the audience applauded

Good start, but then it gets ruined

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

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

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.

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.

Timerider is a fun movie to watch. It's a good movie to watch with kids on a rainy day. Some of the content is a little adult, but not over the line. It's not a billon dollar pick, but it has some nice special effects. You will see some familiar faces when they were young, and the acting they really tired. I liked the movie, and hope it sparks the fire that leads someone to become a "timerider". I would not say run out and buy it, but if someone has a old VHS of it, watch it! I think even hardcore si-fi fans like me will get a kick out of it. Maybe its just me, but I thought the soundtrack was pretty good. It fit the mood of the movie. Only downside is there is a lot of rerun footage.