After waiting a VERY long time to add an official videocassette of this difficult-to-find biker movie (it's never been released on DVD) to my collection, I finally purchased an Australian ex-rental big box VHS video of it that plays perfectly on my UK VCR and TV. So on 21 August 2021 I watched Born To Ride at long last – and what an entertaining, humorous, and action-packed movie it was. It even has the Georgia Satellites performing the theme song, 'Let's Rock This Place', in the opening sequence (which can be viewed here). All in all, this was a movie well worth the wait!
Directed by Graham Baker, released by Warner Bros in 1991, and alternatively entitled The Recruit in some territories, Born To Ride follows the tried and trusted movie plot of the archetypal rebel who ultimately comes good when needed to, especially if, in no particular order, his country or a good-looking woman is involved. In this particular movie, set in the USA and Spain during the late 1930s/early 1940s, the rebel in question is one Grady Westfall (played by John Stamos), a seriously cocky, arrogant local American biker whose loutish antics find him facing a lengthy jail sentence – but then comes a most unexpected and quite literal 'get out jail' card, in the shape of US military man Colonel James E. Devers (Sandy McPeak), Commanding Officer of the 36th Division.
Devers's current focus is one specific army unit whose particular skill is riding horses, which they do extremely well. Unfortunately for them, and Devers, however, the powers that be now need them to become a crack motorbike squad instead, but their efforts to become as skilful on two wheels as on four legs are little short of woeful. Then, Devers, who had recently witnessed at first-hand how extremely adept and assured a motorbike rider Grady is (during the wild escapade that had landed him in jail), has an idea, and makes Grady a most interesting proposition. Stay in jail and rot, or be released into the army with the rank of Corporal and train up the unit's men until they have mastered the fine art of motorbike riding. Faced with such a classic Hobson's choice, Grady reluctantly agrees to the latter option.
Although his teaching methods are almost invariably unorthodox and sometimes highly questionable, frequently eliciting ire from Captain Jack Hassler (John Stockwell), who is the unit's commander and a stickler for following rules, Grady succeeds in helping them become at least adequate motorbike riders, and anticipates that continued training will enhance their skills further still. Just to complicate matters however, the (very) grudging respect that eventually comes his way from Devers and Hassler is threatened by Grady having taken a shine to Devers's daughter Beryl Ann (Teri Polo in her movie debut) – a shine that is readily reciprocated by her, but which is looked upon far less favourably not only by her disapproving Dad but also by Hassler, who had until now been Beryl Ann's official (albeit far less reciprocated) beau.
Hassler schemes to have Grady thrown out of the army, but instead it is the entire unit, Hassler and Grady included, that is thrown into disarray, when an official explanation from the State Department is finally made public as to why the unit had needed to become efficient bikers. They are to be dispatched in just two weeks' time on a perilous undercover mission to Spain, ruled by the fascist dictator General Franco, in the guise of professional motorbike racers. They will enter an official motorbike race in Bilbao, but during the race they will disappear, making their way on their bikes to an isolated castle instead, not too far away from Bilbao but concealed deep within the densely wooded countryside (where any plan involving parachutists would be doomed to failure, hence the motorbike ploy). There, nuclear scientist Dr Tate and his daughter Claire are being held captive. So the motorbike unit's job is to rescue them, and put them aboard a plane to take them back safely to the States.
When Grady learns this, he is very concerned, because although the men are decent motorbike riders, he is far from certain that they are skilled enough yet to accomplish the highly dangerous task awaiting them, whose success is heavily dependent upon their riding abilities. Grady has gained great popularity among his trainees, they see him very much as a friend, as he does them, so much so that he feels unable to abandon them to a very uncertain fate. Instead, he volunteers to accompany them on their mission, much to Hassler's initial dismay, but he finally accepts the logic in Grady coming along – and derives great joy when he discovers that his seemingly fearless, faultless rival has a weakness after all – a phobia about flying, which is of course the mode of transport by which he and the unit will travel to Spain!
Nevertheless, albeit somewhat green about the gills (to use the local vernacular where I come from for feeling sick with fear), Grady survives his airborne journey alongside the men and Hassler to Spain, where they duly enter the race (in reality filmed not in Spain but instead in what is now Slovenia), then surreptitiously fall away as planned, and set forth on their bikes to the castle. After arriving, however, they not only locate Dr Tate and Claire, but also come face to face with a disturbing number of armed military guards whose sole intention is to blow Grady and co into smithereens!
Until now, Born To Run has veered on the side of humour, but from now on it becomes a full-bodied action movie all the way, in which Grady comes to recognize and appreciate that his unit may not be the world's best motorbike riders but they are indisputably highly-trained, highly-skilled fighting men, He must also accept that for once in his life he is not the centre of attraction, not the main man, that here he is part of a team, and one in which his inexperience regarding what is required means that he has to play a supporting role rather than the leading one that he has always assumed in the past. But is our hero man enough to do all of this? Of course he is! That's what heroes do, at least it is in the movies!
Stamos plays the initially egostistical but eventually reappraising rebel to perfection, with just enough sneer and strut to antagonize but not alienate, because for a rebel character to carry the audience with him rather than setting it against him he should be obdurate yet not obnoxious, taciturn and defensive at times but without becoming insufferably offensive. Moreover, Stamos certainly knows how to handle a motorbike, as I've read that he did many of Grady's riding stunts himself. Speaking of motorbikes: as a biker myself, I was particularly enamoured by the dazzling array of vintage Harley-Davidsons on display. We are highly unlikely ever to see thunderous, brawny beasts like these on today's highways, that's for sure.
For anyone who enjoys biker-themed movies and/or military/action films, in which the pace never slackens, but with just a little romance thrown in here and there to lighten the proceedings as and when needed, Born To Ride should certainly prove a popular viewing choice, provided of course that you can actually track this movie down in some format or another. Having said that, it can be purchased from YouTube as a download. Or, if you prefer to get a feel of what's in store first, before deciding whether or not to splash the cash, you can always click here to watch an exhilarating Born To Ride trailer.
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