Wild Hogs
| Wild Hogs | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Walt Becker |
| Written by | Brad Copeland |
| Produced by | Kristin Burr Todd Lieberman Brian Robbins Amy Sayres Sharla Sumpter Michael Tollin |
| Starring | Tim Allen John Travolta Martin Lawrence William H. Macy |
| Cinematography | Robbie Greenberg |
| Edited by | Christopher Greenbury |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
Release dates | March 2, 2007 |
Running time | 100 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Wild Hogs is a 2007 comedy film starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy. It was released nationwide in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2007. There was a public preview film screening in certain areas on February 24, 2007.
Plot
Doug Madsen (Tim Allen), Woody Stevens (John Travolta), Bobby Davis (Martin Lawrence) and Dudley Frank (William H. Macy) are four middle-aged suburban men in Cincinnati who find themselves frustrated with the pace of daily life. Woody is a formerly rich businessman who now finds himself alone and bankrupt. Doug is a dentist who can’t connect with his son and misses his college glory days when he was called “The Golden Knight.” Bobby is a plumber who’s often bossed around by his wife while trying to follow his dream by writing a plumbing how-to book. Dudley is a computer geek who seeks to find a woman in his life. Their one collective hobby has always been to ride together on motorcycles around the city because after college they stopped being your "typical" biker gang. They even have leather jackets with their biker gang name, “Wild Hogs,” stitched on the back.
After Woody finds out that his marriage is ending in divorce and that he's bankrupt, he suggests that the Wild Hogs embark on a cross-country road trip on their bikes to seek adventure. After some hesitation from the other three, the four agree to the trip and set off on their Harley-Davidsons.
The road trip is filled with humorous moments and often disaster. For example, when they cosily sleep close to each other, scantily dressed, a policeman (John C. McGinley) tells them this is lewd and lascivious behavior, but it turns out that he is only teasing: he is gay and actually jealous. Later the four go skinny dipping, but are very uncomfortable when a family goes swimming. When the family discovers that the four men are naked they feel very uncomfortable too and leave. The policeman appears again; he also undresses and joins the four men, showing sexual interest in them; this makes the four feel uncomfortable again, and now they leave.
The fun soon ends when the foursome stops at a small New Mexico bar and stumbles onto a real motorcycle gang called the Del Fuegos. Del Fuego leader Jack (Ray Liotta) tricks the foursome into a bum motorcycle trade, then tells them they should leave before something else bad happens. The Wild Hogs leave the bar without Dudley’s bike, with the Del Fuegos claiming the Wild Hogs are nothing compared to real motorcyclists, such as Damien Blade, the biker who founded the gang and built the bar.
Less than a mile away, Woody stops, disgraced at what just transpired. He tells his friends that he will walk back and reason with Jack for the bike. But when Woody gets back to the bar, he builds up his courage and cuts the fuel lines to every gang member’s motorcycle in the parking lot before exiting with Dudley’s bike. He returns to his friends with the bike (to much astonishment) and explains that he simply threatened the gang with legal action should they not turn over the bike. At the nervous Woody’s request, they quickly leave the area. Jack orders his gang to follow the Wild Hogs, but when he errantly tosses a cigarette, it hits gasoline on the ground, which triggers a chain reaction that blows up the entire biker bar. The Del Fuegos swear revenge, getting to work on repairing their vehicles.
Meanwhile, because of Woody’s insistence that they should not stop for any reason, the Wild Hogs run out of gas and are forced to stop in the small town of Madrid, New Mexico, to wait overnight for the fuel station’s opening. The four are first mistaken for actual Del Fuegos and feared. Once the mistake is cleared up, the Madrid Sheriff (Stephen Tobolowsky) tells the Wild Hogs that the Del Fuegos terrorize the town yearly and the small police force — who received weapons training by beating the video game Doom — is unable to do anything about them.
At a chili festival that night, Dudley again meets Maggie, the owner of the local diner, (Marisa Tomei) and immediately is smitten with her. As he courts her, Bobby comes across two Del Fuegos in town (who have spotted the Wild Hogs and informed Jack). Thinking himself untouchable, because of Woody’s previous “legal action” explanation, Bobby humiliates the two bikers. Under orders from Jack, the two Del Fuegos refuse to do anything, but instead get humiliated and simply leave the area. The town praises all the Wild Hogs as saviors, thinking them a friendly biker gang who can protect them.
