Starring
Michiel Hulsman, Bug Hall, Robert Aramayo, Daniel Coonan, Gabriel
Luna, Annie Read, Essa O'Shea, Hera Hilmar. Directed by Ciaran
Donnelly & Stephen Kay. (2016, 236 min).
This
three-part miniseries, which first aired on the Discovery Channel,
will be of great interest to Harley-Davidson aficionados. However,
anyone looking for dramatic storytelling may find it less
compelling.
The
first episode is easily the strongest, which depicts the humble
beginnings of meek-but-brilliant engineer Bill Harley (Robert
Aramoyo), opportunistic huckster Arthur Davidson (Bug Hall) and his
strong-willed, rebellious older brother, Walter (Michiel Huisman).
From the construction of their very first motorbike, these guys' struggle
to find support to compete with other manufacturers and make a brand
name for themselves is an interesting rags-to-riches story. Their
primary rival is George Hendee (Philip Brodie), the unscrupulous
founder of Indian motorcycles, who is both contemptuous and envious
of these young upstarts.
 |
| "No, it doesn't come with training wheels." |
All
the while, we see the evolution of what would someday become the gold
standard of motorcycles. While bikers and motorsports enthusiasts
will find this fascinating (the technical development segments seem
pretty authentic), Harley and the Davidsons starts to lose its
dramatic footing about halfway through, becoming more inconsistent
and episodic. Some potentially major plot developments are
briefly touched upon before being almost too quickly resolved or
forgotten about altogether. For example, episode two ends on a
massive cliffhanger, with Indian spearheading a lawsuit against
Harley-Davidson for patent violation, which could destroy the
company. Yet, episode three simply picks things up ten years later;
neither Indian or the lawsuit are mentioned again and we never
learn how Harley-Davidson overcame this devastating development. It's
almost as though an entire episode is missing.
Overall,
the performances are decent (though the aging make-up isn't) and even
though the three lead characters aren't particularly dynamic, we
genuinely grow to like them. There's also some nice attention to
period detail and great pleasure to be had in watching these machines
become faster over the years, winning races and leaving their
competition in the dust. Harley and the Davidson isn't going to sweep
the Emmys or anything, but motorheads are sure to enjoy it.
EXTRA
KIBBLES:
“The
Making of Harley and the Davidsons”
“Biketacular”
(an hour-long special which first aired on the Discovery Channel;
countdown of the greatest motorcycles ever built)
DVD & Digital Copies
DVD & Digital Copies
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW
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