On Any Sunday 30th Anniversary Collection (1981) Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me clarify up-front: The main attraction, "On Any Sunday," earns 4 stars as a classic film. For any kid who saw this movie when it came out in 1971, it was a life-changing event. Most of us took up motorcycle riding because of it. And to see it again after so many years is a real thrill. It's the free-spirited, shaggy-haired, helmet-optional, no-padding, sunshiny '70s - with a parade of old, now-extinct dirtbikes to drool over. As with "Endless Summer," Bruce Brown shone sunshine upon a little-known pasttime and made it cool, accessible and very popular.
The big problem arises when Bruce's son Dana takes the helm to offer the "revisited" supplementary DVDs. What Dana has put together is a mish-mash of unused footage from the original - along with some 30-years-later home-video interviews with Dad, Malcolm Smith, Mert Lawwill, and a handful of the other racer stars of the movie.
As the "writer," Dana gives us only one-line-at-a-time, occasional screen text to tell the story. It's choppy, poorly written, grammatically flawed. For example, a sample line when Dana is explaining that we are seeing this footage for the first time. "It it being shown for the first time." It it??!! How could they miss that? And did Dana not inherit any of Dad's narrative skills? If you want us to feel that old Brown magic - then talk to us, don't type little bulletins across the screen with mis-spellings.
As "director" and "editor," Dana chops together average footage from 30 years ago with shallow reminiscences from today. It feels like someone's first project with a home-editing system. It looks like Bruce was interviewed at his dining room table - with no professional lighting and no professional camera work. And no professional interviewing skills. Note to Dana: The only way you're going to pull interesting stories from your interviewees is by asking interesting questions.
Ughh - I could go on and on. Long story short: buy the movie, "On Any Sunday." Skip the "revisit."

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