Dudley spends the night with Maggie. The next morning, The Del Fuegos arrive en masse and Jack yells to the townspeople that his gang will slowly destroy the town until the Wild Hogs come out to fight. Woody reveals he lied about the biker bar incident and his friends are disappointed with his deceit. When the Del Fuegos start to wreck Maggie’s diner, Dudley goes out to meet them. The rest of the Wild Hogs arrive to back up Dudley and a four-on-four fistfight begins between four Del Fuego bikers and the Wild Hogs. Easily outmatched, the Wild Hogs are beaten up, but refuse to stay down and see the diner destroyed. With their dignity on the line, they continue to get up and take punch after punch, much to the amazement and fury of Jack. Just then, the townspeople all arrive carrying makeshift weapons and defend their new friends; they demand the Del Fuegos leave the Wild Hogs alone and get out of town. The situation is defused by the arrival of Damien Blade himself (Peter Fonda). Blade chastises Jack and the Del Fuegos for picking on four men and the townspeople, and reveals he actually thought his bar was crap and insured it for twice what it was worth (and we also learn that Jack is actually Damien's son) while also pointing out to Jack that he forgot what being out on the open road is about, and that it doesn't involve thuggish behavior and violence. The Del Fuegos, feeling guilty, leave. In a salute to Easy Rider, Blade tells the Wild Hogs that they need to "lose the watches," referring to the scene when, just before departing on their cross-country chopper-born odyssey, Wyatt (Fonda's character), takes off his watch and throws it in the dirt.
Bobby and Doug’s wives arrive in town. Bobby tells his wife that he dislikes her controlling him and the two reconcile. Doug impresses his son by telling him of the adventures. Dudley says he will return to town soon to enjoy time with Maggie. The four head for the Pacific coast.
The closing credits include excerpts from a faux episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where the Del Fuegos are given a new bar. Jack holds back tears unsuccessfully. And in the confession room, Jack doesn't even utter a syllable before he is cut off.
Motorcyles
Harley Davidson provided the motorcycles for the making of this film.
XL1200C Sportster Custom
- Riden by Dudley
FXSTS Springer Softail
- Riden by Bobby
FLSTC Heritage Softail
- Riden by Doug
FLH Electra Glide
- Riden by Woody
Reception
Wild Hogs opened on March 2, 2007 to mostly negative reviews. Sam Adams of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "the landscape of [the film] is cluttered with the comic equivalent of suburban sprawl, an endless cyclorama of rehashed jokes and whiny complaint." He went on to write that "by the time it sputters across the finish line, "Wild Hogs" feels as if it's gone on forever."[1] Critic James Berardinelli awarded the film one-and-a-half stars (Out of four), describing the film as "an arthritic comedy whose humor is below mediocre and whose drama is cringe-worthy." Although Berardinelli did believe the film to be "not without its share of small pleasures," he also believed it to be "tiresome and unnecessary" and "confirms that John Travolta's career is in free-fall."
Although the majority of critics expressed negative opinions, some were more forgiving. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe compared the film's merits to its titular motorcycles, believing it to be "a bumptious weekend ride... the engine could use tuning and the plugs are shot, but it gets you most of the way there." Although writing a negative review, Burr offered praise for the film's final act, believing it "tales a satisfying turn" and that, with the exception of Allen, each of the film's primary cast members "earned his designated chuckle." He also favorably compared the film to RV, another comedic film focusing on a road trip.[2] Overall, the film holds an average rating of 3.8/10 on website Rotten Tomatoes, with only 15% of 131 reviews being positive.
Despite negative reviews, the film grossed $39.6 million in its opening weekend, ranking first place in box office sales and nearly tripling the debut of fellow opener Zodiac.[3] The film peformed well throughout its entire run, falling just 30.5% in its second weekend [4] and ultimately grossing $168.2 million domestically and $252.8 million worldwide.[5] However, some critics have partially attributed the film's success to the release of 300 one week later, believing underage viewers purchased tickets for Wild Hogs (Which was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America) before entering theaters playing the R-rated 300. This claim has never been confirmed.
