Hell's Angels

This entry from the In Search of History series traces the history of America's favorite two-wheeled bogeymen and best-known motorcycle club from its formative days after WWII up to the present. Extensive interviews with Sonny Barger, Hunter Thompson, and sundry other chopper pilots and the folks who know them, illuminate famous highlights of biker history like the Hollister, California riot, the '60s biker movie craze and the ill-fated Altamont concert (Barger, longtime president of the Hell's Angels Oakland chapter, has his say at length as to the Angels' culpability in the death of a crowd member during the Rolling Stones set). Clips from the Maysles Brothers' film Gimme Shelter are included, as are charges from various minions of justice and interdiction to the effect that the Angels are now major players in organized crime (!) Thompson recounts his personal research into and beating at the hands of the Angels while working on his book, Hell's Angels. Cultural heroes, long-haired motor-horsemen of the apocalypse or just a bunch of misunderstood guys out to have fun on their hogs, this video captures the history of the Hell's Angels as well as any documentary is likely to, and the section revisiting all the great biker movies (including but not limited to Easy Rider) serves as a guidepost to part of our lost cultural history. Recommended--mandatory in Wisconsin, proud home of Harley Davidson. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Tribby)