Most likely, when we hear the term “biker gangs” we immediately think of street gangs and drug cartels, along with all the brutality that accompanies them.
That is what we see in T.V. series and motion pictures the most. On the other hand, motorbike gangs are something we don’t often see.
Biker gangs, sometimes known as motorcycle gangs, are a distinct subculture and are often regarded as “outlaws,” not to be confused with official motorcycle clubs.
Like the enduring Sons of Anarchy, motorbike films from the past and now feature intense character development, action-packed scenes, and tales of outlaws.
Grit, loyalty, and the excitement of the open road are revealed when one takes a deeper look at popular biker flicks like Easy Rider, Beyond the Law, and The Wild Angels.
Biker films tell a variety of tales, from grim crime thrillers like Hell Ride to uplifting true stories like The World’s Fastest Indian.
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12 Best Biker Gang TV Shows and Movies
1. The Leather Boys
The Leather Boys by Sidney J. Furie is a brutal work of kitchen-sink realism in British rocker culture, comparable to American motorcycle gangs in the U.K.
Gillian Freeman developed the screenplay from her 1961 novel, which centers on two South London rockers, Dot (Rita Tushingham) and Reggie (Colin Campbell), who choose to wed despite being young.
His provincialism, her self-centeredness, and their combined immaturity put their partnership to the test. Reggie befriends fellow rocker Pete (Dudley Sutton) without realizing it and begins to delve deeper into life’s meaning and emotional commitment.
At the same time, Pete is only interested in companionship and having a little fun with their 650cc Triumph Bonneville.
The Leather Boys, now acknowledged as a seminal work of early LGBT cinema, offers a somber yet captivating view of early 1960s rocker culture.
2. The Wild Angels
Roger Corman’s The Wild Angels, which came out the same year as Hunter S. Thompson’s autobiographical firsthand narrative of his encounters with outlaw motorcyclists, gave Peter Fonda his breakthrough performance on the big screen. He portrays “Heavenly Blues,” the deranged boss of a fictional San Pedro Hells Angels chapter.
Bruce Dern’s character, ‘Loser’, the gang’s second-in-command, is hospitalized under police guard following a raiding operation to retrieve a stolen motorbike.
After being forced out by Heavenly Blues and his elderly girlfriend “Mike” (Nancy Sinatra), Loser passes away, setting off a lengthy sequence in which the gang destroys a church and gets into fights with the locals.
The outlaw motorcyclists had a peculiar beatnik air, complete with black skivvies, berets, leather jackets, and Nazi memorabilia mixed with a background of surf music. Real Hells Angels and Coffin Cheaters biker gang members are featured in The Wild Angels.
3. The Diaries of a Motorbike
Brazilian director Walter Salles’s portrayal of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) traveling from Argentina to Peru in the early 1950s is based on Guevara’s travel journal of the same name, which is complemented by Granado’s Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary.
The two heroes start on their voyage together in a dilapidated 1939 Norton 500 known as “The Mighty One,” which is the antithesis of the violent, fast-moving gang members in most movies about motorcycles.
Midway through the trip, their bike breaks down mechanically, forcing the two to start talking to people they meet and enlightening them about the poverty, misery, and political persecution many people on the continent face. A poignant tale of coming-of-age, the movie features striking photography and performances by Bernal and la Serna.
4. Mayans M.C. – Fx
Even though Sons of Anarchy ended some years ago, the show continued to be so successful that a spin-off was created within the same made-up world.
With much to live up to but remaining faithful to its parent series, Mayans M.C. has received increasingly favorable reviews thus far. Its fifth and final season is scheduled to debut in 2023.
The Sons’ rival Latino club, which later became comrades, may be recognizable to fans of the original. This Mayan M.C. spin-off, Santo Padre, is set in another fictional California town and begins around 2.5 years after the events of Sons of Anarchy.
EZ Reyes, a young man who joined the gang after being released from prison, is the focal point of this biker drama. Following the derailment of his family’s aspirations for a better life due to cartel violence, the Mayans M.C. Perhaps his chance to exact revenge.
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5. Gangland Undercover
Although Gangland Undercover is a fictionalized scripted television series, it is based on events described in Charles Falco’s novel Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America’s Deadliest Biker Gangs.
