Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 13, 2025

Koretsugu Kurahara's "Sex Rider: Wet Highway" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Ken Terawaki; new audio commentary by critics Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp; promotional stills; and vintage trailer. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The dead man

Sex Rider: Wet Highway. If you quickly conclude that this colorful title belongs to a conventional erotic film trying its best to impress with several explicit scenes, and you mentally prepare yourself to see such a film, I guarantee you are setting yourself up for an unforgettable, enormously surprising viewing experience. Sex Rider: Wet Highway is not an erotic film. It is a hard-hitting, rebellious film that heads down the same path a couple of years earlier Easy Rider did. But because it is a Japanese film, its rebellious genes are slightly different.

The narrative is broken into two uneven parts. In the first, Mina (Mari Tanaka), who is soon to be married, meets her secret lover in a posh hotel and makes the most of her last moments of freedom. After the sexual fireworks, the two jump into her car and head back to a busier part of the city. However, while having a silly argument over an explicit audio tape, they hit a stranger (Ken Yoshizawa) in a dark alley, and instead of transporting him to a nearby hospital, they run away and split. Mina then drives back and picks up the unconscious stranger, but moments after reaching the hospital, she changes her mind and heads toward a secluded lake high up in the mountains. A few hours later, Mina places the stranger in a boat and drops him in the middle of the lake.

This is where the second part begins. As she is getting ready to leave, Mina is attacked by a perverted hunter, and while he rapes her, the stranger reappears and kills him. Mina is then taken hostage by the stranger, who quickly reveals two completely different personalities. However, while driving across Japan, Mina and the stranger begin to realize that they have a lot in common and, much to their surprise, the two begin warming up to each other.

Are you already convinced that Sex Rider: Wet Highway is a hostage drama that evolves into a romantic film? If you are, you are wrong again. Sex Rider: Wet Highway is, like Easy Rider, a counterculture film that rejects several Japanese cinematic stereotypes. For example, it does not have dominant good or bad characters. It has only flawed outcasts who, perhaps surprisingly, come from completely different areas of society but, unsurprisingly, appear equally repressed. Also, while crime and action are the foundation of the narrative, it is the concept of freedom that dominates it and gives Sex Rider: Wet Highway its identity. It is not a coincidence that jazz music is so prominently featured, either. It is yet another form of rejection of the old.

Sex Rider: Wet Highway won’t be everyone’s cup of tea because it experiments with unbridled enthusiasm that always produces awkward contrasts. In the late 1960s and 1970s, this enthusiasm was at peak levels, too. Remember, in America, Easy Rider initially received mixed reviews. In France, Pierrot le fou was not an instant hit either. In the United Kingdom, Peeping Tom was greeted by critics with unprecedented hostility. Sex Rider: Wet Highway does not belong in the company of these landmark films, but it is part of the same trend that inspired their creators to shoot them.

Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.45:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sex Rider: Wet Highway arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

On my system, the entire film boasted a wonderful, very attractive organic appearance. If I am forced to guess, I would say that the master used to produce this release was most likely struck from an interpositive because color balance is very convincing. Some minor adjustments can be made to improve saturation levels, but I still think that all primaries and supporting nuances look very good. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Grain exposure could be slightly better, but the density levels of all visuals are very strong and remain stable. Delineation, clarity, and depth are always pleasing. So, even if some of the improvements mentioned earlier are implemented in a future release, I do not think that the film would look substantially better in 1080p. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Japanese LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

A gorgeous soundtrack creates plenty of excitement. However, if you turn up the volume slightly more than usual, as I did because I thought that the jazz tunes were sensational, you will notice a bit of light hiss. It is never distracting, but it is there and impossible to ignore. The dialog is very clear, sharp, and stable. The English translation is outstanding. Also, I really like the size of the English subtitles. It is perfect.

Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Highway to Nowhere - in this exclusive new program, Ken Terawaki discusses the conception of Sex Rider: Wet Highway and big trend the film was part of, as well as ongoing changes the Japanese film industry during the 1960s and 1970s, some of which were inspired by other, similar changes in America, France, Italy, etc. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (11 min).

• Stills Gallery - presented here is a collection of promotional stills from Sex Rider: Wet Highway. With music. (2 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered original trailer for Sex Rider: Wet Highway. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Earl Jackson and Jasper Sharp.

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Caitlin Casiello and technical credits.

Sex Rider: Wet Highway Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The counterculture films of the 1960s and 1970s are some of the most unique, interesting films out there. It is irrelevant whether they were made in America, Europe, or Japan because virtually all channeled a very similar unbridled enthusiasm for change. While the best of these films that were made in America and Europe have always been easy to see, the ones that emerged in Japan have been tricky to track down. Some of these lesser-seen Japanese films are now coming to Blu-ray, and I think that a lot of collectors will make very interesting discoveries. I just made one such discovery after viewing Sex Rider: Wet Highway and will make sure that 88 Films' Blu-ray release appears on my next Top Ten list. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.