 207 - WILD REBELS
Genre: ’60s Biker / Crime (1967,
Color)
Synopsis: After a crash totals his car, a
stockcar driver named Rod decides to get out of the racing
business. So, after selling all of his remaining
racing equipment, he goes to a bar where he can then dance
like a complete dork. There, a biker gang called
Satan’s (more like Heck’s) Angels recognizes Rod and tries
to recruit him into their ranks. Lead by the unrealistically
eloquent Jeeler, the rest of this biker gang consists of
the realistically dimwitted Banjo, the dumb – but
not mute enough – Fats (who took a surfboard to the
head... and probably wrote this script soon after), and
the ultra-easy Linda (who should’ve been nicknamed
“Doorknob” because everyone gets a turn with her).
This biker gang likes to rob places for “kicks” and
wants Rod to drive their getaway car for a bank robbery
they have planned. (Hmmm... didn’t they notice that he
tends to crash his cars?) Well, they should’ve learned how to drive a car instead for
“kicks” because Rod is recruited by the Dragnet-like
police to help them capture the gang. So Rod drives
the gang to the bank and, while the gang is inside, he bravely
flicks his headlights to tip off the police. This
leads to a shootout and then a chase by the rather
incompetent police, who can’t set up a decent roadblock or
shoot the broadside of a barn. Eventually, the chase
ends when the biker gang holes up in a lighthouse and, in
another shootout, the gang kills about a dozen more cops.
And the movie finally ends when Linda saves Rod by
shooting Jeeler in the back. (How do you like those
“kicks”???)
Host Segments:
- Prologue: Gypsy has a problem, so Joel gets Tom & Crow to help run the ship, while he disconnects Gypsy from the higher functions so he can talk to her
- Segment One (Invention Exchange): Joel holds his breathe as Gypsy finishes her talk; the Mads invent Biker Hobby Horses; Joel invents 3D Pizza based on the
tri-dimensional chess from the old Star Trek
- Segment Two: Joel presents some artistic drawings of great writers who also were bikers
- Segment Three: The Wild Rebels cereal commercial
- Segment Four: J&tBs spoof a song from the movie
- Segment Five (End): Joel gets the ’Bots to lighten up over the movie;
Frank likes the movie in a stupid, funny sort of way;
a letter
(No Stinger)
Don’s Review: This rather
dreary and dated film is the second of the Season Two “Biker
Trilogy” and it’s almost as good as the first one (Sidehackers)
and much, much better than the weak third one (Hellcats).
The riffing by J&tBs in this episode starts off like a
rocket and stays very strong for the first half of the
movie before tailing off slightly for the second
half. The host segments are fairly good in this
episode, with Gypsy actually getting to talk clearly and
the Invention Exchange being the highlights. So,
all-in-all, this is one experiment
that’s definitely worth watching for “kicks.”
Trivia Note: Servo is thankfully back
to his familiar gumball-dispenser shaped head, after
sporting an odd cylindrically-shaped head for the previous
two episodes (nothing is said about this change – I
guess his hair grew back) and Joel starts sporting a
goatee-type beard in this episode. (He’ll shave it off
after only a couple of episodes and then it’ll pop up
sporadically later in the Joel era.)
Don’s Rating: 
Related Link:
(1) Mighty Jack’s MST3K Review (Episode Review)
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