Riding with Death (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews

Two bad episodes that go worse together

[eichelbergersports · 1/10 · 18 June 2006]

This "film" is nothing more than two episodes of the short-lived (actually, that's an understatement, considering the show lasted only from Sept. 23-Oct. 28, 1976) NBC series, "Gemini Man," which was itself simply a re-warmed version of David McCallum's "The Invisible Man," also a failure from the same network earlier that year.

In this program, Ben Murphy ("Being From Another Planet," "Alias Smith & Jones") plays "Sam Casey," an employee of Intersect (a government think-tank of some kind), who, because of an underwater explosion, and by using a special watch, has the power to become invisible -up to 15 minutes a day. This is based, very loosely, on something that H.G. (Homer Gump) Wells wrote-once.

Murphy's co-workers include Katherine Crawford as "Dr. Abby Lawrence," who serves no useful purpose other than to get in the way (or observe the proceedings on a large TV screen), and his boss, "Leonard Driscoll (played by William Sylvester, "Devil Doll," "Gorgo," "2001: A Space Odyssey)," who is also obsessed with the "elusive" Robert Denby.

First segment has an evil scientist (John Milford) trying to embezzle money for some reason by hiring the dimwitted Murphy to drive a semi full of explosive "tripaladene" (so named because it "triples vehicle mileage"), across the country.

During this silliness, he (and, unfortunately, the audience, as well) meets up with one-time minor league pop and country star, Jim Stafford ("Spiders And Snakes," "My Girl Bill," "Wildwood Weed"), typecast perfectly as a braid-dead, redneck trucker named "Buffalo Bill.

His introductory shouts of "Ah'm on t'hair! Ah'm on t'hair!" over his citizen's band radio bring back all of the horrible memories we thought had vanished with C.W. McCall, Cletus Maggard and all of the other idiots who populated the high point of the C.B. craze.

Later on, Richard Dysart (a decent actor who starred in "L.A. Law," and "Being There") makes a cameo appearance, but it doesn't do any good, although the conclusion of that part, when Milford is taken away and Sylvester's hair looks like Bill Murray's at the end of "Kingpin," is drop-dead (unintentionally) hilarious.

Part two features Murphy, posing as a pit crewman for the ever-annoying Stafford, who has miraculously become a stock car racer. Both work for Denby, who finally shows up in the form of Ed Nelson ("Teenage Caveman," "Night of the Blood Beast"), and is a villain who invents a radio that can blow things up, or something to that effect.

This half is lamely tied to the first by Murphy saying to Sylvester, "I understand you grew a mustache while I was away," and proves, if nothing else, that stock car racing was just as boring in 1976 as it is today.

Highlight comes as Stafford, attempting to perform during "Amatuer Night" at the Pit Stop Saloon, gets into a fight with a Robert Shaw look-a-like and a Margo Gortner clone. He later lets out an embarrassing series of whoops in a public restroom because he's allowed to drive a car that eventually explodes.

While all of this takes place, Crawford is watching, unemotionally, on a big TV screen from Intersect headquarters. There is NO explanation for this, and no practical demonstration on HOW there can be cameras at the various locations, but thinking about this too much can be mind-boggling, so I'll leave it at that.

The end has Stafford "singing" a "thank you for saving my life" song to Murphy, while Crawford continues to watch - this time in SLOW MOTION! This garbage should have been left in NBC's dumpster where it belonged, and only serves as an interesting episode for the smartly satirical cable program, "Mystery Science Theatre 3000."

Did we need this "movie"?

[Gislef · 1/10 · 21 December 1998]

Certainly not. This, the Master Ninja stuff, and two Kolchak movies (Crackle of Death, and Demon & The Mummy) display the odd penchant for taking two bad episodes of a TV show and stitching them together into one crummy movie. The strategy behind this is the studio wants to save the good episodes for separate syndication, so whoever makes these movies takes the worst episodes and stitches them together. I'm old enough to have seen Gemini Man, and these _are_ the worst episodes of that series, which displayed a modicum of intelligence at the best of times. They deliberately pick out the worst episodes to save the best for syndication, and the result is this unwatchable crap.

