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Dennis Hopper and Michael J. Pollard (Doc Tesla) lead a crew of misfit Vietnam veterans highly trained in psychological warfare and armed with a B29 equipped as a flying pirate TV station creating havoc for the broadcast networks and authorities as they fly the country on a crusade to bring radical philosophies and classic audiovisuals to a conservative and media brainwashed viewing public.

On the verge of retirement they are compelled to mount one last campaign to destroy a demographically engineered presidential candidate who would see the country brought to war again.

Extensive explorations into concepts of non-violent defiance of authority and pursuit of justice, questioning conventional morality, exposition of criminal activities in the guise of righteousness by righteous people being classed as criminals by a corrupt establishment, existentialist themes, technology and rock music versus violence and force, nature of religious beliefs, political corruption and post Vietnam issues.

Some excellent 60's and 70's music in the soundtrack. Not to be missed.

During the past six months or so, I have intentionally sat and watched hordes of terrible movies, in search of the most entertainingly godawful ones I can. I've probably been through about 50 or so. Riding the Bus With My Sister? Seen it. Shatner? Tons. Rock 'N Roll Nightmare? Hell yes. Haim? Feldman? Ferrigno? Medieval Harvey Keitel? All this and more. Perhaps that is the only reason I managed to endure all the way through Riders of the Storm. I've become inured to a certain amount of bad movie pain. But not this much. I'm only human. This is, no hyperbole, one of the absolute dumbest movies I've seen in twenty-six years of movie watching.

My brain has been so thoroughly assaulted by stupidity over the last hour and a half that it can't even collate exactly what happened. A million things are all going on at once, and not a damn one of them makes sense. There's a plane, see? An old bomber flying across the U.S., and on it are seven, sometimes eight men, all but one of which have apparently not touched the ground in fifteen years. They're outlaws with no support system. At all, near as I can tell. Perhaps their plane is powered by wishes and daydreams, because they certainly have no way of getting fuel. They fly around the country using the sparse equipment on board to basically create a television program, S&M TV, and then interrupt legitimate broadcasts with their pirate signal. The things they broadcast are not professional or smart or funny or pertinent or, really, interesting in any way, and after fifteen years of it they have a nation of fans. Naturally. Did I mention one of the guys has a jet pack and that another one of them performs in-flight engine repairs without a safety harness? There's a third whose only job on board appears to be to do tai chi and sweat. You'll never once see the pilot out of his seat. Well, he's only been flying for fifteen years; another two or three and he'll take a nap. They have no way of getting a steady stream of food, but don't worry: the jetpacker (oh God) sometimes brings candy bars and whatnot stuffed in his jacket. This movie thinks you are dumb, dumb, dumb.

Our heroes are trying to discredit Mrs. Westinghouse, a female presidential candidate. They're disgruntled Vietnam veterans and she's looking to beef up the military and, they're guessing, go to war again. She's utterly without charisma, couldn't deliver a rousing speech if her life depended on it, doesn't come off as intelligent, and looks kind of like someone's homely grandma. Clearly, she must be stopped at any cost. Furthermore, she's labeled at one point as "mysterious," and the only way the character makes even a little sense is if she basically popped up out of nowhere recently--had no past *at all*--and somehow quickly became some party's primary candidate. I'll refrain from giving away what even the back of the VHS box can't help but give away, but Westinghouse's big secret is just another fragrant turd of stupid the movie lays down. It'll be obvious from the word go anyway.

Whenever I thought I could give up for a bit and mentally move past one lump of potent idiocy like a speed bump just so I could follow the movie, along came two more. At one point I literally sat staring slack-jawed at the screen for probably ten minutes because I just couldn't deal with it. The movie tries to take swipes at religion, politics, country music, the military, aerobics workout videos, etc., etc., but it's all so amateurish and painfully unfunny that it seems about on the level of a really bad public access show with a mysteriously large budget. It plays about like an eleven year old wrote a script and, through a series of farcical errors, it got produced and turned into a real movie with real money behind it.

It's got plenty of garish 80s style behind it--the fact that the director worked on music videos came as no surprise, nor did the fact that this was his first movie--but its substance is practically nil. The movie has no idea that's the case, however. It seems at times to believe that it's a satire, but it's way too dim to be capable of meeting any satirical ambitions. On a second viewing it might be laughable, but there's so much to deal with that the first time around was just a painful exercise in masochism. I'm not sure I'd even recommend it as an entertainingly bad movie. Useful as a trial of sorts, a challenge for you and your friends to get through, perhaps.

During the Communism there was a custom you basically had not to pay for State propaganda. Well, in America you probably have to pay for your own piece of propagandist trash.

I have expected some sort of black comedy. Instead I got boring, crazy, strange and stupid movie about the proper left wing war hating Vietnam veterans fighting the very bad republican religious nuts who want to wage unfair wars in the world. This movie seems to come straight out of heads of Politburo guys after an night of vodka drinking and a dip of LSD.

