Badmovies.org Forum

I saw this on cable when I was a kid...at the time I liked the motorcycle stunts but was too young to really appreciate the rest of the movie.  I rented this yesterday [there's a great video store here that has all sorts of out of print titles] and really enjoyed it.  It's about a renaissance fair troupe who joust on motorcycles.  Ed Harris plays the king, Billy, who is idealistic about what they're doing and refuses to compromise [like refusing to bribe the cops to let them operate], but some others in the group including Morgan [Tom Savini] are wanting to break out on their own and be more commercial.   In addition, Billy is nursing injuries from previous battles and is being pressured to step down from jousting.  

Ed Harris brings the acting level above what is standard for a Romero picture, but the movie still has a lot of the problems associated with Romero.  It's nearly two and a half hours long, and it still doesn't seem like enough time to cover the many characters and their relationships.  Some scenes, characters, and subplots probably should have been cut.  But the motorcycle stunts are great, and I think the movie works.   I just checked and someone on IMDB said, "Yeah, it's too long, but I can't bear to think of any of it not being there..." and I feel the same way.   In many ways, KNIGHTRIDERS is Romero's most uncompromising film.

It also includes what I think is Stephen King's first cameo, as "The Hoagie Man."  His wife appears with him.

I saw this on cable many years ago also and thought it was great.