I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie Review

The Devil Wears Jumpsuits

Reviewed by Michael Reuben July 3, 2015

It's been three decades since his last famous jump, but Evel Knievel's name remains part of the popular vocabulary, instantly conjuring up notions of a flying daredevil performing impossible stunts. Knievel's truth-is-stranger-than-fiction life story is the subject of I Am Evel Knievel, one of a series of bio-docs from sports photographer Derik Murray's Network Entertainment. Co-directed by Murray along with writer David Ray (I Am Steve McQueen), I Am EK premiered on the Spike TV network on September 10, 2014. Virgil Films is now releasing it on Blu-ray.

Murray and Ray have assembled an informative array of interview subjects through whom to tell Knievel's story of self-reinvention from petty crook to international superstar for a "sport" that didn't exist until he started doing it—and wasn't even yet a sport. As various contemporary practitioners of extreme sports and motorcycle stunts attest, no rational person would do what Knievel attempted in the way he attempted it. Sheer insanity was part of the allure for both Knievel and his fans, and Murray and Ray try to capture the phenomenon through extensive interviews with the man's family (including his two wives and two of his sons, who grew up on the road with their father), fellow riders and members of his crew, celebrity friends like Matthew McConaughey, admirers like chef Guy Fieri and imitators, for lack of a better word, such as Bob "Super Dave" Einstein.

What emerges is a portrait of a true original, an American success story that is equal parts Horatio Alger and P.T. Barnum and eerily anticipates both reality television and the age of YouTube celebrity. It's a fabulous tale, well worth telling, but as it proceeds, troubling elements emerge of which its tellers seem blithely unaware. As Murray, Ray and many of their interviewees struggle to make the case that Knievel is a modern-day avatar of the pioneering spirit that built America, they pile more weight on their idol than even his swaggering shoulders can bear. Depending on how one's personal antennae are attuned, you may hear a slight cracking sound in the background, as the idol's clay feet buckle under the strain.

I Am EK does not flinch from portraying Knievel's early days in his native town of Butte, Montana, a mining community where the future star, then known as "Bobby", made himself memorable as a hellraiser and minor criminal, even going so far as to offer local store keepers a "security service" that was really a protection racket. He acquired his monicker after a 1956 stint in the local lockup in a neighboring cell to William Knofel, where a deputy observed that they had "Awful Knofel" next to "Evil Knievel". The nickname stuck, with the spelling changed by the newly re-christened "Evel".

Knievel tried his hand at numerous enterprises, including service in the Army. He rode the rodeo circuit, did ski jumping, acted as a fishing and hunting guide and even organized a semi-pro hockey team called the Butte Bombers. But he didn't find his true vocation until 1966 when he organized "Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils" and began to perform stunts like jumping over a cage containing two mountain lions and a box with twenty rattlesnakes. (The back wheel accidentally hit the box of snakes and set them free.) And on December 31, 1967, he made national news by jumping over the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, the film of which was purchased by ABC News and broadcast repeatedly. The fact that Knievel crashed upon landing and was badly injured only added to the stunt's notoriety.

Perhaps the best part of the Caesar's Palace stunt, however, is how Knievel assembled the event from a motel telephone, a story told with great relish (and probably embellished) by his friends and family. It's a classic example of the bluff and moxie that would characterize his career and that are evident in the eminently quotable soundbites that routinely flash onto the screen, reading almost like prepared copy. As his former associates agree, the Evel Knievel known to the world was an invention, a grand persona that the former "Bobby" created for himself to play—except that, once he took on the role, it completely took him over.

Bigger jumps and further injuries followed, and Knievel's popularity grew exponentially, with the greatest source of earnings coming from licensing fees, especially from Ideal Toys for kids. Still, as his sons Kelly and Robbie readily attest, Knievel spent money faster than he earned it, and he indulged in every perk of superstardom, straining his marriage to Linda Knievel, a fellow Butte native, to the breaking point.