I hope the film makers have asked for money to make this crash in the Soviet Union. You know the was a lot of similar trash made in here so you would well fit in line with this "piece of modern progressive cinema aiming at the corrupted militarist capitalism".

I'm so angry I have paid for this. I have seen a ton of such crap during my adulthood. We had to, there was no way around that. Fortunately, the propaganda was free at least at that time.

I may have been one of the few people to have actually seen this movie in the theaters in the 80's. I was living in Houston,TX at the time, and had heard of it because some of the filming was done in the Houston area (I was very familiar with the shopping mall and downtown scene locations).

This movie is a strange mix of Classic Rock, Science Fiction, and Social Parody/Commentary. Anyone interested in at least two of these three genres MUST see this film.

I was lucky enough to be rooming with a fellow in Houston who enjoyed the movie as much as I did, and didn't mind watching it dozens of times. Over the course of 5 years, we introduced at least a couple of people a month to this film, and almost always had positive feedback.

I consider this one of Dennis Hopper's best roles. When I state that his "Captain" character is one of the most sane of the plane crew, that should make clear what an eccentric group of individuals he is surrounded by.

I'm a little disappointed that this movie didn't get more recognition than what it did. As far as I know, there has been no DVD release for it. With a soundtrack of its caliber, this movie screams for a DVD with a remastered audio track.

Just when you thought you had seen one of Dennis Hopper's worst movies ever, along comes "The Amarican Way", and a new contender for worst of the worst is born. The script is like a free fall from the heavens, finally crashing to earth in such a predictable manner, there is nothing left. Don't ponder for meaning, because if this is an anti-war movie, it fails to prove any point other than mayhem. More like "The Groove Tube" or "Kentucky Fried Movie" on acid, only the most tolerant viewer will remain through the entire film. In fact, the only relief from the random dialog in the plane is the few welcome moments when the viewer is back on planet earth, a place this entire production has never been. Definitely the cream of the crap, and a must miss, avoid, movie. - MERK

This is the type of cinema I live for. A bizarre 80's political black comedy masterpiece.

In "The American Way" we find ourselves following an eclectic bunch of PTSD suffering Vietnam Veterans aboard a B-29 bomber called the "Uncle Slam". The group is flying low over the USA taking over the airwaves with S&MTV- their pirate television broadcasts of rock and roll mash ups and other dissident material.

"The Captain" is team leader and Producer of S&MTV, played amazingly by Dennis Hopper (RIP). The rest of the crew consists of: Sam, the hunky jet pack-wielding ground technician and journalist; Ace, the Dr. Strangelove like Director that is electric-wheelchair bound with a hook and American Flag tattoo on his bald head; Claude, the Actor who dresses and acts like Tony Montana; Doc, the acid tripping, technical wizard and radarman; Jerry, the possibly schizophrenic pot smoking pilot that may or not be having UFO or God experiences (he's not sure); Minh, the bomb-riding Vietnamese man who does martial arts while watching American movies about Vietnam; and Benedict, the Lando Calrissian helmet wearing cook, who also serves the food and is left to do the most dangerous tasks.

Why are they doing this? Well, The Captain is in constant contact with major media executives trying to work out a broadcast deal for his men and their TV program...oh and...to ensure they won't face any criminal charges, of course.

That is, until they discover that a Thatcher-esque (Michelle Bachmann-esque might be more appropriate) woman named Westinghouse is being groomed for the Presidency. The Captain fears that if this woman is elected President, innocent men are going to be forced into fighting a f**ked up war in South America, much like Vietnam (the war that clearly messed them each up, in one hilarious way or another), so that politicians like Westinghouse can make themselves look "strong".

Originally using the pirate broadcasts as a means to coerce themselves a cushy TV deal, the men shift the purpose of their mission when Westinghouse makes her candidacy official. Their goal now to: "Put this bitch Westinghouse out of business"; their weapon of choice: pirate television.

Their first attack targets a national nightly news broadcast with a smear campaign against Westinghouse. The attack is successful and manages to capture the attention of both the military- who believe The Captain and his men are "Experts of Psychological Warfare"- and Westinghouse herself, who wants them shot out of the sky...

The Captain and his crew refuse to back down- despite the direct threat to their lives- and continue to expose Westinghouse as the fraudulent manipulator she really is. This all culminates in an unexpected and totally hilarious conclusion that should surely convince the masses that Westinghouse is not the right candidate for President of the USA.

This much overlooked and absolutely brilliant hidden gem- both in message and style- must be seen. It is sort of like Brazil meets Network meets Airplane. It satirizes many topics- on both the media and political fronts- that continue to be relevant to this day, such as: how technology and the media has made war seem like a video game; how the masses are manipulated by the tube; how politicians are sold on image as opposed to their stance on the issues; how politicians will wage wars and exploit religion to obtain votes; how right-wing politicians and televangelists make good bedfellows (as they both manipulate the public for their own gain); and how there is a need for activist minded individuals to work together and take the power back, even if it means using extra-legal (but peaceful) means.

