TxMike After his fine performance as an aging man in the recent "Nebraska" I decided to look up some of Dern's older movies to see how he was in the brash, hot- head roles of his younger days. I found this one on Netflix streaming movies.Bruce Dern, in his 30s here, was biker gang leader Keeg. He was demanding and arbitrary, but he somehow had a blind loyal following of several no-account bikers. Plus a few ladies in the traditional subservient roles. It is violent, within what was allowed to be shown in the 1960s, and when a new girl is brought into the den, she is "initiated" by being subjected to gang rape, while the other girls looked on and smiled. This is NOT a good movie, even by 1969 standards. It is cheesy and has a plot that doesn't make much sense. A foreigner has moved to town, he is an artist who likes to hang out in public places and do B&W charcoal sketches, mostly faces. Keeg doesn't like this so he wants to harm the artist. He finally has a grand idea, you know those big vises that are in every workshop, they will get the artist, put his hands in it, and crank down to destroy his ability to draw. It is hard to explain a reason to have made this movie except to give Dern a starring role. Seeing him in his early years is the only reason to possibly see this movie.SPOILERS: In the biker den, right before the artist is maimed, a girl pulls a gun, but doesn't shoot, then as Keeg decides to make a run for it, hearing the police were on their way, another girl takes the gun, goes outside, fires a few times at Keeg on the motorcycle, manages to hit him, he crashes into some garbage (symbolism??) and when she gets to him he is dead. THE END

schles-1 Worth watching if only for the rape scene, this movie redefines the notion of a "B Movie". The score, special effects, script (both story line and dialogue)and acting are mind numbing. Anyone seeking to gain some insight into the biker culture (i.e. Hell's Angels) of the 60s-70s should not just watch but study this film for all it's worth. There's plenty of action, erotica, romance, and suspense enough to keep even the most jaded noir film buff on the very edge of his/her seat. Not for the kiddies but any popcorn loving idiot over the age of 12 will treasure this entertainment experience of a lifetime for many years to come. I gave it a 10 but can understand why it's rated 5 overall: most people just didn't get it, let alone appreciate it.

MisterWhiplash The problems do abound in The Cycle Savages, but it could have possibly been a better movie. I did get into the sheer artificiality, and unbelievability, of the movie at times just on the basis of kinda, sort of buying into it. But it's also got a central problem in that there is really nothing 'there' in the side of the 'good guys'. Not that this is a totally bad thing really, for it is the mean dirty rat-bastard bikers that really are the show for anyone seeing the film today. And it's almost luck that first time writer/director Bill Brame has Bruce Dern to fill the part of Keeg, one of the sleaziest of the kind of totally immoral, however with a kind of Little Alex ala Clockwork Orange style of immediate intelligence. Even in all of his occasional mania and outright outbursts getting into the over-dramatic, Dern has this character completely down. It's actually best in the scenes where he ends up being most provoking by having the most controlled, almost calm voice. A lot of his 'wit' in the film is scabrous, and not really funny, but on the side of giving a convincingly deranged sociopath with a penchant for intimidation and girls it makes the film usually watchable.It's a shame then that Brame isn't able to match him up with more competent actors. Or even, despite having a couple of good 'exploitation' style scenes of violence and nudity and rape, having not enough for what the rest of the material is asking for. The group, Hell's Chosen Few (strange for a half biker/half prostitution ring club), spends a lot of the movie waiting, and carrying on with side-stuff, while the main story involving the artist who previously drew the bikers who now gets drawn into the deceiving clutches of the decoy is weak and unconvincing. The motives most of the time, even for a B-movie, seem to shift and not seem very solid aside from the man's 'I love you' phase even after fighting with a slashed abdomen wound. The ending (coming all too quick and with a lackluster climax) and the musical accompaniment (likely the most annoyingly generic riff repeated in any film from the period) are along with some of the acting the weaker points of the picture, sometimes embarrassingly so.So it does say a lot, however, that I could possibly recommend it on a bad movie level, where some parts become so crazy it's hard not to enjoy it. And Bruce Dern helps bring a good, tiny change of pace to the proceedings of the very typical ten-cent biker production, which by the way doesn't have a big abundance of throughout the film. In a career full of playing antagonists, this one is unnerving and realistic enough to be of note.

John Seal Cycle Savages has one of the most ridiculous premises of any of the late 60s biker cycle. To wit: these biker bozos actually believe that they can be taken to court because a local artist has drawn some pictures of them in action. Not photos, not film, pencil line drawings. Bruce Dern froths at the mouth in an appropriate manner as the leader of the Numbskulls, or whatever the gang is called.