TIMERIDER: THE ADVENTURE OF LYLE SWANN (1982)
Article 4531 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-11-2014
Directed by William Dear
Featuring Fred Ward, Belinda Bauer, Peter Coyote
Country: USA
What it is: Time travel story

A motorcyclist is caught up in a time travel experiment and is sent 105 years into the past. He meets a girl. Villains see his bike and want it for their own. Stuff happens.

There’s some mildly diverting motorcycle stunt work in the movie. The acting is adequate, and the cussing in the script, unlike that of TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING, doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. It’s also interesting to note the presence of former Monkee Michael Nesmith in several production capacities, including co-writer and uncredited co-producer. I also do not hate this movie, which is a good thing. I do think, however, that there really isn’t very much to the story here; it’s basically about a guy who goes into the past with a modern invention (the motorcycle), and a bunch of villains from the past try to get hold of the invention, and, with the exception of a not-entirely-original time paradox twist near the very end, it is utterly predictable. As far as I can tell, this is one of those movies that is simply not special in any way.