As The Bikeriders revs into cinemas, Victoria Luxford explores the evolving iconography of motorcycles in cinema, from the anarchic rebellion of The Wild One to the free-flowing vibes of Easy Rider and beyond.
Filmmaker Jeff Nichols takes us back to the 1960s with The Bikeriders, a Scorsesian crime odyssey that follows the fortunes of the Chicago biker gang Vandals MC, as well as the turbulent affair between reckless member Benny (Austin Butler) and smitten outsider Kathy (Jodie Comer). The film, with its dripping gasoline, beat-up leathers and rolling tyres, draws from a rich history of American cinema infatuated with the motorcycle. For generations, this two-wheeled vehicle has meant many different things – and has always been more than just a mode of transport.
In the early 1950s, it was connected to a very real moral panic in post-war America. Rather than simply adults in waiting, teenagers were beginning to define themselves through music, fashion and civil unrest, and contemporary movies played into these new appetites. Inspired by the 1947 Hollister Riot, a skirmish between bikers that was believed to be exaggerated by the media, The Wild One (1953) stars Marlon Brando as Johnny, the leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. This is one of Brando’s signature roles: the image of him astride his Triumph Thunderbird is iconic in American culture. The Wild One directly influences characters in The Bikeriders: Tom Hardy’s Vandals head honcho (also called Johnny!) is inspired to start a biker club after seeing the film on TV.
The Wild One (1953)
While it might seem quaint to modern audiences, Johnny’s behaviour shocked buttoned-up Fifties viewers. His bike, with a second-place trophy tied to the front, becomes a statement of intent. It’s a catalyst, something that allows him to roll into town with his cohorts, raise hell and leave as quickly as it started. The loud roar of the engines rolling into town heralded a gang of lawless youths who created chaos for no reason, just the thrill of it. This meaningless, uncontrollable disorder was what scared American sensibilities the most, and is evident in one famous moment. During a party, Johnny is asked what he rebels against, to which he flatly replies, ‘What do you got?’ This struck fear into the hearts of adults watching, and excitement in teens. It linked the motorcycle with lawless rebellion for years to come.
The Wild One spawned a subgenre of movie known as the outlaw biker film, using the image of the motorcycle and its surrounding culture to tell stories of youthful revolt. In 1966, Peter Fonda would star in one such film, Roger Corman’s The Wild Angels, a teen exploitation film that played to all the titillating elements of the genre. They emphasised the explosive violence, anarchy and bitter intergang feuds that many had come to associate with the motorcycle rider. While exciting to younger crowds, to the general public, the motorcycle had become hell on wheels. However, in 1969, Fonda and director Dennis Hopper would redefine that image in the seminal Easy Rider. This time, rather than representing uprising, the bike meant freedom.
As powerful an anthem for counterculture as The Wild One had been upon release, the film centres on the rebellious Fonda’s Captain America and Hopper’s Billy who are travelling across America on their bikes with the proceeds of a drug deal. They cause little disturbance, although their mere presence invites confrontation that they never engage in. As Fonda puts it: ‘We wanna be free to do what we wanna do [...] We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man. And we wanna get loaded. And we wanna have a good time. And that’s what we’re gonna do.’ Again, the motorcycle is at the forefront of this manifesto. Fonda’s Harley-Davidson Panhead has the Stars and Stripes painted on its body, and on his helmet. To many, the flag means freedom, and Captain America has redefined that symbolism through his ride.
Easy Rider (1969)
Of course, Easy Rider would also provide Hollywood with its most iconic motorcycle showcase, the unforgettable opening-credit sequence set to Steppenwolf’s ‘Born to Be Wild’ that features Fonda and Hopper riding across America. Following a seductive introduction where the bikes are introduced in close-up to Jimi Hendrix’s ‘The Pusher’, this sequence seems to counter everything the outlaw biker film stood for. Billy and Captain America are not scowling or looking for trouble, they are smiling and laughing on their bikes, enjoying the freedom as Steppenwolf invites us to ‘Get your motor runnin’/Head out on the highway/Lookin’ for adventure/And whatever comes our way…’
Easy Rider (1969)
By the Eighties and Nineties, the biker movie had fallen out of fashion, but the motorcycle still had a mystique in other movies. Mel Gibson’s Mad Max would battle Kawasaki-riding villains, and bikes would be part of the dangerous landscapes in the sequels. In 1984, when Prince wanted to establish himself as an exciting on-screen rock star, the poster for his acting debut Purple Rain showed him on a motorcycle (a custom 1981 Honda). Even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hulking Terminator needed biker culture to reestablish his dominance. In 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, his naked T-800 walks up to a biker in a bar and demands: ‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.’
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
By this point, the biker gang had become big-screen shorthand for toughness. The Terminator therefore asserts himself as an alpha male when he stares down the gang, dispatches them and leaves with one of their 1991 Harley-Davidson Fat Boys, which he rides for the duration of the film as he protects the future of humanity. Even after the violence, the theft of the bike is seen as the ultimate insult, since one chasing gang member says, ‘I can’t let you take the man’s wheels, son!’ Of course, he does, and in a film where the Terminator actually doesn’t kill anyone, this victory over the gang nonetheless illustrates his threat.
Something similar happens in The Bikeriders, where Vandals stare menacingly at outsiders, and Comer’s Kathy is drawn to the thrilling, dangerous aura of Butler’s Benny. Intimidated by the bikers’ presence in a local bar, Kathy gets up to leave until she is stopped in her tracks by the sight of Benny. The soundtrack screeches to a halt when she spots him brooding over a pool table: the only audible noise is her hitched breath.
The Bikeriders (2024)
‘He don’t look like the rest of these animals,’ Kathy says to her friend, sitting back down. As it turns out, he might be worse, because Benny’s impulsive nature is both his greatest attraction and biggest threat to their subsequent relationship. Later, Hardy’s Johnny questions Benny, asking what he was thinking by jumping, unsolicited, into a fight. Wrapping his bloody knuckles, Benny replies, ‘Nothin’, I saw you squaring off with those guys, what do I need to think for?’ Johnny’s smiling response (‘You and me kid’) recognises their shared devotion to biker-gang culture.
Whether it’s for rebellion, liberty or intimidation, a motorcycle is never just a motorcycle on the big screen. The loud, untethered American icon establishes its rider as different, someone who subverts cultural norms. As long as that image sparks wonder in audiences, this association will ride on.
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