This is one of numerous movies that were featured on Video On Demand from Rifftrax and it's easy to tell why. I didn't even know that was the real Evel Knievel. I was probably just so taken back by how dumb and boring this movie was, I didn't notice. This film features guys who want to take Knievel's body to smuggle cocaine. I couldn't even comprehend this plot. I was able to understand the jokes as he really did attack someone with a baseball bat before this film was released. The riffing was great with some of my favorite bits being, "We were told there'd be Christians to eat!". An easy one was "Evel!" with "I'm not referring to your name. It's just evil that you're here!". I loved, "I'm going to sit here and regret "Dracula: Dead And Loving It"." I also liked, "It was easy" followed by, "And hugely wasteful of helicopter fuel". You really have to find the Rifftrax version. *1/2

Ill-advised starring vehicle for the king of motorcycle jumping, Evel Knievel. It's pretty campy, and can occasionally be amusing. But overall it's quite the bore. Evel Knievel is hired to do a jump in Mexico, and his promoter, Leslie Nielsen, plans on getting him killed so he can smuggle a boatload of cocaine into the US in Evel's coffin (which he assumes the border guards will be too respectful to ransack). There's almost no action until the last 20 minutes. At least the action at that point is decent (though apparently Evel was forced to use a stuntman to perform most of the riding). To classics fans, the film is probably more notable because it contains the penultimate performance by Gene Kelly (Red Buttons is also in it). His final performance was in Xanadu. Viva Knievel! is the only film Kelly appeared in which is even more lowly rated than Xanadu. Actually, much of the plot revolves around Kelly, as the son whom he sent off to be raised elsewhere is reunited with him. Kelly kind of ignores the boy because his wife died in childbirth, but Evel eventually sets him straight. There's also a romantic subplot involving a feminist photographer, Lauren Hutton, who is sent to photograph Evel's "last jump". Of course she ends up falling for the uber-masculine motorcyclist.

I LOVE this movie!! Ok, it is a terrible, terrible film, but that's what makes it so great! Back in high school, I can't begin to tell you how many beers my buddies & I downed whilst laughing our tails off at this movie. We would rewind scenes so many times that even years later, when we reunite, we can still recite some of these scenes verbatim. It's a classic. First of all, just consider this plot: a mob boss, played straight by Leslie Nielson of all people, wants to assassinate good ol' Evel in Mexico so he can use his stunt trucks to smuggle drugs back to the U.S., because no one is going to stop a "funeral procession for a hero." Try to follow THAT logic!! Another priceless moment comes when Evel delivers an anti-drug speech warning kids that if they use dope - just like race car drivers who use nitro in their cars - they too, will "blow all to hell!" (well, at least after "5 or 10 years" by his estimation anyway). I've never seen Gene Kelly looking so disgruntled and tired, and what would be complete without a way-over-the-top Red Buttons (classic line delivered to a groggy Evel: "What is this, Judgement Day!?). Where's Charro when you need her? And let's not forget that kid at the orphanage who literally throws his crutches to the floor and says, I kid you not, "you're the reason Evel! You're the reason I'm walkin'!" Evel Knievel: miracle man...ordained healer. And then of course there's that catchy theme song. I can't figure out why it was never a hit.

Evel was a great showman, and was incredibly popular in the 1970's. For those who missed that era, or chose to forget it, at least Evel had the skill to back up the hype. There are a few stunt scenes that bear this out, including a great two-person tour around and through a small stadium on Evel's bike.But that's about it; the plot is pretty simple, and the criminals are as stereotyped as they come. Sit back, enjoy the stunts and flashback to the 70's for a while.