Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

utgard14 A unique and interesting movie from George Romero about a traveling renaissance fair troupe that struggles with pressures from outside and within their own group. The troupe's "king" (Ed Harris) takes the knight thing very seriously and tries to lead by Arthurian ideals. But others don't share his passion and are tempted by outside offers of fame. Nice change of pace non-horror film from Romero features many familiar faces from his other films. Stephen King also has an annoying cameo. Maybe a little longer than necessary but well worth checking out. It's one of those films you revisit every few years and generally come away liking it more each time.

gavin6942 A medieval reenactment troupe find it increasingly difficult to keep their family-like group together, with pressure from local law enforcement, interest from entertainment agents and a growing sense of delusional from their leader.We have many Romero regulars here in a type of film not generally associated with Romero: Christine Forrest, John Amplas, Tom Savini, Ken Foree, Michael Gornick, Scott Reiniger, Patricia Tallman. Although Ed Harris was not a regular, even he might be counted considering his appearance in the next picture ("Creepshow").Generally, I prefer Romero when he wanders from the living dead. His first two attempts are amazing and will remain legendary forever, but then it all went sharply downhill (and he seems unable to stop). But his other ventures -- "Creepshow", "Monkeyshines" and "Martin", for example -- are just as good or better but largely overlooked.This one is even farther from his pattern, not really horror in any respect (a genre he has rarely strayed from). Although a bit long, and at times a bit confused (some plot elements seem thrown in for no real reason), it is a fun idea that has surprisingly not been turned into real life. Who would not want to see motorcycles with riders jousting?Trying to find a "hero" in this film is hard to do. Obviously our protagonist is Billy (Harris), who has a strong belief system and leads his knights. Injury and risk of death is accepted by him, and each morning begins with a flogging (for reasons I must have missed). And yet, he may not be a hero because he follows his ideals too far. When the attorney / agent tells him that he must fund his ideals rather than let them die with him, that is sound advice. But Billy cannot see it.Some credit should be given for addressing the issue of homosexuality. Through the lens of 2014, it might seem a bit silly the way the characters approach the issue. But in 1981, I imagine this was a bold move for a film that wanted a wide audience. What it had to do with the main plot is unclear (apparently nothing), but I am impressed that a romance was shown positively without being the butt of jokes.

myfanwy-3 After going to see "Excalibur" with my brother and his friends, I was told "Next week we're going to see "Knightriders". I said "what's that?" and my brother told me "A George Romero film" and my first response was "Ick!" I'm not a Romero fan (my brother is), so when this came out originally I almost didn't go see it. Then, during the intervening week I saw a single ad on TV for it and thought it was a King Arthur version, but on motorcycles, so I figured, what the heck (especially after "Excalibur" which was both good and bad, IMO). I was stunned. I was completely blown away. I cried. I still cry, all these years later. I'm in the Society for Creative Anachronism (and yes, it was very loosely based on a real incident, and extrapolated very neatly by Romero without actually reporting it) and I tell everyone I know that they should see it, at least once. Yes, it's a low-budget biker movie. But it has heart, and some great performances, and the soul of a poet. It says more about chivalry and honor and truth then anything else I have ever seen. I completely understood King Billy's motivations in trying to keep the others to his code, and in Morgan's initial rejection of them. The look on Morgan's face when he realizes that the crass commercialism of the promoter is completely against Billy's code, and that in spite of trying to rebel against that code it's what he (Morgan) really does want after all -- that's priceless.

Jonny_Numb ...it seems like you do your best work when shuffling, flesh-craving reanimated corpses are involved. There's a reason the "Living Dead" tetralogy is the stuff of legend and Romero's 'side-projects' are mostly little-known footnotes within his career--while often artistically innovative and unconventional, efforts like "Monkey Shines," "Bruiser," and "Knightriders" are--at best--tonally uneven experiences. Here we have a modern-day Ren Faire tent community that travels from town to town, putting on jousting competitions (done on motorcycles, natch) and living the medieval lifestyle in a modern world. Romero uses this postmodernist fairy tale to frame a heavy-handed (and overlong) meditation on man's code of honor and what it takes to hang onto it in a world where everybody else is "selling out" to live a life of luxury (yes, an up-and-coming rock band could have easily been substituted for the Ren Faire). The film is ponderous at points (with many sledgehammer-obvious monologues), repetitive at others (while the jousting tournaments are a marvel of slick editing, they don't vary much), and the premise is treated so seriously that at times it's hard not to laugh (and granted, there is a lot of intentional humor as well). Despite all this, Romero's voice does come out in certain dialog scenes, and the production is wonderfully photographed by Michael Gornick; the performances vary (with a young Ed Harris all over the map), but Tom Savini shows some formidable chops as a potential traitor to the cause. The commentary on the 'knights'' displacement in a world given in to modernity meets an uneven end (blatantly ripping off "Easy Rider"), but "Knightriders" is an oddly transfixing--albeit inferior--piece of work.