A medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their "King's" delusions of grandeur.A medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their "King's" delusions of grandeur.A medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their "King's" delusions of grandeur.
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Did you know
- TriviaStephen King and his wife Tabitha King played a spectator with a loud mouth opinion and a fairly messy face and his wife in the first scene at the fair. King was on the set because he working on the script for Creepshow (1982) with George A. Romero.
- GoofsWhen Pip and Angie are hanging posters, the stapler disappears and re-appears in Pip's hands.
- Quotes
Merlin: If I didn't believe in magic, I'd still be treating gall bladders, prostates and stuff like that. See, magic ain't got nothing to do with organs and glands and busted necks. Magic got to do with the soul, man. Only the soul's got destiny. It got wings. It's can fly. That's magic. The body? The body's just got a few minutes down here in the dirt with the rest of us.
Billy: You see things before they happen.
Merlin: That's probability. Some things is just sure to happen. Seeing em comin' ain't nothing to get excited about.
Billy: No, you taught me too good, magician. You taught me to believe. That black bird's gonna get me.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Scream Greats, Volume I: Tom Savini (1986)
- SoundtracksI'd Rather Be A Wanderer
Music, Lyrics and Sung by Donald Rubinstein
© 1981 United Film Distribution Co. - United Artists Corporation/Donald Rubinstein
A very youthful Ed Harris plays Billy, a self-styled King Arthur-type, who's the "crowned" leader of the Knightriders. This travelling troupe of performers stage jousts (in full armor) while on motorcycles for the entertainment of all the thrill-seeking spectators at county fairs.
As the story goes - Billy tries to persuade his followers to live under an old-fashioned code of honor, but the constant pressure of balancing ideals against realities, and the financial problems of running The Knightriders as a business, inevitably leads to conflicts and trouble.
Yes. "Knightriders" is a bit silly at times. But, all-in-all, it is pretty good entertainment, even though it is a tad long with a running time of 145 minutes.
I think that Romero did a fine job with the "Knightrider's" story, which reflects the choice that many artists make between "pure" expression of their vision (whatever that might be) and a compromise to achieve commercial success.
- StrictlyConfidential
- Jun 18, 2020
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- George A. Romero's Knightriders
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- $3,000,000 (estimated)