Regrettably, Gangland Covert was canceled after its second season despite offering an intriguing glimpse into covert operations.
Falco was a meth dealer by trade who joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives (ATF) as a confidential informant.
He went undercover to join the Vagos Motorcycle Club, one of America’s most infamous biker gangs, between 2003 and 2006.
In the show’s second season, Falco starts off in the Witness Protection Programme but eventually accepts a second undercover assignment to join the Mongols Motorcycle Club and then the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, delving into an even riskier world than the one he left behind.
In the end, Falco penetrates the Outlaws Motorcycle Club and defeats them with the aid of another undercover police officer.
6. The Last Chapter
The Last Chapter on the CBC is a Canadian miniseries that, like many other shows on this list, is based on real-life events. It also has a sequel called The Last Chapter II: The War Continues.
This interesting aspect of the show made it unique: every conversation was recorded twice, once in English and once in French, to avoid the logistical challenges associated with dubbing.
Although it is a fictionalized account, The Last Chapter describes the Quebec Biker War, which began in 1994 and lasted until the early 2000s.
The Triple Sixers, a well-known American motorcycle gang, opened chapters in Quebec and Ontario in the series to extend their influence into Canada. But the neighborhood gangs wouldn’t have it, and the biker war broke out.
The show’s main focus is on the leaders of the respective gangs as they negotiate the issue and maintain their friendship as former buddies.
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7. Biker Wars: Brothers in Arms
With Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, the final scripted programme on our list, we’re taking it down under. The Australian miniseries ran for six episodes based on the book Brothers in Arms by Lindsay Simpson and Sandra Harvey.
Bikie Wars delves into the specifics of the horrific Milperra Massacre, also known as the Father’s Day Massacre, which took place in 1984 between two opposing motorcycle gangs: the Bandidos and the Comancheros. The show is once more based on true events.
A splinter group of Comancheros members founded the Bandidos, which sparked an intense and violent rivalry between the two gangs and caused tension.
All of it culminated in a gunfight between the two groups in a Milperra bar, which claimed the lives of both parties and one uninvolved bystander.
All of this is covered in detail in Bikie Wars, including the aftermath of the murder and the gang members’ legal trials.
8. Hell Ride
On the roadways of the Southwest, things turn chrome-hot and violent when two biker gangs rekindle their decades-old enmity.
An incredible stunt team performed many extreme motorbike stunts in this thrilling film. Plus, the cast is excellent. Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, David Carradine, and motorcycle movie legend Dennis Hopper excel in this gripping tale.
9. Hells Angels On Wheels
In the popular 1960s film Hells Angels on Wheels, an innocent poet joins a gang of Hells Angels, but he later regrets it after learning that they are more than just “Weekend Warriors” who like committing violent crimes.
With plenty of motorcycle action scenes, filmmaker Richard Rush delivered an entertaining biker gang film that was warmly accepted by the crowd. The action sequences and Jack Nicholson’s appearance have contributed to the film’s enduring popularity.
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10. The Glory Stompers
In the cult movie The Glory Stompers, Dennis Hopper plays the hard-core-mean boss of a motorbike gang that fights a rival group over a violent kidnapping.
Although audiences at the time loved it, reviewers didn’t think the same. It’s an action movie that moves quickly, is violent and is entertaining.
11. The Born Losers
Hollywood hero Billy Jack made his screen debut in the blockbuster film The Born Losers, in which he faced a violent and incredibly lethal motorbike gang that had invaded a beachfront California village.
Billy Jack became popular as a vigilante and big-screen hero in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Born Losers, one of the biggest hits of its era, was the film that started as action fans were introduced to the karate-kicking, soft-spoken, partly Native American hero as he destroyed the enemies.
12. The Loveless
The Loveless, an obscure biker gang film that is a hidden gem, marked the beginning of Kathryn Bigelow’s directing career. While traveling to the Daytona races, a motorcycle gang makes a halt in a tiny town and runs into problems.
Vance is the leader of a motorbike gang that is traveling to the Daytona 500. They halt for repairs in a tiny, rural Georgian village.
The raucous outsiders soon cause the close-knit community of the town to become restless since they seem to inspire revolt in everyone they come into contact with.
The place: a tiny town in the South. In this setting, a sixteen-year-old girl and five bikers depart the town with a memory that the locals will never forget.
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