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The Wild Ride (1960)

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13 comments in total

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10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Wild Ride" vs "Velocity", 5 agosto 2005

Author: clayzar de us

The Wild Ride is the original (B&W) non-modified version. I have watched it several times and believe it is one of the best cult classics available. "Velocity" however, is a butchered color version that splices in new scenes lacking in any sort of continuity and ultimately destroying the mystique and integrity of the original film. Whoever had the idea for Velocity needs to be shot in the head because they turned a truly beautiful virgin classic film into a cheap prostitute with too much makeup. This is a true testament to the "less is more" adage. If you get to view both films you will see the ultimate travesty of how a great film was destroyed by a greed driven marketing attempt to update a true cult classic. In summary.... "The Wild Ride" GOOD............."Velocity" BAAADDDD!

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun from start to finish, 19 abril 2004
Author: (stevenfallonnyc@yahoo.com) de NYC

This may be my favorite "JD" flick. Nicholson is great as Johnny, the kid who constantly gets into trouble, and who is the "big man" of his gang of troublemakers. Of course there's one guy in the group who is getting a bit tired of Johnny being the leader (especially since his girl seems to be falling for Johnny) but he is still too scared of Johnny to do anything about it.

Johnny does have a friend he is a little soft with, Dave, who is getting on Johnny's nerves still because he is dating a "lame chick." But Johnny always defends Dave to the other gang members, even when Dave loses a game of "chicken" with an oncoming truck.

Johnny definitely has attitude, like with a cop: Cop (getting a folder on Johnny): Here's your record. Johnny: Did I make a record?

Or when Johnny is buying booze... Clerk: Do you have ID? Johnny: Yeah. Clerk: May I see it? Johnny: No.

Virtually every single line in this film has some kind of "hip slang" of the times in it, which makes it non-stop fun and absolutely hilarious. You have to pay attention all the way through as not to miss another classic line.

Nicholson is a complete blast to watch. These are the kind of JD films that are worth viewing, not overrated stuff like "Rebel Without A Cause."

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Odd modern segments framing original film, 14 mayo 2006

Author: Jumeriah de France

I picked this movie up cheap out of a bargain bin. It is a double feature disc with "The Little Shop of Horrors." When I started watching it I was shocked to find that "Velocity," which I knew was circa 1960, started off with a relatively new-looking scene of kids driving dangerously. It seems that Vina Distributor (who put out this double feature edition) or somebody decided to "update" the old teen flick with some footage of more relevant "street punks."

The bad "modern" teen meets a dude in a bar who looks a little like Jack Nicholson but doesn't sound anything like him (I guess Jack has better things to do these days, unlike these cutters) who tells him the story of his young life. THEN we get into "Velocity," which is all that the other reviews here promised.

Jack is so young that one might not recognize him at first. This was only his second role and he was 23 years old in 1960. It is pretty funny and I gave it two stars for the yuks, but it is atrociously dated. The version I have is colorized.

I see on IMDb that "Velocity" is the video title and "The Wild Ride" was the original name of the film. Maybe it was renamed "Velocity" after the bizarre framing segments were added.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
(review of Wild Ride, not Velocity) true-blue exploitation flick- not wretched, not very good either, 21 marzo 2008

Author: Filmjack3 de United States

Sure, the first reason to see The Wild Ride (or, unfortunately as it sounds, the 're-cut' Velocity which for some insane reasons extends the story) is for Jack Nicholson. It's arguably his very first 'bad-boy' role in a career with more than enough to go around. He's still got a long way to go from here, but it's fun seeing him go practically method about his character Johnny (apparently Nicholson just started with Martin Landau at the time as his teacher), as he tries to sway Robert Bean's Dave from going the not-hip route with a girl who isn't part of 'their scene' as it were. There's tension, there's some fall-out, and in the end there's some overly high pitched melodrama following a chase down a road. Nearly embarrassing to admit it, but for those who will seek out the movie for that reason, as I did, it's not that bad (as in *as bad* as some of his other B-movie work like The Terror and Rebel Rousers).

Hell, I'll even give one-time-only director Harvey Berman some credit: for a picture that's main dramatic thrust is dictated mostly by the same beef between Biff and the McFly's in the Back to the Future movies ("What's wrong? Chicken?" "Nobody calls me chicken!"), the Wild Ride does provide the cheapest thrills necessary with a picture that (thankfully) doesn't even run an hour's length of time. It gives a halfway decent race-car sequence, and some nifty music in the end climax (if not, of course, throughout). There's even an oddly coincidental opening bit to the movie with that of Breathless, also released in 1960, with a rebel and a cop on his trail (albeit this on takes itself seriously, while Godard's parody).

It's a silly bit of teens-and-hot-rods exploitation that is still riding out whatever fuel is left from the 50s via the Wild One and James Dean. It's tender moments are like tender cuts of lamb, and its dialog is as pulpy as a moldy orange. And shame on me, perhaps, for almost liking this diddle of a B-movie; at the least it features something I've never seen before in another movie I can think of, which is a guy working at a liquor store asking if the young man Johnny has ID, he says yes, guy asks to see it, and Johnny says a simple 'No.' 5.5/10

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5 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Well, it is short., 28 julio 2005

Author: twilliams2978 de richardson, texas

At almost 60 minutes, you won't suffer long through this dog.