Be glad that this never made it big

[bat-5 · 1/10 · 1 April 2000]

Someone at Universal thought it would be a good idea to make a show about a guy who can turn himself invisible. But, they made him a government agent, and made him mellow. Dr. Heywood Floyd, transported from the year 2001, assigns the ever cool and mellow Sam Casey to transport Murray from the MTM Show, from point A to point B. Oh there's also something about an unstable liquid. Anyway, Captain Stubing intends to doublecross our mellow hero and take off with ten million dollars. Then there's some scenes with Jim Stafford singing and driving a truck, Sam turning invisible and then finally a truck blowing up. Then we go into the fast paced world of raceing! There's the elusive Robert Denby and why he's elusive, we never find out. Dr. Floyd is harassed by his dentist and a woman named Cupcake plots and schemes. Sam and Buffalo Bill, as Stafford is known in this mishmash, throw some punches, drive some cars and thwart the machinations of the ever elusvie Robert Denby. Oh, and Abby is quite a gal. She's such a gal that she can view things in her lab and project her thoughts over space and time. Based on a story by H.G. Wells, and I think he's suing.

"Inspired by HG Wells", who is now spinning in his grave.

[Ubiq · 1/10 · 4 May 1999]

Two episodes of atrocious 70s TV show stapled together to make a film. Secret agent has ability to become invisible due to exposure radiation or something. Has a "Southern" character only slightly less annoying than The Dukes of Hazzard. If you see a copy of it somewhere in a used bin, buy it then burn the video.

Ben Murphy, PI

[soleyforpizza · 3/10 · 15 September 2007]

Well, ratings of less than three stars are usually reserved for movies with obvious technical problems, like poor lighting or sound-sync issues. But really, it's superfluous to give this "movie," which is really just two (bad) episodes of a titanically idiotic television show (badly) spliced together, any rating at all.

But you can have some fun with it. In fact, the more times you watch this movie with Mike and the Bots (episode 814, and one of their best), the more completely idiotic and unbelievable pieces you can pick out of the movie's paper-thin premise. Literally every single thing in this movie is done or happens for apparently no reason whatsoever. Characters behave as if they can see the camera and ham it up accordingly. The dialog is cliché after cliché. After repeated viewings, the idiocy becomes manifest and reaches a level of sublimity simply not found in ordinary stupid television. Really. It's almost difficult to believe that writers Leslie Stevens and Frank Telford thought their potential viewers could be so stupid.

For instance, consider the scene in which Sam Casey (Ben Murphy) pulls into a garage to have his brakes checked. No, the brakes weren't acting up. He apparently just thought his brakes needed to be checked. The mechanic ostensibly checks his brakes, but as Casey drives away, we get a shot of a dangling brake line (and in the process are presented with a factual error involving the way that brakes work on a big rig, but whatever) and Carl the mechanic looking sinister. Apparently, he's a bad guy.

But wait. We're supposed to believe that the evil Dr. Hale (idiotically riding in his chopper and very obviously following Casey the whole time) somehow knew that Casey was going to randomly stop at a random garage to randomly have his brakes checked, and somehow managed to plant a bad guy there in advance with instructions to surreptitiously cut the truck's brake line? There, you see, is the sublime stupidity. It boggles the mind.

Also beware of insipid idiot cracker Jim Stafford, doing his best to make men everywhere ashamed of men's clothing in general. Ugh.

Watch and enjoy, folks. Watch and enjoy.

Keep on truckin', you turkeys!

[headbone · 1/10 · 13 October 2002]

Typical cheese of the 70's. Good for laughs. Overly smug Ben Murphy plays a secret agent named Sam Casey who works for "Intersect", which is housed in a redressed parking garage.(Apparently Intersect couldn't afford a better office building). He was apparently involved in an accident earlier in his career that caused him to turn invisible, but he was cured. However, he was left with the ability to turn back invisible whenever he wanted, by using a handy wristwatch outfitted for him by Intersect. This we learn via vague flashbacks which leave us with more questions than answers. witness Murphy's narration of the flashback: "...all I could say was, 'What the hell happened?'"

The movie itself is not really a movie at all. It is actually two different episodes of the very short lived TV series "Gemini Man", which ran in or around 1976. It was probably spliced together because they were the only two episodes which also co-starred (I use the term 'starred' lightly) hillbilly music personality Jim Stafford.