Among other topics, I Am EK covers Knievel's life-long, quixotic ambition to jump the Grand Canyon, which progressed no further than the 1974 Snake River Canyon jump in a rocket vehicle (a failure); the May 26, 1975 Wembley Stadium jump in London over thirteen buses, where a seriously injured Knievel had himself carried to the microphone so that he could announce his retirement; and the October 25 jump later that year over fourteen Greyhound buses in Cincinnati, when Knievel decided the earlier announcement was premature and he wanted to go out on a high note. The film also covers his later years, when his long history of injury and physical abuse finally caught up with the daredevil, and he came to rely ever more heavily on the aid of his second wife (and eventual widow), Krystal Kennedy-Knievel.

With such a unique and colorful life story and so many enthusiastic admirers to tell it (including the son of Knievel's long-time friend and promoter, J.C. Agajanian, with whom he operated on trust and handshakes), I Am Evel Knievel already has more than enough to paint its subject larger than life, but even that isn't enough for its creators. Taking their cue from the daredevil himself, who could never manage to quit, directors Murray and Ray and their various interview subjects do their damnedest to elevate Knievel into some sort of role model, the 1970s expression of the American free spirit in all its restless creativity. McConaughey speaks of him being a hero and inspiration, even if Knievel himself fell short of his ideals. "The message, not the messenger", says the actor, with Delphic brevity.

This additional layer of baloney may be comfort food to those who knew and revere Knievel, but it makes I Am EK hard to swallow. The man was a brilliant and charismatic showman, but he wasn't someone to emulate; quite the opposite. He took insane risks, using Harley-Davidson motorcycles that were wholly unsuited to the kinds of jumps he attempted, as noted by several of the stuntmen and sports people interviewed. He never bothered to master the fine points of engineering, aerodynamics or gymnastics that might have allowed him to achieve his jumps safely. He did his stunts on instinct, "by the seat of my pants", which, by his own admission, is why he got hurt so much. Much of the fascination that Knievel exercised over his audience was the sheer unlikelihood of his survival as he repeatedly tempted death—but that's not behavior that anyone should take as a model for emulation. It's a model for suicide, whether in plotting the course of a life or in planning an enterprise. The internet entrepreneurs who would come along a few years later and start up ventures without capital or a business plan could be said to be "Evel Knievel-ing it", and we all know what became of them.

I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I Am Evel Knievel was shot digitally by TV documentary cinematographer Shaun Lawless. Virgil Films' 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably derived directly from digital files. The talking head interviews that constitute the bulk of the film are clear, sharp and detailed, which is especially helpful when the background is a detailed tableau such as an array of motorcycles. Vintage film clips of Knievel's jumps look as good as the source will allow, as do videotapes of interviews and TV appearances from various stages of his career.

Virgil Films has mastered I Am EK at an average bitrate of 19.997 Mbps, which is fine for a digitally originated project consisting almost entirely of interviews.

I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I Am EK's original 5.1 soundtrack, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA, is a front-centered affair that gives priority to the interview subjects with almost nothing in the way of sound effects, except in the distant background, usually from source recordings of Knievel's biggest events. The country-rock soundtrack has been provided by APM Music, a licensing library, and it supplies a driving beat that fits with its subject's relentless ambition.

I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Evel Knievel Lives On (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:50): Lathan McKay, president of Evel Knievel Enterprises, describes his efforts to collect and restore Knievel memorabilia.



• Inspired by Evel (1080p; 1.78:1; 15:19): In a short feature that feels like it could have been an additional "act" to I Am Evel Knievel, various athletes, stuntpeople, celebrities and motorcycle afficionados interviewed for the main feature pay additional tribute to the legacy of a man they regard as a pioneer.

I Am Evel Knievel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"I wish it, therefore it will happen" has been the siren song of far too many a frustrated individual posting a YouTube clip that he or she is certain will eventually get them a shot at fame and fortune. The real story of I Am EK, if one pays close attention, is that Evel Knievel had to work long and hard to invent the character he became, and fame and fortune hardly came overnight. The miracle isn't just that he didn't die during one of his famous stunts. It's that he survived—and managed to stay out of prison—long enough to create for himself the opportunity to become a national phenomenon in an age before the internet made it easy to attract millions of eyeballs. Knievel had to do it the old-fashioned way: town by town, show by show, stunt by stunt, injury by injury—and that was only after he'd given up living crime by crime to support his family. His is a remarkable story, but it's one-of-a-kind. If you can keep that in mind while watching I Am EK, the disc is highly recommended.