Run, Angel, Run
Reviews (6)
6 reviews for Run, Angel, Run
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Robert I. Hedges –
I bought this film because of the Joe Bob Briggs commentary. I am a fan of Joe Bob, and appreciate not only his sense of humor but his encyclopedic knowledge of B-movies as well. I am not especially fond of biker flicks, though I have seen several, but this one is somewhat different than the norm (at least for early pre-Altamonte biker flicks, anyway) in that the hero not only double crosses his gang, but he is also a sensitive ladies man.
The story essentially concerns itself with William Smith as Angel, who sold his story to “Like” magazine for $10,000. The betrayed gang spends the remainder of the movie trying to hunt him down, of course. Along the way there are major diversions involving romance (with a stripper and part-time hooker who happened to be the director’s wife), brutality, extremely bad dancing, and sheep ranching. I am not making this up. There is a major part of the plot devoted to sheep ranching and Angel’s conflict over settling down versus the freedom of the open road. This is the only movie I am aware of to feature an actual sheep stampede triggered by a cackling guy on a Harley.
In most biker films gang betrayal is always treated as a bad thing, which is what makes this one rise to the top of the genre. I won’t pretend that this film is subtle and textured, but I will say that it is watchable. The acting is generally a cut above other low budget biker films and the direction by Jack Starret is generally well done. The movie does take some turns into unexpected areas, however. In addition to the prominent romance and sheep ranching subplots, there are tender “walking on the beach” montages of hand holding and hugging and other relics from a Harlequin romance that just don’t seem to fit in a biker movie. Joe Bob comments on these elements, so I won’t belabor the point other than to say that it’s all a bit different than the norm. In the interest of total disclosure, Joe Bob was the one who termed this a “chick flick,” and while I generally agree with him, be aware that there is some ugly violence in this movie, some of it comically fake (the bar fight, for example), and some of it not.
The Joe Bob introduction and commentary was the prime attraction to me here, and although the film isn’t one of my personal favorites, the commentary track is brilliant. It is amazing how much Joe Bob knows about B-movies, and his description of William Smith’s unbelievably fascinating past alone is worth the price of admission (he was the last television Marlboro Man, and he speaks five languages including Russian and Serbo-Croatian, and formerly worked for the National Security Agency, apparently.)
If you want to see a chick flick about bikers and sheep ranching, this is the movie for you!
Steve V. –
“Run, Angel, Run” is one of many biker films that came out of the mid to late sixties when, for some odd reason, counter-culture and random graruitous violence intersected at the.box-office. This one isn’t amongst the best of the lot, but it is technically better made and has a few splashes of originality and ingenious filmmaking that set it apart. If it were only about the movie, I’d probably give it three stars.
The upgrade is thanks to the fine DVD Media Blastes has given this release, which is full of extra material. Most of that doesn’t even count, though because I really only paid attention to one extra: the wonderfully entertaining, funny and informative commentary track by Joe Bob Briggs, the world’s foremost expert on drive-in films.
Joe Bob does another stand out job here pointing out unique tidbits about the movie and getting a few shots in while he goes along. This DVD is worth a recommendation just because of that! Add in that the movie isn’t too bad and that the rest of the extras are high quality, and you’ve got yourself a five star product.
Amazon Customer –
very quick delivery great film thanks
paul block –
Absolutely fantastic movie pretty good for a DVD has lots extras so I suggest you buy I enjoyed this if you like biker movies buy this one
Amazon Customer –
disliked as I could not play on my video machine
Joe cano –
“Run, Angel, Run” with William Smith in the title role of “Angel” short for “Angelo.” Jack Starrett directed this film, with his wife Valerie Starrett as Angel’s companion. William Smith, a bodybuilder and arm wrestling champion, starred in many biker films and other B-movies in the late 60s and early 70s. I believe he was a Doctoral candidate in History or Philosophy and was fluent in Russian and several other languages, so he was a cultural man in spite of the rough exterior he projected on the screen. Jack Starrett, the director who directed many B-movies, was able to use the multi-camera technique where three scenes were filmed and shown at once, on the screen, although I am not sure that he invented this technique. This is a rare film, and it is hard to find in most video stores, so I ordered it from Amazon.com at a very reasonable price. I was not disappointed and I enjoy watching it over and over again.