The two episodes were obviously unrelated other than that, and the poor editing doesn't help to cover up this fact. Watch & listen for the edits where they try to tie these two together, you'll have a hearty laugh.

I actually wasted some time researching facts about the original TV series and found out that the second part (episode) of this movie never actually aired on TV. The show had already been canceled five or six weeks previous to its scheduled airdate. I guess the producer just couldn't bear to waste all that great footage of Jim Stafford yelping like a hyena in heat.

One word of advice: Do yourself a favor and locate the episode of the classic TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000" which features this movie. Then you can *really* enjoy Riding With Death. Its one of their funniest episodes ever. (With material like RWD, how could it not be hilarious?)

very bad but somehow interesting

[portobellobelle · 2/10 · 26 May 2001]

Like most folks, I suspect, I saw Riding with Death on MST3K. There's no question that it's a totally hackneyed, badly acted, horribly edited movie. But there's something about their attempt to splice together two separate episodes into a movie that moves me. They're incredibly clumsy in their attempt; mainly it consists of totally obvious voiceovers while the camera shows a shot of a truck or a landscape. Gene Roddenberry, whatever his flaws, was able to do this brilliantly in "The Menagerie." But watching the attempt in Riding with Death can be fun, and all the 70's stuff (e.g., fadeaway jerk handshake) is a blast. So I give it a 2, perhaps my first-ever non-1 for a Msted movie.

Riding...with slight abrasions

[godofweather · 1/10 · 29 March 2005]

The 70s were a unique time in American history. On the plus side, you have Star Wars, and some really fine rock and roll. On the minus side were the gas crisis, and Riding with Death. This movie, which is, of course, two BAD episodes of the failed Gemini Man TV series, was quickly packaged and sent to theaters in an attempt to recoup some money from this series. We are introduced to Sam Murphy...or is it Ben Casey? Either way, same result: a cheesy 70s era actor trying to be something hes not. Ben Murphy works for Intersect, a sort of poor mans spy network. Murphy has a special power...the power to turn invisible for short periods of time, as a result of some sort of accident. We get to see Ben in action early in the film, as he takes on two men who try to jump a doctor in the Intersect parking lot. We learn in the next scene that these men are trying to steal the formula of a gas additive.

A brilliant plan is hatched, where Ben Murphy is tapped by William Sylvester(of Devil Doll and 2001 fame) to drive Dr. Hale(a Captain Stubbing lookalike) in a moving truck complete with bolt-hole about 35 miles or so to....somewhere. And the next day, the mission begins, slightly ahead of schedule. Murphys partner in crime, Abby Lawrence, arrives a few minutes after they leave, and finds out that the fuel additive is unstable by blowing up her Kleenex. She tries to report this, but is captured by some other 70s men, and put in a laundry bag. Dr. Hale tells Murphy to stop at another lab to pick up something indispensable, and laundry bags are taken in and out of the truck. And, what do you know, Dr. Hale and Abby have switched places, with Abby locked in the truck vault with the unstable highly explosive additive. After some attempted sabotage, and way too many scenes with the cracker Jim Stafford, Murphy finally figures out that hes been duped, which probably happens to him at least 30 times a day.

Well, using his awesome invisible powers, Murphy gets the drop on Dr. Hale, and is rewarded by being told that he's elusive as Robert Denby, a name that means absolutely nothing up to this point. In an extremely violent cut, we are thrown into the second part of this movie, which revolves around Bob Denby blowing up things. The jet plane I can understand, but his own race car??!? It boggles the mind. Anyway, Murphy is reunited with the cracker Stafford, who sings way too much in this portion of the film. Suffice to say, Ben Murphy wins the C-class race, and is able to get the car far enough away from the filmmakers to avoid blowing them up, which is our collective loss. Riding with Death will leave you on the edge of your seat, especially if you really have to use the bathroom. I give this fine television episode...I mean movie a big 1 out of 10. MST3K episode: 9 of 10

Neat wristwatch

[InzyWimzy · 5/10 · 18 August 2004]

Obviously, this grandly made for TV movie stars, well, the camera mostly stays on Ben Murphy as Sam Casey; supposed Harvard grad who gains awesome power to disappear, much like the audience's interest. I thought Ben really stunk it up as Prof. McCadden in Being from Another Planet , the only other film (than goodness!) I've seen him in, but this one is less agonizing as say repeatedly rubbing your hand to a bloody pulp on sharp coral. Honestly, this really cool title Riding with Death is far from it, but watch it enough, it's actually so crappy and bad that you just have to laugh!

