Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)

[Torgo]

Decent little time travel flick starring Fred Ward who stars as a motocross racer who unknowingly (and accidentally) gets sent back in time to the old west.......bike, red racing uniform, helmet and all.

He's on some kind of cross country race (I think it's the Baja race) and happens make a wrong turn, accidentally driving through an area right as some scientists go about a time travel experiment.  He gets zapped back in the old west.

They managed to stretch their low budget pretty well and the performances are all pretty good, including Peter Coyote with a mouthful of gold teeth.

The only thing that kind of bugged me is that I don't think that at any point in the film does Fred Ward's charcter Lyle Swann think to himself "Hey, I must have somehow traveled back in time!"  In fact, I don't think that there was a single moment that he realizes that, even at the somewhat abrupt ending in which he is saved.

My friend's were taking up for his character in saying "how is he supposed to know that he got sent back in time when he didn't even know such a thing was taking place  ", but it still kind of bugged me.

but I still enjoyed it and Fred Ward always has been IMO a criminally underused and underappreciated actor and he does pretty solid work here.

The movie does take a little while to get going, as I'm no exaggerating that the 1st 10 minutes are a POV shot of Lyle racing to a really goofy guitar riff based soundtrack.

[Andrew]

Ah, it has been a while since I watched this one, but I do remember Mr. Swan being so dense as to make "Charlton Heston Lite" (from "Beneath the Planet of the Apes") seem like a genius.  What I remember thinking was that he should realize that girl was his grandmother and maybe he should stop fooling around with her.

I've usually enjoyed seeing Fred Ward in films.  He certainly made "Remo Williams" and "Tremors" work for me.  If you like seeing him, make sure you've seen "Cast a Deadly Spell" too.

[sideorderofninjas]

Saw it as a kid and just only barely remember the end.  Didn't even realize that it was Fred Ward... 

[peter johnson]

Ward is delightful in everything he does --
Anyone see him with Holly Hunter & Harry-Dean Stanton in "UFOria"?
UFOria is a brilliant small movie about psychics and UFO's, natch.  Ward plays a devil-may-care huckster/flim-flam man -- The attention to small detail in this film reminds me of the Cohens and "Raising Arizona".
peter johnson/denny crane

[Torgo]

UFOira is a great film. I haven't seen it in years.

Has anyone released it on DVD yet?

[sleepyweas3l]

Clyde gets his nose "shot clean off!"  "She shot his nose clean off!!!"