NateWatchesCoolMovies There are some movies that perfectly encapsulate the late 80's, early 90's epitome of trash bag, chromed up, machismo soaked, violently silly over the top theme park ride vibe of the action genre at that time. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man is a perfect example of that. It's a down and dirty sleazeball flick that is just so fun. Mickey Rourke plays Harley, a biker cowboy on a steel horse who makes his way back to a slightly futuristic LA to reconnect with his old barfly friends, including the rodeo riding Marlboro Man (Don Johnson). Rourke claims he only did this one for the dough, but I call bullshit. He has such a ball with his leathery tan, cocky prick attitude and spiked hair it's impossible he wasn't invested, even in a purely camp form. Don Johnson is slick and deadly as his trigger happy buddy Marlboro. Between quips, fist and gunfights, smoking and boozing, they try to exact revenge on the tyrannical big city banker (Tom Sizemore) who laid waste to their friends inner city bar. Sizemore is no stranger to dangerous, mean spirited roles, and he plays the megalomaniac financier with a razor sharp, homicidal calm that's giddily entertaining. A young Tia Carrere shows up as his sultry assistant, as well as work from Daniel Baldwin, Kelly Hu, Vanessa Angel and Chelsea Field. It's no smart action flick, but it's a brutal, tongue in cheek modern western with dusty, broken glass and whiskey soaked style that will entertain anyone who has nostalgia for that era of action movies.

SnoopyStyle Biker Harley Davidson (Mickey Rourke) joins up with his cowboy friend Robert Lee Anderson aka The Marlboro Man (Don Johnson). Their friend is in danger of losing his bar to the bank. The boys and other cohorts decide to rob an armored truck from Great Trust Bank. Only they are attacked by heavily armed assassins. They escape with bags that are surprisingly filled with a special new drug. The bank president Chance Wilder (Tom Sizemore) is dealing the drugs and uses his gunmen to hunt down the boys.It's a silly action B-movie. I'm willing to buy the ridiculous title characters played competently by these two actors. They seem to have fun and this movie could be fun. However the villains especially the black coated assassins are too ridiculous. It pushes it over the edge for me. I can't enjoy this when it looks so stupid.

david-sarkies This is one of those movies that I fondly remember from my younger years, and while back then I simply watched it as a typical action movie, I come back to it now to see that it is a movie that brings out the essence of American culture, particularly culture out in the west. This movie, while set in the near future (when it was released), follows the style of a classic western movie. It is about a couple of drifters, cowboys, Harley Davidson, the new style of cowboy riding his Harley and wearing his leather jacket, and the Malboro Man, a classic cowboy with his boots and his hat.The narrative of this film is similar to the old style westerns, but in many ways goes to show that nothing has changed and nothing will change. We see that despite progress (the world now flies into and out of Burbank Airport) the west is still lawless and has still been left behind. Chance Wilder, the antagonist of the piece, only earns $500,000 a year as the head of the bank (most likely the Los Angeles branch), and has to supplement his income in other ways.The west is still lawless, and while the police to appear, they tend to take a back seat. Virginia Slim (a type of cigarette) is Malboro's girl, and while she works for the police, she has no idea about what is going on, nor does her partner. Instead, it is still the law of the gun, as can be seen by the thugs that carry out Wilder's dirty work.The cowboy still drifts, as we see Harley drifting from east to go out west, though not to make his fortune, and then drifts back east at the end of the film. However the east and west division between civilisation and barbarity is still evident as they jump on a train back east when things get too hot, though returns to the west to finish off the unfinished business.In essence this movie is about the American culture, the main characters representing the motor bike and the cigarette, with Virginia Slim being the feminine Marlboro. Throw in Jack Daniels, the the big guy who is representative of tough, but ugly guy that you don't want to upset. It is all about taming that which is wild. The cowboy rides the bull, which is in essence the duty and nature of the cowboy, to go into the wilderness and bring civilisation there. Yet this is also evident when we see the woman on the bike in the bar, in the same way the cowboy is taming the wild beast. I guess this demonstrates the American Narrative, that in one sense, looking from the east, the west is still a wild and untame place, but even now that the West has been won, there is always new horizons and new frontiers that need to be tamed.

James Spicer Look, this movie is one of the most fun movies I've ever watched. Its not some heady uber intelligent movie for one to contemplate and discuss afterwards what the other possible motives might be in the characters. Its for quoting not discussing. Its a buddy movie, its fun and it was in my opinion well done by all with good performances from a majority of the cast. If its on i cant help but watch it if only to see a couple of the great quotes in it as well as the action. I hope Mickey doesn't truly feel like a sell out for this movie because it was in fact a very well done movie and something that was a great deal of fun for many people that were even already fans from as far back as 9.5 weeks.