What are you in store for? Well there's our Harvard alum trucking a highly volatile chemical, less than honorable doctor highly anal over patent papers, one really not so great gal Abby (nice tissue toss Abby!), spies doing bad deeds in front of corporate buildings or in restaurant parking lots, really hilarious amateur night, race car event in Ontario(?), less than helpful gas attendant, that elusive Robert Denby who likes to make things go kablooey!, Riding with Death is aptly named as your senses take in the stimuli and cry in horror. Also, Jim Stafford aka Buffalo Bill is the most stereotypical yokel who hootenannys and YEE-HA's at any chance, that he actually steals the spotlight from Ben Murphy (not that hard a task). Lots of mumbling, nonsensical plot, and you have yourself one laugher. Mike and the bots were right: what's the deal with New England journalism?

Do you like the 70's?

[Mitchell-7 · 2/10 · 30 January 1999]

Two episodes of a really bad 70's T.V. show crammed together. It's worth watching for laughs. Observe all the bell bottoms, cheap dialogue, and unquestionably the worst actor I ever saw (the guy who plays Dr. Hale). Expensive and hard to find, so stick to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, which appears on the Sci-Fi channel. "Riding With Death" occasionally runs.

My Glasses are Filthy

[gbye23-1 · 1/10 · 19 August 2006]

This was one of the best MST'ed movies ever. Two episodes of "The Gemini Man" were pieced together to make this into a made for TV movie. Horrible to watch but mesmerizing to see.

Ben Murphy stars as Sam Casey, a Harvard Law graduate and Jurist Doctorate. Why this make him part of a Gov't crime fighting agency is still up for grabs. While on a mission underwater he was near a nuclear explosion that made him invisible. NO problem for the govt, they give him a Seiko watch that can stabilize his DNA and keep him visible. Why his clothes disappear is also up for grabs.

Anywho, he has to protect a scientist who has a new fuel additive, blah blah blah, hillbilly gay trucker, blah blah blah, scientist was in on the deception, blah blah blah. I cant go on.. Its to painful

Long story short. After Ben saves the day, a one sentence link is established to join the second half of the story. It goes downhill from there.

Just don't watch it without Mike and the Bots. You were warned

"What a turkey..."

[thehardyboyz2043 · 1/10 · 23 October 2001]

well let's just say that one line from "Riding with Death" completely summarizes the type of movie it is and that is a big, fat turkey.

This one was deliciously roasted on MST by Mike and the oh so funny robots, with many references to how dopey the hero, Ben Murphy really is.

The flimsy plot jumps from an explosive being transported in a truck to another explosive substance being used in a race car to kill off some people for no apparent reason. The reason for the jumping of the plot most likely stems from the fact that the movie is no more than 2 episodes of a short lived 70's T.V. series, slammed together and released in theatres. Oh well flimsy plot aside, the rest of the movie is just plain horrific, most of the bad stuff is in the form of awful acting, which raises the question as to how this got made into a T.V. show to begin with.

Well, the MST version was a lot of fun, though this is still an incredibly bad movie. 9 for the MST version, none for the actual film.

I remember the series! ....they made a movie??

[Mister-6 · 2/10 · 16 May 2000]

Way back in the evil, post-hallucinogenic '70s, the TV execs were trying to figure out a way to make the kids tune in and turn on to NBC, and came up with the series "Gemini Man", a series about a secret agent who can turn invisible with the help of his special watch. The kids didn't find it groovy, man, so it went to Nowhere-Ville.

What does that have to do with "Riding with Death"? Everything, man!

As a gasp of air before going under, the producers decided to not only take a couple of the show episodes and sew them together to make a movie, but did so with different characters in main parts, a five year gap between plots and Jim Stafford. Remember Jim - "I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes"... or cheesy TV movies.

