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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 70888
Released: August 24, 2004 |
| Our Price: $5.94 |
| Used Price: $2.58 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
They're racing toward the future and about to grow up fast! In one of her earliest leading roles, OscarÂ(r) nominee* Melanie Griffith ignites the screen in this exhilarating high-speed drama co-starring Desi Arnaz, Jr., Robert Carradine and Anne Lockhart. Bored with their dead-end jobs in LA, three best friends pile into a souped-up Cadillac, set a course for Alaska, and never look back. But there's more than carefree adventure waiting on America's last frontier. As their plansfor fame and fortune go awry, Scott (Arnaz), John (Carradine) and Susie (Griffith) hit the road once morethis time with a sack of stolen money in the backseat and the cops hot on their trail! *1988: Actress, Working Girl
Joyride Reviews:
Worthwhile 70's road flick 
2008-05-22 - "Joyride" is an independent 1977 road flick starring the sons of Desi Arnaz (and Lucy) & John Carradine and the daughters of Tippi Hedren & June Lockhart.
THE STORY: Three footloose youths, two guys and a girl (a young Melanie Griffith) all around the ages of 18-20, decide to leave their dead-end jobs and travel to Alaska. They have some half-baked plan to become salmon fishermen, but they're more likely just looking for adventure, fun and possibly a sense of purpose. Unfortunately they're forced to pick up other dead-end jobs, including working for the oil pipeline. Desperation leads to crime where they acquire a hostage (Anne Lockhart), who ultimately becomes a willing partner.
I never heard of this film before and took a chance picking it up. I was under the impression that it was a fun 70's car-chase flick like "Eat My Dust" or "Grand Theft Auto." Although it shares aspects of those types of films I was surprised to discover that "Joyride" is essentially a serious road flick, the second half taking on elements of "Bonnie And Clyde."
Although this is a fairly low-budget independent film it's quite professionally made. The Washington locations are great and the acting is fine. Anne Lockhart is easy on the eyes and Melanie isn't bad either.
I encourage you to read M.G. DaVega's review from May 11, 2008, because he accurately points out what may turn some viewers off. The story has a meandering vibe because the kids are living aimless lives. They're not necessarily "bad kids" or unlikable (although they later turn bad via bad choices); in fact, one part of the story shows one of the guys boldly taking a stand for what's right while working security for the pipeline, but it ends up costing them. DaVega rightly argues that the viewer is unsympathetic towards the youths because they increasingly turn to crime as the story progresses. He calls them "half-wits" who do stupid things and engage in unsavory & deplorable acts like shoplifting, public drunkenness, pissing contests (literally), auto theft, breaking & entering, and armed robbery of the pipeline company.
DaVega also points out that they (seemingly) learn no moral lesson through their experiences and are not much different at the end than at the beginning.
These valid criticisms will certainly turn some viewers off, but I'd like to point out that the events in the story aren't even close to being as morally shocking & appalling as in, say, 1966's "The Wild Angels."
Although the characters seemingly learn no moral lesson, the film itself is a moral lesson, not to mention it smacks of reality. I can remember when I was in my mid-to-late teens, living an aimless existence and doing incredibly stupid things, just as dumb and senseless as depicted in the movie. So I can relate to the kids, their situations and foolish choices. Simply put, "Joyride" is a portrait of lost, fallen humanity. The title is sarcastic because the kid's adventure is more laborious and miserable than fun and joyful (but, don't get me wrong, there are some lighthearted moments).
The film successfully depicts the meaningless, aimless and darkened nature of life "under the sun," in particularly for those who are unaware of the designs of the Creator, or who simply refuse to seek/acknowledge the Almighty. Read the relatively short ancient book of Ecclesiastes to get my drift.
Anyway, the picture ends with the kids getting lost and stranded in the Northwest wilderness, which is reminiscent of that family that got stranded near the Rogue River in Oregon a couple of winters back.
BOTTOM LINE: DaVega is wrong to say that anyone who likes this film has "extremely low standards for movies." I can see why the film turned him off, but his objections are based soley on moral grounds. This doesn't mean "Joyride" isn't worthwhile or well-made for an independent 70's flick. On the contrary, the meandering story keeps the viewer's attention (which is one of the most important gauges for discerning the worthiness of a picture), and the film itself makes a potent moral point about the fallen nature of humanity. Plus the viewer gets a good glimpse of what it was like to work on the pipeline back then.
