"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!

Evel Knievel delivers toys to orphans one day and makes a death defying jump the next. Will Atkins (Gene Kelly) is his drunk manager. Kate Morgan (Lauren Hutton) is a photojournalist. Ben Andrews (Red Buttons) is a greedy crooked promoter. Stanley Millard (Leslie Nielsen) has an evil plan luring Evel to Mexico.

Evel, the character, does not come off that appealing. He's a bit misogynist towards Kate. He's a bit callous towards Will. If he's really worried about his drinking, he would keep all booze away from him. He needs to make small calibrations to his character which he already does with the orphans. He stops the momentum when he makes the anti-drug speech. He's trying to project machismo which doesn't look good like a middle age salesman with a fast sports car. He would be better off being humbled since his real life stunts already speak for his manhood. He may not be capable of projecting much else as an actor. His acting needs to round out the rest of him and I doubt he has it. He is self-righteous when he doesn't deserves it. As for the evil scheme, it's mostly non-sense and meaningless. It's bad writing and it needs to be explained well ahead of time. The flash photography premise is silly. Overall, Evel is a limited actor even if he is not the worst. His character has unappealing flaws. The story has unappealing flaws. It is bad but it could be worst.

I saw the documentary with Richard Hammond where he met the world's most famous motorcyclist stuntman, I wasn't sure what to make of him, and then I saw he appeared in his own film, so I tried it. Basically legendary stuntman Evel Knievel has come to Mexico to perform one of his greatest stunts, and while there preparing he gets to know some of his fans and catch up with old friends. This includes helping a bunch of orphans, getting his alcoholic mechanic Will Atkins (Gene Kelly) to put things right with his son Tommy Atkins (Eric Olson),and getting to know photographer and journalist Kate Morgan (Lauren Hutton). While all this is going on, villainous drug lord Stanley Millard (Leslie Nielsen) plans to have Evel killed in his stunt so that he can get a replacement biker and smuggle a massive supply of drugs through. Evel is seen to do one jump prior to the main one, but when it comes to the big one he finds out about this plot, goes ahead with the jump, and after recovering there are some chases and stuff to which he saves the day in the end. Also starring Red Buttons as Ben Andrews, Frank Gifford, Sheila Allen as Sister Charity, Cameron Mitchell as Barton, Albert Salmi as Cortland and Dabney Coleman as Ralph Thompson. The critics rate this film two stars, the extra star is probably just from the fact that it is Evel Knievel and there are two stunts in the film, but the supporting one or two big names are wasted, especially Kelly and Nielsen, the story is ridiculous, over the top cheesy and predictable, I can never see myself watching this garbage again, a stupid action thriller adventure. Pretty poor!