The highlight of director Anthony M. Lanza's biker flick "The Glory Stompers" is lenser Mario Tossi's sensational cinematography. Tossi's use of wide angle lens gives this tame outlaw motorcycle melodrama lots of atmosphere and grit. Best known for the original "Carrie" and "The Stunt Man," Tossi has an eye for detail and depth. The opening images of this low-budget, exploitation epic are absolutely riveting! Quite simply, this is probably the best-looking biker movie that I've ever seen. If you ride, you will love the up-close and personal attention that he gives the bikers and their bikes. Moreover, the landscape imagery is terrific. When the villains cross a desert, it makes "The Glory Stompers" look like "Lawrence of Arabia." The story resembles a latter day western. The action is largely confined to biker rallies, places along the road, and fisticuffs in random places in the desert. "The Glory Stompers" is a road movie, and the bikes and the babes look good. Obviously, since it was a studio release in the late 1960s, the violence couldn't have been more any more graphic than it was.
Glory Stompers' chief Darryl (Jody McCrea of "Young Guns of Texas") is beaten up and left for dead by a rival biker gang, The Black Souls, headed by Chico (Dennis Hopper of "Rebel Without A Cause"), who abducts Darryl's blonde babe Chris (Chris Noel of "Soldier in the Rain") so he can take her to Mexico and sell her into white slavery. Predictably, our resilient hero recovers from the beating and sets out in pursuit of Chino and company. Once Chino has taken Chris, he finds his leadership questioned by one of his burly minions, Magoo (Robert Tessier of "The Longest Yard"), who wants the girl for himself. Tessier makes a great second-string heavy, and this was before he shaved off his unruly mop of hair. Mind you, with a full head of hair, Tessier just doesn't look as intimidating. Magoo proves to be more than a handful for the scrawny Chino to handle. Worse than the hostile Magoo is Chino's own jealous girlfriend, Jo Ann (Sandra Bettin of "Angels from Hell"), who is rather dexterous with a knife. Chino discovers to his chagrin just how dexterous she is during the final quarter of this atmospheric biker yarn.
As Darryl sets out to rescue Chris, he finds help from an unexpected quarter, an older chapter member of another Glory Stomper group, Smiley (Jock Mahoney of "Tarzan Goes to India"), shows up. Smiley spends more time advising our protagonist than taking licks for him in close-quarters combat. This American International Pictures release is a low-budget, but entertaining saga that doesn't wear out its welcome. Jody McCrea-yes, Joel's son-is too clean-cut to be believed, but his girl is trying to wean him off the biker thing. He is reluctant to give up his bike because he prefers the free-wheeling style of his biker pals. They set their own hours, do their own thing, and have freedom galore. This sounds a lot like Peter Fonda in another AIP release "The Wild Angels." Dennis Hopper makes a solid antagonist, and he appeared in this drive-in feature before he elevated biker flicks to the level of art with "Easy Rider." As motorcycle mayhem goes, "The Glory Stompers" doesn't have a whole lot of stomp, but it is a gorgeous film to gaze at with a good cast.
Glory Stompers' chief Darryl (Jody McCrea of "Young Guns of Texas") is beaten up and left for dead by a rival biker gang, The Black Souls, headed by Chico (Dennis Hopper of "Rebel Without A Cause"), who abducts Darryl's blonde babe Chris (Chris Noel of "Soldier in the Rain") so he can take her to Mexico and sell her into white slavery. Predictably, our resilient hero recovers from the beating and sets out in pursuit of Chino and company. Once Chino has taken Chris, he finds his leadership questioned by one of his burly minions, Magoo (Robert Tessier of "The Longest Yard"), who wants the girl for himself. Tessier makes a great second-string heavy, and this was before he shaved off his unruly mop of hair. Mind you, with a full head of hair, Tessier just doesn't look as intimidating. Magoo proves to be more than a handful for the scrawny Chino to handle. Worse than the hostile Magoo is Chino's own jealous girlfriend, Jo Ann (Sandra Bettin of "Angels from Hell"), who is rather dexterous with a knife. Chino discovers to his chagrin just how dexterous she is during the final quarter of this atmospheric biker yarn.
As Darryl sets out to rescue Chris, he finds help from an unexpected quarter, an older chapter member of another Glory Stomper group, Smiley (Jock Mahoney of "Tarzan Goes to India"), shows up. Smiley spends more time advising our protagonist than taking licks for him in close-quarters combat. This American International Pictures release is a low-budget, but entertaining saga that doesn't wear out its welcome. Jody McCrea-yes, Joel's son-is too clean-cut to be believed, but his girl is trying to wean him off the biker thing. He is reluctant to give up his bike because he prefers the free-wheeling style of his biker pals. They set their own hours, do their own thing, and have freedom galore. This sounds a lot like Peter Fonda in another AIP release "The Wild Angels." Dennis Hopper makes a solid antagonist, and he appeared in this drive-in feature before he elevated biker flicks to the level of art with "Easy Rider." As motorcycle mayhem goes, "The Glory Stompers" doesn't have a whole lot of stomp, but it is a gorgeous film to gaze at with a good cast.