Do not pass up the chance to check this film out, it is Highly Recommended. It will have you laughing your ass off and pondering the political message at the same time. 10 out of 10.

'The American Way' is a curious movie, half zany comedy, half political commentary. Sixties survivors Dennis Hopper ('Easy Rider') and Michael J. Pollard ('Bonnie And Clyde') lead a band of Vietnam veterans who broadcast from a pirate TV station located in a B-29 bomber. While negotiating some kind of amnesty/media deal they continue to circle the globe and beam down their programs which mix subversive hijinks and rock'n'roll. Hopper, "The Captain", becomes increasingly irritated with Mrs Westinghouse (Nigel Pegram), an ambitious warmongering politician who aligns herself with the Moral Majority. The Captain decides that he and his comrades last mission will be to discredit her and foil her plans to run for the Senate, and possibly the Presidency. I can't honestly say that this movie is actually all that funny, but it's certainly more entertaining than say 'Rude Awakening', the lame Eric Roberts/Cheech Marin vehicle that similarly deals with 60s idealists encountering the Reaganite 80s. The main reason to watch this is for Dennis Hopper's spirited performance, which is actually much better than the uneven material he has to work with. 'The American Way' is an interesting failure that may appeal to fans of 60s music and pop culture. I wish I could say it was a lot better than it is but even with its many flaws (i.e. it's variable soundtrack which ranges from Hendrix, The Kinks and Alice Cooper to Godawful generic 80s MTV schlock rock) it has quite a few amusing moments and therefore I say it's still worth a rental.

This movie is horribly dated by modern technology and society, but I still get a kick out of it every time I watch.

The best parts of the film are the television parodies. TV evangelists, politicians and even country music gets a swipe in this film. Although some moments are quite serious, the film is mostly played for laughs.

Totally enjoyable!

When this was made, the script was a comment on Regan's America and how the Military/Industrial Alliance combined with Fundamentalist Right Wing Churches tried to influence US politics.

Sadly it seems that the points made in this picture are just as valid now as they were then.

Hopper is outstanding as the Captain. He is joined by a top class cast who obviously take great delight in their roles.

I particularly loved the soundtrack and will forever look at the music of Jimi Hendrix in a new light.

Afficionados of the work of "Filthy George" of New York Cable TV fame, will enjoy the sequence which pays tribute to his rather unique "news gathering" techniques.

What else can I say, great story, great script, great cast, great soundtrack - a classic, don't miss any opportunity to see this picture which restored my faith in the ability of the US industry to produce an intelligent, witty and thought provoking movie.

Riders of the Storm is a little known film starring Dennis Hopper, featuring him as the captain of an ex-USAF electronic warfare aircraft, now dedicated to filling the airwaves with pirate TV broadcasts. Politics, TV evangelism, the USAF, Transvestisism, public access TV: none can escape the cutting observations of this must see film.

The film dates from the time when Reagan was supporting the fundamentalist Christian movement. In the story the candidate woes support from a religious group, which has a strong resemblance to the style of Jehovah's witnesses and their publications. Quite hilarious especially if you are familiar with witnesses.

Dennis Hopper creates a great performance as mad captain and he's not the only mad character in this movie. The captain's crew is formed by Vietnam veterans who fly B52 bomber-converted to pirate TV-station plane. They decide to start their own campaign to expose a candidate whom they know to be a war monger planning to take the nation to another war.

I've been collecting Dennis Hopper films for some time. Tonight I decided to watch "Riders of the Storm" and I'm happily impressed! I bought a VHS copy of it on line for less than $2.00, and a DVD version is over $30.! This movie falls in the category of "Off Beat" or beyond.

Hopper played a Vietnam vet in "Apocalpse Now", but this one is much, much closer to one of my all time favorites, "O.C. & Stiggs".

My first reaction (and it's still playing), is that it's a combination of "Max Headroom" and "Pray TV".

Wonderful entertainment if you like the style.

Hope you can find a copy.

A group of Vietnam War veteran pilots try to discredit an ultra-conservative presidential candidate. Campy, low-brow satire of American politics, right-wing morality and the media. Very inexpensive film will probably appeal to Boomers who were in their youth during the 60's and early 70's. (Rating: B+)

Sorry. I can't think of a better summary.

Riders Of The Storm rules. It's very, very funny, and at the same time, I felt it was very dramatic. I was suprised it's very little known, (maybe because it had a low budget and was filmed in 16mm) but it is well worth watching. It is not a waste of time at all (not like our 'friend', Mr. Maltin tells us) in fact watch it over and over and over and then...watch it some more!