MPAA rating
The film received a PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and some violence. Language and nudity wasn't included in the rating but was seen in the movie.
Cast
Main
- Tim Allen – Doug Madsen
- John Travolta – Woody Stevens
- Martin Lawrence – Bobby Davis
- William H. Macy – Dudley Frank
Featuring
- Marisa Tomei – Maggie
- Jill Hennessy – Kelly Madsen
- Ray Liotta – Jack
Cameos
- John C. McGinley – Highway Patrolman
- Tichina Arnold – Karen Davis
- Shane Baumel – Toby
- Kevin Durand – Red
- M. C. Gainey – Murdock
- Dominic Janes – Billy Madsen
- Kyle Gass – Karaoke Singer
- Michael Hitchcock – Kent
- Billy Lockwood – Del Fuego
- Stephen Tobolowsky – Charley
- Drew Pinsky – Doctor
- Peter Fonda – Damien Blade, father to Jack (Blade)
- Paul Teutul, Sr. – Himself
Hells Angels lawsuit
 | This article needs to be updated. |
In March 2007, the Hells Angels sued the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group for allegedly engaging in trademark infringement. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of California alleges that the film uses both the name and distinctive logo of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation without permission.
Sequel
Director Walt Becker has expressed interest[citation needed] in a Wild Hogs 2. John Travolta, in an interview[citation needed] at the annual ShoWest convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, said that crew members wanted to make the sequel centered in South America. Elsewhere, he also suggested the possibility of a European-set sequel[6]
DVD Release
- Wild Hogs was released on DVD August 14th, 2007.
Trivia
- Peter Fonda portrays a character that is an obvious extension of Wyatt from Easy Rider. He was also in the film that previously held the #1 spot before this film was released, Ghost Rider which also referenced Easy Rider and was also centered around motorcycles. Both movies also feature the song Who Do You Love.
- Paul Teutul, Sr. and Paul Teutul, Jr. from American Chopper appear briefly during the film. Paul Sr. is credited as "Paul," however, Paul Jr. is credited as "Mike," which also happens to be the name of his real life younger brother.
- The scene in the Del Fuegos bar when Woody was squinting was almost entirely improvised. The cast had done the scene a couple of times and would ad lib occasionally. One time John Travolta just started squinting in a Clint Eastwood impression. The other characters' reactions were real. They were expecting John to say his lines but kept going with it.
- Although the main characters are portrayed as being suburbanites-turned-bikers from Cincinnati, Ohio, none of the movie's filming actually took place in Cincinnati. Rather, almost all of the filming for the movie took place in the state of New Mexico.
- In the early scene where Dudley loses control of his bike after parking, it is obvious from the distinctive road signs that they are filming in downtown Albuquerque.
- During the scene where the Wild Hogs are disposing of their phones, part of the dialogue between Allen and Travolta references Allen's role as Buzz Lightyear. Tom Hanks plays a character named Woody in Toy Story and Toy Story 2.
- From the Memorial Day 3-Day weekend period of May 25–27, 2007 "Wild Hogs" jumped from 17th to 10th in the box office.
- Martin Lawrence and Tichina Arnold reunite in this movie after their previous film Big Momma's House. They were also on the TV series Martin.
- Even though Peter Fonda plays Jack's father, he is only 14 years older than Ray Liotta.
- The movie was mentioned in the episode The Birthday in the TBS original show The Bill Engvall Show about Bill wanting to get a motorcycle and denying wanting it to complete his mid-life crisis.
- John Travolta's brother and sister make cameo appearances.
- If one pays attention, one can see that the computer Doug uses in the cafe called "Mac", is not actually a mac. In fact, it is the only computer seen in the film that is not a mac, despite Dudley being a rabid apple fan,to the point of getting an old style apple logo tattooed on his arm. The Macs seen in the film were used by Bobby, as he was trying to write a story in his "office," and the woman who Dudley tries to show his computer off to in the coffee café.
References
- ^ http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-wild2mar02,0,4930167.story
- ^ http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=8936
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2007&wknd=009&p=.htm
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=wildhogs.htm
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wildhogs.htm
- ^ EW.com (March 15, 2007): "The Q&A: 'Spraying' Alive", by Joshua Rich)