Film

Knightriders

Name: Knightriders
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: 1981
Cast: Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman

Drama

George Romero's 1981 oddity follows a motorcycle gang who live as medieval knights, performing elaborate jousts on bikes. It's part biker film, part commune drama, part fever dream—less interested in plot than in the specific madness of people who've decided the rules don't apply. For those who want something genuinely strange and unclassifiable.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a shaggy, sincere film about outsiders building their own code of honour, where the ritual matters more than the plot and the odd humour sits right beside real melancholy.

Skip it if you need brisk pacing and a clear through-line, because this wanders through long stretches of camp life and talk before its shape comes into focus.

What it asks of you: Nearly two and a half hours at an unhurried pace, with much of the weight carried by quiet conversations and the fierce, sometimes ridiculous loyalty between its members.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Easy Rider1969

The spiritual ancestor of Knightriders: outcasts on bikes rejecting straight society, searching for freedom and community. Beautifully shot, genuinely mythic, and the performances feel lived-in rather than acted.

But Slower than you'd expect, heavy on philosophy and atmosphere. The ending is famously grim.

The Wild One1953

Marlon Brando as a motorcycle rebel who rolls into a small town. Raw charisma, genuine danger, and it basically invented the outlaw biker archetype that Knightriders is playfully inverting.

But Shot in black and white and feels of its era. The pacing is deliberate, almost stately by modern standards.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest1975

Jack Nicholson as a man who refuses to conform within an institution. Like Knightriders, it's about charisma, authority, and whether individualism can survive in systems designed to crush it.

But Deeply dark. The ending is devastating and will stay with you uncomfortably.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Knightriders

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Highlander1986

Both films are about outsiders living by personal codes and ritual within a modern world that doesn't understand them. Both privilege mythology and honor over practical sense.

Immortals fighting across centuries with medieval codes of honor; Russell Mulcahy's film is visually baroque and genuinely unhinged. Like Knightriders, it treats its absurd premise completely seriously—no winking at the audience.

But The logic doesn't hold together if you think about it. Special effects are dated and the tone lurches between earnest and campy.

Zabriskie Point1970

Michelangelo Antonioni's counterculture road film. Visually stunning, weird, genuinely about young people trying to live differently. It gets the specific melancholy of idealism under pressure.

But Narrative is thin and secondary. The film is more interested in mood and ideas than story momentum.

Alice's Restaurant1969

Based on Arlo Guthrie's song. A communal household resisting conformity; rambling, anti-authoritarian, funny, and surprisingly moving about friendship and choosing your own way.

But Slow, episodic, and deliberately shapeless. It's not a conventional narrative and won't satisfy anyone wanting three-act structure.

Johnny Got His Gun1971

Dalton Trumbo's anti-war masterpiece about a soldier questioning the systems that used him. Visually experimental and morally furious, with themes of institutional control and individual resistance that echo Knightriders' concerns.

But Extremely heavy and traumatizing. Not an entertainment experience, but a gut-punch.

The Warriors1979

Gang culture as ritual and code; stylized action with real danger underneath. Treats a subculture with the seriousness Knightriders does—no condescension, just observation of how people build meaning.

But Lean on character development. If you don't connect with the visual language and mythology, it'll feel thin.

Electra Glide in Blue1973

Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop trying to do right within a corrupt system. Meditative neo-noir with surprising depth; explores authority, idealism, and the cost of integrity.

But More introspective than action-packed. Ends quietly and sadly, which some find profound and others find frustrating.

Mad Max 21981

Released the same year as Knightriders but couldn't be more different stylistically. Pure kinetic cinema about survival, codes of honor, and society reorganizing itself. A masterpiece of narrative filmmaking.

But Dialogue is sparse and the plot is simple. Some find it thin compared to its elaborate action set pieces.

The Ballad of Little Jo1993

Both are about people creating alternative identities and living by their own codes. Both treat this choice with seriousness rather than as spectacle, and both understand that freedom comes with real costs.

Suzy Amis as a woman who survives by assuming a male identity in the frontier West. Maggie Greenwald's film is about self-determination and the freedom to reinvent yourself outside society's rules, shot with quiet conviction.

But Visually austere and emotionally reserved. The pacing is slow and the story is understated rather than dramatic.