And Ben Murphy... WHY stick with television after "Alias Smith and Jones"? Surely there are other movie projects to be made.... Wait, he starred in "Time Walker". Never mind, Ben.

As far as the '70s go, not every movie of that decade ages well, and fewer TV shows do, either. Therefore, a TV show that they try to make episodes into a movie with is double trouble. So, instead of "Riding with Death", watch "Then Came Bronson" instead. Michael Parks - Ben Murphy, what's the difference, anyway?

Two stars - in fond memory of the '70s, not of this flick.

70's cheese.

[JeffG. · 10 October 1999]

This is actually two unrelated episodes of the 70's TV show "Gemini Man" strung together to form a movie. And a really bad one too. It's not hard to see why this show was so short lived. Stars Ben Murphy (of "Being From Another Planet" and "Parasite" fame) and the hideous Jim Stafford. A real awful, rotting chunk of 70's cheese.

Good MST3K episode, though.

1970's trucking at its worst.

[icehole4 · 1/10 · 29 January 2002]

H.G. Wells probably turned over in his grave when he found out his name was associated with this stinky film. The main star of this film, Ben Murphy, is also noted for being Prof. Douglas McCadden in the film Time Walker. Another actor, Alan Oppenheimer, was probably so ashamed of this film he retreated into just providing his voice for cartoons and voice overs. Bad all around and very forgettable.

A two-part TV show gets crammed into a movie...

[zeus-27 · 5/10 · 10 August 1999]

Ben Murphy, Mr. Mellow, stars in a TV show that somehow is a movie. I laughed the whole way through although this was a semi-serious movie. The plot was hopeless and the actors were unintentionally funny. Buffalo Bill or whatever his name was, was a sorry excuse for an actor who was Ben Murphy's extremely hickish trucker buddy. If you liked dukes of hazards, you may love this movie, but I would strongly suggest not to watch it. I give it a 2 out of 10

Turkeys!

[jeffreygunn · 1/10 · 12 June 2019]

Whatever the writers of this movie were on, I want some.

Not THE H.G. Wells, Hud Gomer Wells.

[mdf-87936 · 2/10 · 25 December 2020]

If you enjoy watching a discombobulated, incoherent dumpster fire of a movie, then Riding With Death is for you. Please, for the love of God, do not watch this without the MST3K commentary. I tried once without it and it was brutal. You have been warned!

Lame but Watchable

[alwaysandy · 4/10 · 5 January 2021]

Any film with Andrew Prine in it is worth watching, even in a supporting role, and, yes, he's that good. But this oddly thought out VHS offering has a few more misses than hits. How, for instance, does the "hero" suddenly become fluent in trucker lingo seemingly overnight? Why does an explosive advertised to be powerful enough to destroy an entire town merely wreck a truck? Where did anyone come up with these ideas? I couldn't watch the second half; another hour of the singing trucker was too much to deal with. The VHS tape was really good quality and that was a redeeming virtue. Could have been worse.

What, so no airholes in the mask?

[Oosterhartbabe · 1/10 · 17 March 2004]

(spoilers) That was my favorite scene of this groovy 70's cheese fest, when Murphy's doing the stupid flashback to when the accident(He wet 'em!)first made him invisible. He's wearing bandages around his head, and there's no holes in the bandages for him to breathe through! Not that Murphy really needed any oxygen to his brain to make this lame movie. He and the really annoying cracker Jim Stafford had to be two of the stupidest people I've ever seen. How could this guy be a secret agent? he doesn't have the brain cells to be a counter worker at McDonald's. Then there's the (she's some gal) oh-so-perky Abbey, and Leonard Driscoll who never stops washing his glasses. Round this out with not one but TWO incomprehensible plots, having to listen to the grating Stafford actually sing several songs and howl like a deranged dog, and two of the lamest villians to ever be put on celluloid, and you have the glory and wonder that is Riding With Death. And remember, Death does not pony up for gas-so you're pretty much on your own when viewing this meatball.

Mike, did the ozone layer finally give out?

[maixiu · 10 February 2003]

Some spoilers.