If nothing else, "Joyride" is worth seeing because it's like traveling back in time to 1977.
Miseryride is more like it ..... 
2008-05-11 - Easily one of the worst flicks of 1977, the mistitled Joyride is an utterly disasteful and intellectually bankrupt film that leaves its viewer with an almost indignant feeling of having had one's time wasted. This movie is a study in bad: bad acting, bad dialogue, bad production and a bad script. To call this flick a B-movie would be to elevate it five notches.
The plot (a very weak one at that) centers on a picayune trio of L.A. losers (two guys and a girl ; none of whom have the common sense God gave a border collie) whose stupidity is surpassed only by their naivety. Restless and weary of their day-to-day struggle in their boring, dead-end jobs, they decide to just pack it all up and hightail it to Alaska, apparently under the impression that life will somehow magically be easier there. ( Their idea early in the film is to purchase a boat and earn a living as salmon fishermen ----- already not a good sign for the movie.)
Not surprisingly to us, things don't quite go as planned for them when they arrive in America's last frontier as their station wagon and belongings are promptly robbed and plundered on their first night upon arrival. Stranded and increasingly destitute, they are forced to once again take up new dead-end jobs for money. (Guess they should have planned things out more carefully beforehand, huh?) Through their own faults, they eventually end up jobless and essentially homeless and eventually are reverted to criminals motivated by desperation.
The movie's summary and package design on the case describe the movie as being harrowing, funny and highly evocative, but the film is absolutely none of those things ----- in fact, it's not even close. The movie is a dumb, lazy, self-indulgent mess that actually repels the interest of the viewer. The main characters aren't just stupid, they're unlikeable, too, and you don't care for them at all. They aren't funny, they aren't witty or charming and they sure as hell aren't sympathetic. They experience no moral lesson and they're substancially no different at the end of the movie than they were at the beginning. They engage in many unsavory and deplorable acts including (but not limited to): road rage, shoplifting, public drunkeness, car theft, armed robbery, breaking and entering, the reprehensible act of killing (and eating!?!) a bear and many other piss-poor choices that would cause a person to be arrested, imprisoned, deported or possibly even executed in some regions of the world. This group should be jailed on the charges of animal cruelty alone in this movie.
The movie's only key turning point is when they make the decision to alleviate their destitution by robbing an oil pipeline payroll company and taking it on the run. The upshot to their heist is that they only end up making off with a paltry $2,500. These half-wits truly had to be the dumbest criminals ever featured in a movie. While on the run from the law, the now foursome (who now consist of a female hostage from the robbery who eventually falls in with the group) rest up along the way by breaking into people's homes, helping themselves to their belongings, beds, food and clothes. (All this time I kept thinking to myself, 'Where the hell are the owners of these houses? Do they ever come home?')
In other on-the-run-from-the-law flicks such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Rambo: First Blood (1982), I have found myself caught up in the exhilaration of the chase against the main characters (sometimes through no fault of their own) and find myself wanting to see them succeed and elude their captors. You experience none of that feeling here. The trouble these cretans find themselves in is all entirely brought on them by themselves. You don't like or sympathize with this group or their plight at all and towards the final third of this movie, you really want nothing more than to see them get what's coming to them -------- apprehended (or better yet)---- gunned down by the police. This awful, smarmy mess races to a stupid, clumsy, unresolved ending where the film basically just peters out. One gets the impression that the producers ran out of time, money, patience, attention or even all four.
I can't imagine anyone actually giving this movie an honestly good review. I don't know what the previous reviewer was smoking, but anyone who actually likes this film has EXTREMELY low standards for movies. If this movie does have any redeeming quality of any kind, I (and they) would be very hard-pressed to tell you what it is. All-in-all, Joyride is a pretty terrible piece of junk that really doesn't deserve to be seen. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. It deserves to be forgotten and left in the past where it belongs.
aboslute great! 
2002-06-24 - I absolutely loved joyride. It was very suspenceful and thrilling. I will not spoil the ending for anyone butI was surprised!
I am so glad I purchased this video. I will see it many times and I am glad I have it in my collection.
I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this kind of movie.
