JOYRIDE (1977) - Andy's Blu-Ray Review

[AndyDursin]

7/10



Entertaining 1977 B-movie from director Joseph Ruben and producer Bruce Cohn Curtis – a combination that, just a few years later, would give us the fun genre exercise “Dreamscape” with Dennis Quaid and Kate Capshaw.

Ruben’s third film – but arguably first “serious” outing following a pair of light sex comedies – follows a trio of young people: couple Robert Carradine and girlfriend Melanie Griffith and their pal Desi Arnaz Jr., as they leave their dead-end jobs in California and decide to start anew in Alaska. Alas, things there aren’t much better, with the group running afoul of locals and resorting to carrying out some crimes in retaliation. This includes taking hostage a local girl (Anne Lockhart) in the hopes of taking off with a ransom from the local bank.

“Joyride” is a really interesting and fun piece of mid ‘70s filmmaking. Distributed by AIP, it falls somewhere between the “disaffected youth movies” you’d see in the late ‘60s and an episode of “The Donny & Marie Show” – as evidenced by a tone that seems like it’s going to veer into tragedy and away from its freewheeling earlier sections. Yet, to Ruben’s credit, he keeps the viewer effectively off-balance throughout, relying on the chemistry of his three leads to keep the audience invested in their assorted trials and tribulations “finding their place” in a nasty world.

Along the way, the movie serves up plenty of ‘70s flare, from car chases to just a bit of T&A. Arnaz was at the height of his popularity and he gets to bed not only Griffith (who possessed some genuine appeal even early on here, years before her actual ‘80s stardom) but Lockhart, who (gratuitously) disrobes to the strains of Jimmie Haskell’s uproariously dated score. I never much understood the appeal of Carradine as a lead (at least outside the “Revenge of the Nerds” movies), but Ruben meshes his lead trio’s personalities well, and the film’s reworked (upbeat) finale somehow feels much more satisfying than the traditional ‘70s downer ending Ruben and co-writer Peter Rainer were planning on using.

“Joyride” was issued on Vestron VHS and an MGM DVD which I never viewed, making this new 2K Blu-Ray restoration from the 35mm interpositive (1.85) my first look at the picture. The transfer is superlative with excellent detail and clear mono sound, the latter “edited from the original theatrical audio” but still containing credited songs from the likes of Barry Mann and ELO. Extras include new interviews with Ruben and cinematographer Steven M. Katz, a commentary by historians Alain Silver and Christopher Coppola, and assorted booklet notes in Cinematographe’s 4000-copy limited hardback box.

[Eric Paddon]

Anne Lockhart said years later that when she did her disrobing scene she was suffering from a 104 degree fever and it was a struggle to get through it. And after she did it, she had second thoughts about having done it and from that point on refused to ever do any nude scenes again, which she admitted cost her roles but I give her all the credit in the world for sticking to her principles.

The secret to Anne's appeal (with me at least) is her iconic performance as Sheba on "Battlestar Galactica" where she was the first female character in TV sci-fi who was a total equal to the male warriors in her own right and who did it without sacrificing any of her femininity in the process. She made a statement in a way that is beyond the comprehension of today's woke-obsessed wackos, by doing it unobtrusively and with understatement and without making bold speeches.

[Monterey Jack]

The secret to Anne's appeal (with me at least) is her iconic performance as Sheba on "Battlestar Galactica" where she was the first female character in TV sci-fi who was a total equal to the male warriors in her own right and who did it without sacrificing any of her femininity in the process. She made a statement in a way that is beyond the comprehension of today's woke-obsessed wackos, by doing it unobtrusively and with understatement and without making bold speeches.

"But-but-but, there were no strong female action heroes prior to 2012...!"

[Eric Paddon]

And another reason for her appeal too. (this kind of pose is sexier than the Joyride disrobing one any day).