Riding the Bullet poster & wallpaper

Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, Barbara Hershey

A vintage Stephen King concept unfolds in Riding the Bullet: a college kid, circa 1970, must hitchhike a very long (and very dark) hundred miles to visit his hospitalized mother. The ghosts wa...( read more  read more... )iting for him along the way are either real or of his own mind (which seems to be a dark place itself). As a King short story, this might have been a usefully frightening premise, but it's almost entirely literary; on screen, it boils down to a guy walking down a road at night. Jonathan Jackson is suitably tortured in the lead role (or roles--he frequently appears double on screen, arguing with himself), but the movie is stolen by David Arquette, rocking it up as a '50s greaser who died in a car crash years earlier. Barbara Hershey and Erika Christensen are wasted in support. There's a strain to make the Woodstock-era setting relevant, but this doesn't seem to have a great deal to do with the private demons of the protagonist. (And if you're going to set it in 1970, how hard is it to catch dialogue anachronisms?) Director Mick Garris is a longtime King conduit (The Stand), but this one is misconceived from the start. --Robert Horton

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42% liked it

6,743 ratings

R, 100 min.

Directed by: Mick Garris

Release Date: October 15, 2004

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DVD Release Date: April 19, 2005

Stats: 307 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (307)

  • stopitgoaway
    July 27, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    I liked this Stephen King adaptation of his short story taken from 'Everything's Eventual', the author's most recent collection. Mick Garris ('The Stand', 'The Shining (TV)') has not strayed too far from the path with this macabre tale of a hitchhiker who is offered rides from a ...( read more)handful of weird and wonderful characters one Halloween night.

    The year is 1969 and Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) learns that his mother (Barbara Hershey) is dying of cancer, so instead of going to see Lennon and McCartney, the troubled teenager is forced to hitchhike back to his hometown. He is eventually offered a ride by a young man with a sinister secret. Parker is then forced to confront all the demons from his past if he is to survive what could be the last ride of his life.

    Like the original story, the film has all the makings of a campfire tale. There are lonely stretches of highway flanked by tall pine trees - roads that are interspersed with graveyards and other dark places one shouldn't venture into after the sun sets. There are carnivals and rollercoasters. There are plenty of laughs as well as scenes that will chill your soul to the bone. Even Death himself makes an appearance.

    Terrifyingly entertaining, 'Riding the Bullet' will also make you question what really is important in life.

    Also stars David Arquette and Cliff Robertson.
  • kiriyamakazou
    April 18, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Adapting Stephen King's internet released novel shows that anything King will be adapted. Riding the Bullet is a bit like The Dead Zone, in that it has a very episodic narrative. Jackson goes hitchhikes from car to car, with each driver being weird and creepy. Each driver also ma...( read more)kes Jackson confront a part of himself. It's a repetitive formula that gets tiresome. It also has the last driver being David Arquette who goes a bit too crazy and borders on comical. Robertson is the best, he's slightly peculiar and unsettling. It's the only real time that the enclosed space and lack of real escape becomes scary. Decent enough, but should have been shorter.
  • organgrinder136
    April 20, 2008
    organgrinder136
    nothing kinda happens until near the end. i didn't get the ending either... how everything worked out okay?!!? best two things about it are david arquettes performance as george staub and the last 30 minutes (including a few minutes of running around the deserted circus) but it d...( read more)efinitely is NOT one of the better steven king book to film conversions
  • nuheart
    January 1, 2007
    nuheart
    Somebody stop Mick Garris before he directs again! It doesn't help that this was a lame-ass story to begin with, but Garris' direction only serves to make it worse.
  • trisarahtops22
    October 4, 2008
    trisarahtops22
    The director obviously took a lot of liberties with the original King story. As a film on its own, I thought it was wandering, cheesy, and just generally mediocre, if not flat out bad.
  • Epicouros
    November 2, 2009
    Epicouros
    bad film for a good book
  • dukeakasmudge
    October 20, 2009
    dukeakasmudge
    Reminded me of a Sci Fi Channel Original movie.Cheap Boring & Lame
  • bigdaddydaryl
    October 9, 2009
    bigdaddydaryl
    What a werid and wild movie.The SFX for it were great.David Arquette was funny in his role.The only problem I found is that it was getting too confusing going back to real life and his dreaming.But overall not a bad movie
  • ReincarnatedRockstarVamp
    October 8, 2009
    ReincarnatedRockstarVamp
    The dead travel fast

    Starring David Arquette and Jonathan Jackson comes this pretty weird Stephen King adaption. It makes you wonder...what King novel hasn't been made into a movie?

    Jackson's character is a guy who pretty much gloryfy death slightly too much,...( read more) hence his nickname "The Prince Of Darkness". He hitchhikes to go and see his dying mom. Every car driver that picks him up turns out to be extremely creepy and strange.
    Along the way we see flashbacks from his childhood and we also watch him hallucinate different situations all of them involving death in some way. And lets not forget that he keeps seeing himself and talks to the mirrorimage frequently.
    The last guy he rides with (Arquette) turns out to be the creepiest of them all...not to mention that he introduces himself with the name Jacksons character just read and a tombstone.

    The performances by Jackson and Arqette are pretty good and that scores the movie some points. It's not the best Stephen King adaption out there but it is a pretty decent movie. It's not really that scary and pretty predictable. Arquette only has to be shown on screen for about two minutes before you realize he's dead. And his characters is on the border of beeing funnier than he is scary, but it works somehow.
    It's an okay movie with a pretty interestig plot.
  • JamesThePirate
    September 14, 2009
    JamesThePirate
    Defintly one of the trippier Stephen King movies, but I still enjoyed it. Jackson and Arquette were great in their roles, but I was mostly impressed with Jackson. Especially in the scenes when he's talking to "himself". I won't try to explain it, but it's some of the weirdest mom...( read more)ents of the movie and pretty cool.
    I've read the short story and it follows it pretty well, but of course adds some too it, so it can be movie length. I never found the story to be real scary and neither was the movie for me really, but it was weird and interesting enough to keep me watching.
    It's not the best Stephen King story turned movie, but I can't say it's the worse. I can imagine it's even better without the commercials though, so if you want to see it I suggest looking for the DVD, because it's worth your time as a King fan.

    "You wait in line, that's all. And when it's your turn to ride the bullet, maybe you ride, maybe you run."

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  • I've played roles in these movies.... Venom - (2005) Riding the Bullet - (2004) Tuck Everlasting - (2002) Insomnia - (2002) Skeletons in the Closet - (2001) On the Edge - (2001) The Deep End of the Ocean - (1999) Double Play - (1997) Camp Nowhere - (1994) Who am I?  Answer »
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