After many, many viewings of the MST3K version of this film, I'm still in a fog over just why Robert Denby does the things he does. Why did he blow up that jet? Does he work for a rival defense contractor? Why does he want to crash the Baxter Special? After all, he has the full backing of the Baxter company CEO, so who's behind this plot and why? Why would he go through all the trouble of being on the racing team, couldn't he just sneak into the garage some night and lace the car with deutrium? If he's a professional sabatuer, then who's paying him to perform these acts? If anyone has seen the uncut version of this prime time special... I mean feature film, could you please clear this up.

The most compelling reason to watch this film are the laughable attempts to splice the two films together. Most hilarious are the scenes where Abby's watching the monitor (I kept thinking of the creepy Army guys in "Attack of the the Eye Creatures," who use similarly implausible technology to spy on smooching teens). Notice how the dialogue track doesn't match her lip movements in some shots. Seems they culled dialogue from yet another episode and patched it over the video of Abby watching the monitor. Just precious.

A laughable attempt at a movie

[NateW · 1/10 · 28 August 1999]

Well, I guess two completely ridiculous episodes of an idiotic 70's TV show slopped together incoherently can make a movie, a BAD movie that is. A movie with some of the dumbest dialogue possible and laughable acting. Does everyone exposed to radiation turn invisible? I wish I could make this heap of trash disappear, permanently.

Gemini Man

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 26 April 2021]

My record collection as a kid was made up of stuff found in the cut-out bin. Albums were expensive and my family didn't have much money, so much of what we got was stuff that no one else ever wanted, kind of like the Power! Records album for Gemini Man.

Yeah, I was kind of obsessed with that Neal Adams - well, his Continuity Studios at the very least - cover art. The Gemini Man TV show only played from May to October of 1976, with only the pilot and five episodes airing. It was made to be a cheaper version of David McCallum-starring The Invisible Man series, but with Canadian tuxedo-wearing, motorcycle-riding secret agent Sam Casey (Ben Murphy, Alias Smith and Jones) working for a government agency called Intersect (International Security Techniques), using the powers of radioactivity-given invisibility for fifteen minutes a day. Why fifteen minutes? Well, if he uses his powers any longer, he dies.

While the show died a quiet death over here in the colonies, the UK loved it, hence the album that I received - for some reason, discount chains in Western Pennsylvania got weird stuff from England, which would explain all the Letraset transfer sets I had as a nine-year-old - and a hardcover annual comic book.

Power! Probably got the rights to this because it was made by Harve Bennett and they thought it would be the next Six Million Dollar Man (and hey, we just did an entire week of Lee Majors movies).

This film was assembled from two episodes - "Smithereens" and "Buffalo Bill Rides Again" - and sold to overseas markets, which was common practice with TV movies and even episodic TV in the 70s. They also took some footage from the pilot to explain our hero's powers as well as footage and sound effects from Colossus: The Forbin Project. Oh yeah! Andrew Prine and Richard Dysart are in this!

This film has two fathers. No, not Greg Evigan and Paul Reiser, but two directors. They would be Alan J. Levi (who made The Return of Sam McCloud, Knight Rider 2000, The Stepford Children and the insane Blood Song) and Don McDougall (speaking of movies made from TV shows, he directed Farewell to the Planet of the Apes and Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes, as well as Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge, which was "The Chinese Web" episodes of that series). It was written by Leslie Stevens, who directed Incubus, a movie that finds William Shatner speaking in the universal Esperanto language. He also directed the aforementioned The Invisible Man series, as well as creating The Outer Limits, developing the 70s Buck Rogers revival and writing the TV movie Probe. Oh man, he was also behind the Sheena movie and Return to the Blue Lagoon. What a career!

What is going on in this movie?

[mst3k · 1/10 · 22 November 1998]

Okay, I've watched the mst3k version on this movie several times in a desperate attempt to figure out what's going on in it. As far as I can tell, the movie first has 2 plots which both end somewhere in the middle of the movie. After that they fill in the rest of the time with some racing thing or something. As Peral Foerrster puts it, this movie "Sucks on toast."

Garbage!!

[locmar · 1/10 · 20 September 1998]

One of the stupidest features I ever have seen, and Buffalo Bill, my God, did I hear bad acting. Bad plot, bad filming etc. How is it possible to watch this film without the MST3000K crew?