Best, worst and weirdest biker flicks

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There have been so many biker-themed films in the past 55 years, it's pretty much impossible to keep them all straight. Here are a few highlights and lowlights. All of the titles below -- even "C.C. and Company" -- are available on DVD.THE CLASSICS"The Wild One" (1953): Produced by the great Stanley Kramer, this film brought Marlon Brando to new heights of fame, while redefining the word "rebel" two years before James Dean starred in "Rebel Without a Cause." Mary Murphy and Lee Marvin were pretty great, too."Easy Rider" (1969): Dennis Hopper's road movie brought a close to the 1960s with the roar of an engine and a middle finger. Jack Nicholson became an even bigger star and Peter Fonda responded by appearing in every other biker and car-chase film in the 1970s.HELLS ANGELS ON REELS"Hells Angels on Wheels" (1967): Members of the Oakland, Calif., chapter of the Angels participated as extras in two biker films -- "Hell's Angels '69" and this one. Both are fun in their own way, but "Hells Angels on Wheels" has Jack Nicholson on the bike and "Freebie and the Bean" director Richard Rush behind the camera."The Wild Angels" (1966): Roger Corman is in prime form as he directs this exploitation film, which features members of a Venice, Calif., club trying to get back the bike of an Angel named Loser (Bruce Dern). Peter Fonda and Dern's then-wife, Diane Ladd, also star. Do the math -- was Laura Dern (born on Feb. 10, 1967) conceived during a biker flick?JUST PLAIN WEIRD"C.C. and Company" (1970): Little-known fact: There was a time in the early 1970s when every famous person on Earth was required to star in a motorcycle exploitation film. This one stars the unlikely pair of Joe Namath and Ann-Margret, in a biker-gang-saves-the-girl film."Chopper Chicks in Zombietown" (1989): Ever wonder what Billy Bob Thornton did with his time before "Sling Blade"? He was picking up small roles in films like this one, which manages to explain the plot completely in its four-word title.PURE EVEL"Absolute Evel: The Evel Knievel Story" (2005): There have been at least a half-dozen biopics and documentaries about Evel Knievel, and most are terrible. This is easily the best, with Evel himself, nearing the end of his life, telling his own story. (If you want a cheesy 1970s biopic, try to find the 1974 TV movie with Sam Elliott as the star.)BIKER FILMS TO AVOID"Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991): Mickey Rourke didn't look bad on a bike in this movie or in "Rumble Fish," but he loses big points for starring as a character named Harley Davidson. His co-star was Don Johnson. Do you need to know more?"Wild Hogs" (2007): Granted, the whole joke was that these middle-aged yuppies -- played by John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy -- are supposed to look ridiculous on their bikes. But the movie wasn't funny, even if it did make a gazillion dollars.SO BAD IT'S GOOD"Stone Cold" (1991): Mulleted pro linebacker Brian Bosworth fights bad guys alongside Lance Henriksen and Bosworth's trusty chopper. He famously uses a motorcycle as a missile to take out a helicopter -- which seemed a lot more ridiculous before Bruce Willis did basically the same thing with a cop car in "Live Free or Die Hard."(E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub(at)sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)