Picked up this jewel for $1.

The "hipster" talk comes rapid fire -- "man", "far out", "dig", etc.

Are you digging this so far?

Seeing Jack Nicholson 45 years ago was not as interesting as I thought it would be.

I checked most of the rest of the cast, and only a couple were in anything but "B" pictures of the early 60s.

And the director is "so far out" he can't be found after something called "Sextet" in 1964.

##### Spoiler #####

"Highlight" of the movie -- outside a diner, one of the teens mentions Marlon Brando's "The Wild Ones" to Nicholson.

Almost enough to make you forget "The Wild Ride" -- certainly not the worst movie of all time. But it must rank somewhere in the top 100.

Dig?

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Jack Nicholson searches for his persona., 1 junio 2008

Author: Michael O'Keefe de Muskogee OK

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This low-budget flick will probably be of interest only to Jack Nicholson fans. This early role for the emerging star with the radiant smile has Jack a hot-rodding beat generation Jekyll-Hyde duality of character that defies everything and everyone on and off the road. Johnny Varron(Nicholson)is a dirt track driver that has a need for speed, buys his friends and ends up a cop killer. After serving fifteen years in the pen, he returns as the mechanic for a mirror image of himself. Lot of beatnik lingo and seems totally filmed outdoors. Directed by Harvey Berman. Also in the cast: Georgianna Carter, Robert Bean, Judith Tresize, Carol Bigby and John Bologni.

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An okay short of teen ways, and it provided a future glimpse into the rebel roles and ways of Nicholson., 13 abril 2008

Author: Danny Blankenship de Petersburg, Virginia

1960's "The Wild Ride" features legendary Jack Nicholson in one of his earliest roles and yet as it would become so common later on thru and during all of his career it is a rebel and rebellious type one. Jack is Johhny Varron a young punk of a teen type that loves to drink, party, and stir up trouble. Johhny is the leader of a California gang and he has a main passion for drag racing and just all out pure fun. Yet when his buddy Dave(Robert Bean)differs from the life of fun to please his loving girl Nancy(Georgianne Carter)a bitter and personal war is then directed at the female. This film then takes a predictable turn of the pedal to the medal with the chases of good against bad as the cops get involved in this wild ride. Overall this film is nothing great it's a very short work yet it's probably a must see and watch for any fan and enthusiast of the legendary Jack Nicholson since this being one of his early works it was good to see him portray a rebel type role that he would later become so instantly famous for.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Lame hot rod flick with okay Jack Nicholson bit as rotten teen punk., 3 octubre 2007
Author: rixrex de United States

Jack Nicholson has done better and most likely not done worse.

He's a punky teen hot-rodder exhibiting all the characteristics of a 1959-1960 juvenile delinquent. He's sore at his best buddy for hooking up with a girl who's not into the beatnik punk-kid scene and not eager to let her new guy stay this course to disaster. Best buddy is waffling between going straight and staying with the witless crowd. Nicholson exhibits a weird sort of subconsciously gay relationship with best buddy by trying to place a wedge between the gal and the pal.

Ending is totally out of context with the morals of this leader of the pack, but necessary for the film to have sociological value. Lots of fun to watch just for the wild slang.

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Truly Awful, 4 enero 2003

Author: MerleB (merleb@aol.com) de Grand Rapids, MI

Has to be one of the worst movies of all time. Only partially redeemed by Nicholson and the hot rod roadster driven by one of his gang members and the "hipster" dialogue that is so laughable. The dirt track race is the lamest movie race ever put to film.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
1963?, 22 noviembre 2006

Author: jeremy3 de United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Why 1963? This movie had a lot of potential. It could have been a much better movie, if it was just made a few years later. This movie is adapted from a book. The book must have been insightful. Jack Nicholson was an an unknown at the time. It needed a bigger budget. It suffered from a script that was at times aimless. If it was made just a few years later, it could have made Nicholson a household name long before Easy Rider. I have to say I liked a lot of things about the movie. Nicholson, at about Age 22, was already a phenomenal actor. He showed great depth in his acting. His character was an apparent sociopath, but Nicholson showed great sensitivity in his portrayal. While appearing to totally lack a conscience, Nicholson made him appear human and real. In the end, we pitied the man trapped in his role as a mean gang leader. The actors surrounding him were unknowns. However, they were given real roles. They revealed that they were fearful, yet jealous of the gang leader's power. At any moment, they could mutiny. This movie really showed what it was like being in a gang, while avoiding the mistake of being either too dramatic or too preachy. In some ways, teen agers in certain strata were meaner than today's youth. This movie showed that the 50s was not all this "middle-class paradise". There were really messed up people, too. The main flaw of this picture, is that it at times suffers from periods of boredom. There are great moments, and then moments where the movie appears to go nowhere. In the end, I would still recommend this film. It really shows how life was like for the at-risk teens of the 50s, Nicholson was brilliant, and it reveals what gang life was really about.

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