5/31/2023 0 Comments Obscurity knocksWhile the body is taken away for the drug smuggling plot, Evel wakes up, gets on another bike, and goes to free Will.Īfter breaking out of the psych ward, the two find the mockup trailer, in which, by an amazing coincidence, both Tommy and Kate have been taken hostage. Jessie then successfully makes the jump, however, the bike has been sabotaged and he is killed as he lands (footage from a real Knievel crash was used). Jessie knocks Evel out and dresses in Knievel's signature red, white, and blue outfit. Knievel leaves him there to keep whoever is behind the plot in the dark.Īs Knievel prepares for the jump (down a massive ramp and over a fire pit), Jessie-hopped up on drugs-confronts Evel, claiming that he will prove who the best jumper is. Evel sneaks into the ward late at night when Will has dried out, but all Will can remember is that someone knocked him out. Will, however, stumbles onto the plot, is drugged, and sent to a psychiatric ward under the control of the corrupt Ralph Thompson ( Dabney Coleman) to prevent him from spilling the beans. He will then have Knievel's body transported back to America in an exact duplicate of the tour trailer, but one that has a massive supply of drugs hidden in the walls. Millard (without Jessie's knowledge) plans to cause a fatal accident during the jump. Meanwhile, Jessie's benefactor is revealed: drug lord Stanley Millard ( Leslie Nielsen). Likewise, Kate reappears, apologetic for her previous motives, and now wishes that he will never stop jumping. Will, who is reminded of his dead wife, is cold to Tommy, leaving Knievel to show the boy kindness. Eventually, though, Knievel relents and agrees.Ī subplot develops when Will's estranged son Tommy shows up from boarding school, and asks to join the tour. While rehabilitating, Knievel resists all attempts to get back on the horse, including those from Jessie ( Marjoe Gortner), a former protégé with mysterious backers who want Evel to do a jump in Mexico. He berates Morgan, announces his retirement, and is taken to the hospital. Evel Knievel, speaking to the audience just before the first jumpĪs it happens, Evel does crash while attempting the stunt, and though badly injured, survives. And then they blow all to hell.Īnd you people, you kids, if you put nitro in your bodies in the form of narcotics, so that you can do better, or so that maybe you think that you can do better, you will for about five or ten years, and then you'll blow all to hell. They put nitro in their cars sometimes, instead of the fuel that is intended to be in the cars so that the cars will go faster. Every year when they go there to qualify, they usually have to go as fast as they possibly can to get a front row position. I go there with friends to drive and race. I go to Indianapolis every year to see the Indy 500. While signing autographs, Knievel is ambushed by photojournalist Kate Morgan ( Lauren Hutton), who has been sent to photograph the jump: if Knievel is killed, it will be a great story.īefore I make the jump, there's something I'd like to say to you, that's been bothering me for a long time. We are introduced to his alcoholic mechanic Will Atkins ( Gene Kelly), who was a former stunt rider himself before his wife died, driving him to drink. Knievel then prepares for another of his stunt jumps. One of the boys casts away his crutches, telling Knievel that he'll walk after his accident just as Knievel had. The film opens with Knievel sneaking into an orphanage late at night to deliver presents: Evel Knievel action figures. Plot ĭaredevil motorcycle rider Evel Knievel stars as himself in this fictional story. Viva Knievel! is a 1977 American action film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Evel Knievel (as himself), Gene Kelly and Lauren Hutton, with an ensemble supporting cast including Red Buttons, Leslie Nielsen, Cameron Mitchell, Frank Gifford, Dabney Coleman and Marjoe Gortner.
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