"Viva Knievel!" is a vanity project that really seems odd and wrong-headed in hindsight. After all, Evel wasn't exactly a saint and yet here he's portrayed as the ultimate nice-guy...a guy who (creepily) sneaks into an orphanage at night to bring toys to all the kids! And, he's also a crime fighter and social worker, too! Considering what he was like in real life, this is ridiculous....but it also would have been ridiculous for anyone!
Another interesting aspect of this film is the cast. It's hard to imagine that the studio could secure Gene Kelly, Red Buttons, Lauren Hutten, Leslie Nielsen and Cameron Mitchell for the movie...but they did! Obviously someone thought this film had a lot of promise...too bad the film was a flop..mostly because of Knievel's off-screen behaviors which were NOT very Santa-like! If you are confused, read up on his attack with a baseball bat he made on a guy around the same time the movie debuted...which effectively killed the distribution of the picture!
The picture purports to be a behind the scenes look at Evel and his life doing crazy stunts. Of course, while it's played by Knievel and he's called Evel by everyone, it really is a highly fictionalized version of him...to the point of being ridiculous. I mentioned above his breaking into an orphanage but it got worse when he went to practice for a jump the next day and some cute kid came up to him. Evel was surprised becasue the kid had been in a wheelchair but the kids proudly announced "You're the reason I'm walking, Evel!!"....at which point I could help but to laugh out loud!
So is the film any good? Good grief, no....at least not in the traditional sense! But it is good for two things....as a strange time capsule in which we see one of the stanger celebrities of the 1970s AND it's good for a few laughs.
One of the least realistic portrayals of a real life celebrity with the POSSIBLE exception of KISS in "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park" and William Bendix in "The Babe Ruth Story"...two other unintentionally bad and hilarious films!
Another interesting aspect of this film is the cast. It's hard to imagine that the studio could secure Gene Kelly, Red Buttons, Lauren Hutten, Leslie Nielsen and Cameron Mitchell for the movie...but they did! Obviously someone thought this film had a lot of promise...too bad the film was a flop..mostly because of Knievel's off-screen behaviors which were NOT very Santa-like! If you are confused, read up on his attack with a baseball bat he made on a guy around the same time the movie debuted...which effectively killed the distribution of the picture!
The picture purports to be a behind the scenes look at Evel and his life doing crazy stunts. Of course, while it's played by Knievel and he's called Evel by everyone, it really is a highly fictionalized version of him...to the point of being ridiculous. I mentioned above his breaking into an orphanage but it got worse when he went to practice for a jump the next day and some cute kid came up to him. Evel was surprised becasue the kid had been in a wheelchair but the kids proudly announced "You're the reason I'm walking, Evel!!"....at which point I could help but to laugh out loud!
So is the film any good? Good grief, no....at least not in the traditional sense! But it is good for two things....as a strange time capsule in which we see one of the stanger celebrities of the 1970s AND it's good for a few laughs.
One of the least realistic portrayals of a real life celebrity with the POSSIBLE exception of KISS in "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park" and William Bendix in "The Babe Ruth Story"...two other unintentionally bad and hilarious films!