The first motorcycle-themed films, like all other cinema over 100 years ago, were silent, black-and-white short films. Naturally, motorcycle films initially piqued the public’s interest. Back then, bikes were as much a novelty as artificial intelligence or biohacking methods are today.
However, filmmakers soon realized through experience that motorcycles alone didn’t hold the broader audience’s attention beyond their initial curiosity. The public watched bikes, for example, in the first motorcycle film “The Unruly Motorcycle” from 1909, and that was it. Further development of the theme, such as racing movies, failed to interest almost anyone. Charlie Chaplin, of course, was much more popular.
However, the situation changed dramatically with the emergence of bikers. It turned out that moviegoers were more interested not in the motorcycles themselves, but in the people for whom bikes were a form of self-expression, as well as the biker lifestyle and ideology. The most convincing proof of this came with the first cult biker movie – “The Wild One” (1953).
A Bullseye on the First Shot
Yes, statistically speaking, the chance of creating something in a new niche so cool and convincing that it becomes a kind of icon people revere is vanishingly small. Probably, winning the lottery jackpot is more likely. But “The Wild One” succeeded.
I think a big contributing factor to its success was the biker “riot in Hollister” in 1947, heavily sensationalized by the media. Of course, if you take a closer look at the situation, it’s hard to call it a riot. The media exaggerated. Nowadays, something similar happens at any open-air rock festival: endless drinking, bottles covering the ground, people sleeping and relieving themselves wherever they please. But 75 years ago, what people saw was apparently a real shock.
Regardless, by the time “The Wild One” was released, American audiences were already familiar with bikers – the topic was no longer shocking or alien to them. And if you add Marlon Brando, the top actor of that era, in the lead role, pair him with a beautiful heroine for a romantic plot, include a confrontation between the main character and the very negative leader of another biker gang, and pit a small town’s residents against a biker invasion – you’ve got all the ingredients that led to the film’s success.
The symbolic significance of this film fully manifested in the future and proved quite profound. Other biker movies began to model themselves after “The Wild One”, borrowing its imagery and artistic techniques. Inspired by Johnny, Marlon Brando’s character, people began joining biker ranks en masse and forming motorcycle clubs. And ever since then, the leather jacket has been considered exclusively a biker garment.
The Golden Age of Biker Films
This era began after the release of “The Wild One” and lasted until the late 1970s. The production scale of “bikernovs” (as biker films came to be called) reached industrial levels – for example, in the 1970s, an average of nine biker films were released annually.
It’s also worth noting that those years were perhaps the best in all of biker history. The social environment was very favorable to them. Post-war youth aggressively rejected their parents’ values, refused to work hard to accumulate material goods, didn’t want to think about the future, and chose to live in the present. The peak of this rebellion was the famous “Summer of Love” in San Francisco in 1967.
These anarchist and rebellious values of that generation matched perfectly with the biker ideals of boundless freedom and defiance of societal norms. Surprisingly, most directors and screenwriters missed the moment’s essence and kept churning out low-grade knock-offs of “The Wild One.” However, two individuals – Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper – managed to capture the spirit of the time and created the second cult biker film: “Easy Rider”.
In the film’s plot, the two main characters travel from California to New Orleans, hoping to reach the Mardi Gras festival. But in reality, their journey across America is a symbolic quest for freedom in this country, and a demonstration that living freely is possible – at least in theory. The bikers only find carefree living and lightness of being in a hippie commune that welcomes them, but nowhere else.
As becomes clear while watching the film, the values of freedom in 1960s America were largely just declarations. Most of the population – so-called “rednecks” – feared it and were ready to use violence against those who genuinely sought independence in action and thought. That’s why the film’s ending makes perfect sense: the bikers are killed by narrow-minded townsfolk.
Similarly, the youth rebellion of the ’60s against conservative values ended – though not as tragically as in “Easy Rider.” They rioted, they protested, but ultimately, they too became cogs in the corporate and state machine, just like their parents. “Captain America” in “Easy Rider” feels the same on the last night of his life, realizing he’s lost – and that true freedom doesn’t exist.
The Best TV Series
In the past 10–15 years, cinema has shifted focus from making biker movies to producing TV series about bikers. Several interesting projects were released, including “Mayans,” “Bikers: Brothers in Arms,” and “Undercover.” But the most popular by far was “Sons of Anarchy,” a series about a biker gang of the same name involved in criminal activity in a Californian town.
In the background is Jax Teller with a pistol, in the foreground is his stepfather Clay Morrow with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
“Sons of Anarchy” differs from similar projects with its Shakespearean-style plot, where the main character, Jax Teller, president of the club, like Hamlet, struggles between his father’s principles – who founded the club and dreamed of going legitimate – and the pressure from club members unwilling to change their criminal ways. Ultimately, Jax transforms from an idealistic hero into a ruthless criminal who imposes his will through violence alone.
In addition, “Sons of Anarchy” offers an incredible immersion into the biker world – the underground garages, criminal dealings, the patch-based hierarchy, bike accessories, and all the other elements that come with biker culture.