After not seeing this movie for over twenty years, I was very excited to pick up a DVD copy. If only I had known about a suspicious omission, I may have rethought my purchase. Aside from that, this is a simple 80's adventure that combines dirtbiking and cowboys by way of a time machine. I have always been fascinated by time travel and enjoy most movies that feature it as a plot device. As someone who is interested in world history, it would be the ultimate trip to have the ability to travel to any time in the past or future. My biggest complaint with most time travel movies is that the traveler usually only makes one or two jumps through the movie rather than visiting a variety of places. The only flick I can think of off the top of my head that takes full advantage of a time machine is Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

In Timerider, Fred Ward stars as Lyle Swann, a champion off-road racer who is sent back to the old West when he accidentally rides into a government experiment. Once in the past, Swann meets a number of cowboys who are afraid of his red suit and noisy horse with wheels He soon attracts the attention of a trio of outlaws whose leader (Peter Coyote) wants the bike for himself. The bad guys follow Swann to a small village where he is helped by a priest (Ed Lauter) and he hooks up with a woman named Claire (Belinda Bauer from Robocop 2). When Claire and the bike are kidnapped, Swann rounds up some marshals and sets out to rescue her. It all ends up on top of a mountain with a baffling finale that will have you thinking about what it would be like to be your own grandfather.

I'm not going to say that this is an amazing movie as it is quite pedestrian as far as style goes. What makes this movie fun is the bad guys as Coyote, Richard Masur (The Thing), and Tracey Walter (Repo Man) play off each other and seem like they are enjoying themselves. There are some cool point-of-view shots on the dirt bike, Claire demands that Swann have sex with her, and there is a lot of dated 80's music. This is definitely a product of its time that doesn't hold up too well today but you will get a kick out of watching it again if you remember it from your childhood. It is interesting that Fred Ward couldn't get a franchise going with either this or Remo Williams. I suppose the public just didn't like him as an action hero. Look for writer/producer/former Monkee Michael Nesmith as one of the people at the Baja 1000 race.

I have to admit that I was a little perplexed after watching this one. I distinctly remember a scene where a character meets his demise by being chopped up by a helicopter blade. We do not see the actual carnage but we see an aftermath shot of his boots on the ground with smoke and blood coming out of them. It was only a few seconds but was an image that has stuck with me ever since. On Anchor Bay's DVD release, this precious few seconds was cut out of the movie which angered the movie nerd in me so much that I had to dig out my old VHS tape of this flick to make sure that I wasn't going crazy. This rant is over but I just wanted to warn old-school fans of the movie that they will be annoyed and people watching the movie for the first time will be confused when one of the villains does not meet his maker. Look for character actors Chris Mulkey (The Hidden) and L.Q. Jones (The Wild Bunch) as the marshals. Director William Dear went on to make Harry and the Hendersons and has had a steady career ever since. (Josh Pasnak, 1/27/08)

Directed By: William Dear.
Written By: William Dear, Michael Nesmith.

Starring: Fred Ward, Peter Coyote, Belinda Bauer, Ed Lauter.