I Am Evel Knievel (2014) User Reviews

Great story ruined by pointless interviews

[bloodshot_sky · 6/10 · 10 June 2016]

The story of Evel Knievels rise and eventual retirement echos the story of most rockstars. Imagine every stunt he did as a concert or a new album release, the bigger and bigger they got, the bigger his stardom got. and with that stardom came all the Evels that come with being famous. He was a drunk who slept around and spent his money on all sorts of ridiculous crap. But that's besides the point, this documentary shows through several friends and fans the greatness that Evel was. Evel was bat sh*t insane, jumping 10 buses with a stock bike with street rated suspension, getting back on the bike after breaking a bunch of bones, promising to do crazier and more insane stunts, and building a god damn rocket ship bike. The man was balls to the wall insane and this documentary does a good job at going over his triumphs and his story.

Unfortunately this doc was 45 minutes too long and it was filled with all the crap that is expected from a Spike TV presentation. They were constantly cutting away from the stunts to show interviews about the stunt when I'd prefer to just watch the raw footage, and the cuts were all way too quick and jumpy. One of the biggest annoyances of this production is the choice of people they chose to interview. Why would anyone care about Kid Rock, Mike Vallely, Guy Fieri's or Michelle Rodriguez opinion on Evel Knievel? If they cut out all the crap all of those hacks said(Michelle Rodriguez is alright though) and made the stunt footage more raw and uncut then this documentary would have been an 8/10 or higher for me. The story is interesting, the execution is terrible. Made me respect Ken Burns approach to documentary film making even more.

Tremendous example of the documentary art

[A_Different_Drummer · 8/10 · 6 December 2014]

And you think the IMDb rating is high for a doc, you are wrong.

The members nailed it -- one of the best I have seen in a while.

(Coincidentally, I had just recently reviewed for IMDb the documentary MANNY, about the magnificent Indonesian boxer, and fans were not happy that I panned the film. The man was magnificent. Not so the film).

EVEL is the documentary art at its best. It is a given that Evel himself steals all the clips he himself appears in, because the man was a natural promoter, and instinctively understood how to push people's buttons.

Where the production shines is in the interviews, what the pros call the "head and shoulders" shots.

Since it is statistically impossible for each of the people interviewed in the film to have been so dynamic and interesting on their own (just trying to make a point here, folks) the credit for their performances MUST GO TO THE EDITOR. In documentary film-making the editor is king. And David Ray, WHO BY NO COINCIDENCE WAS ALSO CO-WRITER, gets credit for making a man who was already larger than life ... larger still.

Recommended.

EVIL VALUES

[MadamWarden · 6/10 · 9 May 2020]

Seriously psychotic guy with a death wish, extremely low morals and zero class. But. A huge set of balls, unlike pretty anyone ever. Fascinating.

A Daredevil Extraordinaire

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 3 November 2020]

Born in Butte, Montana - Robert "Evel" Knievel (1938-2007) was a popular American daredevil stunt performer and entertainer.

Over the course of his career (1965-1980) - Knievel attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. (some a success, others not)

In 1999 Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Through stills, archival footage, and interviews - This 95-minute bio-documentary takes a close-up look at the life and career of Evel Knievel.

I can't do that...but I can try...

[shiannedog · 7/10 · 13 March 2021]

I grew up during the Evel Knievel exploits and was fascinated at the time by his courageous bravado but did not know of his personal failings spoken of in this film. This was a very interesting documentary that kept my attention. I had seen him jump and crash at a track in Wisconsin in the early 1970's which helped to make this film more meaningful for me. This movie is definitely worth viewing and you will get a good and fair understanding of the man, although I do wish they would have edited out the few "f_words". One very important observation is that life in 2021 is far less interesting than when there were men with great courage doing things that no one else dared to do. I guess that's why they call them the good old days. Enjoy!

A real-life rags-to-riches-to-rags story

[take2docs · 5/10 · 22 September 2023]

If you're like me and could care less about motorcycles and are not even the least bit fascinated watching some grandstander perform risky (however impressive) stunts, then you might as well know at the outset that this here film is about a man who was known in his lifetime for being the greatest motorbike stuntman the world has ever seen. You may have heard of him. Robert Craig Knievel was his name; also and more commonly referred to by the moniker, 'Evel,' no doubt intentionally misspelled if only to keep 21st-century documentary reviewers on their digital toes.

Aside hearing from Mr. Knievel's two middle-aged sons, Kelly and Rob, we also get to hear from a few interviewees speak of their experiences working for the world-famous showman as part of the Knievel crew. I found Gene 'Sully' Sullivan to be the most interesting of these -- a commenter, commendably frank and objective -- a friend of the superstar, yes, but no worshipful brownnoser, unlike the celebrity fans who are heard from in this, whose screen presence and casual chatter do nothing to enhance our understanding of the film's subject. Still, I got a joy out of being able to mute Kid Rock and Matthew Mahogany or whatever the heck his name is.

Listen to Sullivan tell it like it is and about the only one who does, in refusing to defend Knievel's infamous act of violence, an incident which had the American icon beating up a PR person with a baseball bat; a crime that turned out to be the eventual undoing in Knievel's career, costing him much-deserved bad press and his reputation as a man of inner strength and character, who as tough-skinned as he presented himself to be could not even take simple and honest criticism from an author (Shelly Saltman), who published neither stick nor stone but merely an innocuous textual mirror.

One contemporary buddy of Evel's speaks of Knievel's fondness for "women, bars" and "booze." Another tells of Knievel's younger days, prior to his becoming a media sensation, of his having been a shoplifter and a reckless motorist. It is no surprise, then, why many a 'cool dude' looks up to this guy in complete adulation and as a hero. Evel Knievel, after all, lived large and in the fast lane, loved fame and dabbling in derring-do, and for this was a chick-magnet.

Is it any wonder, then, that the venturesome Robert Craig Knievel would turn to Christ in the latter years of his life, or at least to watching the unctuous entertainer Robert Schuller on television? Really, now, if ever there was a daredevil made for heaven it was Evil, er, Evel.

One mustn't overlook Mr. Knievel's remarkable humility, either, such as the dream he had to jump the Grand Canyon. Suffice it to say, had it not been for an ejection seat and a parachute, he would have never lived to tell of the attempt. God must have been watching out for him, was the opinion of at least one spectator who witnessed the blooper.

Despite I AM EVEL KNIEVEL being for the most part draggy and perhaps for diehard fans only, dare I say it has its moments and is kinda watchable, as in the several scenes of footage showing the skilled stuntman flying through the air on his trusty motorcycle only to wipe out and be tossed about like some crash-test dummy. (Methinks guardian angels are not always on duty.)