Motorcycle Gang (1994)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Kent Anderson and Laurie McQuillan
Directed by John Milius
Starring Gerald McRainey, Jake Busey, John Casaini, and Carla Gugino

Released by: Buena Vista Home Video
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 formats

My Advice: Skip it.

Cal (McRainey) and his family are moving to California, so they hop in the family car and head out. Along the way, they are terrorized by a murderous motorcycle gang lead by Jake (Busey). His daughter, Leann (Gugino) is growing into womanhood and has a wild streak that her parents don't know about. She is kidnapped by Jake and the gang, but decides that maybe her life isn't all that bad, after all.

What a strange cast for an equally strange movie. This movie is set in the 1950s, but it just doesn't feel like it. They didn't worry about little things like continuity or looking like the film actually took place in that time period. Busey seems to have taken some pointers from the old man with this role. He's a drug pushing rebel, who spends his time stealing, drinking, doping, and womanizing. Gugino seems a bit out of her depth in this role. She seems to have been cast because she was young, yet sensual and seductive, but she is just not believable in the role of the hellion waiting to break out of her shell. McRainey plays the same role he always has: the ex-military family man. In this one, though, there's a little darker edge to it, but the darker edge doesn't really have a point. The movie itself is slow to get going and even slower, sadly, to come to an end.

And the DVD does it the justice that it deserves. There nothing on this disc save a few trailers. Even though it was directed by Milius (who also directed Red Dawn, Farewell to the King, and Flight of the Intruder--just to name a few), it's just not good enough to deserve a high level of treatment complete with interviews and commentary tracks and the like.

When you see this one on the shelf, just think of Jake Busey and walk right on by.