Documentary Movie Reviews
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I Am Evel Knievel (2014)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
10/26
10/26:
I consider Evel Knievel an American icon.
He made something out of nothing, and people were fascinated by what he did. Consider this: Evel Knievel
was featured in ABC's Wide World of Sports. Seven of its ten highest rated programs were owned by him
including the number one when he jumped over fourteen Greyhound buses at King's Island amusement park in Ohio
in 1975 and more than 50% of the country tuned in. The number two? It was the Ali-Frazier fight in Manila,
Philippines.
How about these unbelievable crashes, starting with the Caesars Palace when he jumped over the water fountain?
Over the course of his career, Evel Knievel broke 37 major bones, fractured another 400, and had his hip
replaced and liver transplanted. No matter what the extent of his injuries was after a crash, he always came
back to do another jump within five months. Amazing.
Some of Evel Knievel's other famous stunts include jumping over eighteen and then nineteen cars in Kent,
Washington, in 1970; taking off in a rocket over the Snake River Canyon in 1971; jumping over thirteen
single-deck London buses at Wembley Stadium before 90,000 people in 1975; and jumping over a tank full of
live sharks in 1977.
Anyway, I Am Evel Knievel is a nice documentary with lots of people being interviewed. However, a few
of them are rather ridiculous like Michelle Rodriguez and Kid Rock. Evel Knievel retired in 1981, and Michelle
Rodriguez was three years old at the time! How would she know? Regardless, after hearing so much, it's a good
combination of who Evel Knievel was, what he did for a living, and why he was very famous in the 70's. I
didn't even know there was no science to his daredevil stunts, turning him into a pretty gutsy individual.
All in all, I Am Evel Knievel makes for an engaging viewing.