this one showcases the stunning American Southwest scenery as it's backdrop, and that couldn't be more evident towards the end of the movie. Such a spectacle kind of helped patch the blaring inconsistencies in the time travel paradox that's very much muddles the plot. But that lack of sense kind of justifies the fact of that the story takes place in an almost barren, semi-arid location with lots of baffled peasants mistaking Lyle for the devil incarnate while the bandits are brave enough to dare take his motorcycle and stuff him lead bullets just to acquire it. If they had only known the effort that it takes to maintain such a machine to keep it running, there wouldn't be much excitement left in the story. So yeah, it works in an offbeat kind of way. Having said all that, I can't help but be misty-eyed at the dramatic final scene of the movie with the enchanting Belinda Bauer. A tragic scene to behold even though the continuity goofs still are very much apparent, and I dare say those are deliberate. And well after the end credits rolled and contemplated the movie's entirety, it just compels me to scrub the filth (literal and figurative) off my body that I have accumulated for the last 90+ minutes. But these obvious flaws are not that shabby enough to dilute my admiration for movie's entirety. It's a fun, escapist fare that's pleasant enough to re-watch every now and then.My rating: C-plus.

Scott LeBrun Amusing cult flick combines sci-fi and the Western in this offbeat tale of a motocross racer, Lyle Swann (Fred Ward), who gets lost and wanders into the testing area of a time travel experiment. So good old Lyle is zapped back over a hundred years to the Old West where he confounds the locals with his outrageous (to them, anyway) get-up and his astounding vehicle, which slimy outlaw Porter Reese (Peter Coyote) wants to obtain no matter what.The film is co-written (with director William Dear), produced and scored by ex - "Monkee" Michael Nesmith, and overall is pretty entertaining, even if it's doing a lot of standard fish-out-of-water humour. However, after a while it begins to take itself just a little too seriously. The viewer can also take issue with just how clueless Lyle remains about his situation. It never once occurs to him that he could have ended up in the past."Timerider" certainly features an impressive roster of character actors - Ward is likable in the starring role, the oddly matched Richard Masur and Tracey Walter are funny as bickering brothers, and Ed Lauter, L.Q. Jones, Chris Mulkey, and Macon McCalman are fine in supporting parts. Belinda Bauer is damn sexy in the part of a feisty female outlaw who becomes attracted to Lyle.The camera-work and cinematography are first rate, and the scenery is beautiful to look at. The costumes are nicely done, as well. Nesmiths' score is catchy, funky stuff. There is some violence, but never much in the way of gore.B movie enthusiasts will surely enjoy the premise of this little film, which does move along quite well and offer enough diverting set pieces and laughs to rate as acceptable entertainment.Seven out of 10.

MartianOctocretr5 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.

commanderstraker-1 Time Rider made today would be a great film. Somehow the creators of this movie were so wrapped up in showing us how the people in 1870 reacted to modern marvels such as pre-packaged granola snacks and cyalume light sticks that they forgot about the acting and building a better script. Fred Wards continual sweating and saying things like "Where's my bike" and "I gotta get outta here" just don't hold you for 90 minutes. Then there's Peter Coyote (wasted here) gritting his 50 or so gold fillings while saying "That's mine, that's mine" The premise here is good and the film entertaining but another 15 minutes of character building and a better use of Swan's gadgets would have been a big help. 6 out of 10. Re-write the film and put "Arnold" on the bike and you may just have something here!