This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Jacob Phillips) is limited to 4,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.
Three disaffected youths in California – couple John (Robert Carradine, The Long Riders) and Mary (Melanie Griffith, Body Double) along with their friend Scott (Desi Arnaz Jr., A Wedding) – abruptly quit their jobs and take a ferry headed to Alaska in the pursuit of a new life running a salmon fishing business. Shortly after arriving, they are robbed, spurring a ripple effect of violence and its repercussions.
An inspired amalgamation of road movie, dark comedy and crime drama, JOYRIDE is a defiantly unclassifiable slice of 70s Americana deftly directed by esoteric genre filmmaker Joseph Ruben (The Pom Pom Girls, The Stepfather) and produced by noted exploitation impresario Samuel Z. Arkoff (The Wild Angels, Boxcar Bertha). Featuring energetic cinematography by Stephen M. Katz (Messiah of Evil, The Blues Brothers), Cinématographe is proud to present this often overlooked gem of 1970s malaise in a new 2K restoration from its 35mm interpositive, making its world blu-ray debut!
directed by: Joseph Ruben starring: Desi Arnaz Jr., Robert Carradine, Melanie Griffith, Anne Lockhart 1977 / 92 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
Region A Blu-ray
New audio commentary with film historians Alain Silver and Christopher Coppola
Youthful Intensity: An interview with Director and co-writer Joseph Ruben
Can't Miss the Boat: An Interview with Director of Photography Steven M. Katz
Essays by film critics Chris Shields, Adam Nayman and Brandon Streussnig
English SDH subtitles
Overall rating: 4.5726495 / 5 from 234 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
The Joyride Blu-ray release by Cinématographe, featuring a new 2K restoration, has received high praise for its fantastic packaging, great transfer, and beautiful looks. Customers also appreciate the film's enjoyable atmosphere and the great performances by the cast.
"Great road film with a great cast, cool seeing a young Melanie Griffith in it and Robert Carradine was great." — Casey K.
"Great movie, nice packing and good transfer" — Robert E.
"Restoration is solid with good AV quality, and the packaging really adds to the value as well" — William Z.
Reviews
Gently this movie feels like
"Gently this movie feels like it could’ve been a porn and you find that out in the special features. The performances are interesting. Looks great and definitely has a cinema feel"
— Michael P. (5/5)
small, quietly explosive film that lingers
"Three restless young drifters flee dead-end lives in search of freedom, money, and reinvention, only to discover that the open road offers as much loneliness as liberation in Joyride, a melancholy road movie where every stolen mile feels suspended between youthful fantasy and emotional collapse. It's an in-between kind of film, populated by young performers carrying cinematic legacies of their own: Desi Arnaz Jr. , Melanie Griffith, and Robert Carradine. They all feel perfectly matched to the movie's restless, transitional spirit. Director Joseph Ruben grounds the story in an evocative sense of place. Though set in Alaska, the film was shot throughout rural Washington, and it never feels like a Hollywood fabrication. Every roadside stop, cheap motel, and weathered small town carries the faded texture of late-'70s America. The trio heads north dreaming of easy money in the salmon industry, only to find themselves broke, hungry, and increasingly desperate. What begins as a loose hangout film gradually slips into crime drama as youthful adventure gives way to survival. Rather than feeling unfocused, the shifting tone mirrors the characters themselves. They're drifting through a season of life where identity is still being invented one bad decision at a time. More than anything, Joyride succeeds as a mood piece. It captures the post-counterculture hangover of the late 1970s: freedom curdled into aimlessness, optimism giving way to quiet exhaustion. Even moments that should play as comedy carry an undercurrent of sadness. A memorable sequence involving a literal pissing contest for prize money is funny on paper, but in context it only reinforces how completely these young people have run out of options. The performances are consistently strong. Desi Arnaz Jr. brings an appealing uncertainty to the central role, while Robert Carradine fits comfortably into the film's loose naturalism. Melanie Griffith is the standout, giving the movie much of its emotional gravity through a performance that is simultaneously vulnerable, impulsive, and quietly wounded. There is enough sex, violence, and criminality to keep the film adjacent to exploitation cinema without overwhelming its reflective core. Beneath the drifting and recklessness lies a story about young people inheriting a broken promise and continuing to search for meaning simply by staying in motion. I don't think Joyride reaches the very top tier of Vinegar Syndrome's Cinématographe line, but it embodies exactly the kind of overlooked film the label excels at rediscovering. It lingers less because of its plot than because of the particular emotional weather it creates—a dusty, melancholy snapshot of 1970s Americana caught somewhere between hope and resignation."
— Jonathan M. (3/5)
JOYRIDE
"Love that Cinematographe offers standard editions right away and you can sometimes get them on a great discount. Dig the reverse artwork. Exciting release!"
— Chris L. (5/5)
Early Ruben's gem!
"A solid 70s crime drama for Ruben's early career. Finally available in an incredible transfer that finally brought him out of obscurity."
— Steven E. (5/5)
solid neo-noir/rod/crime picture
"The cast is easy stick with & the hazy, Northwestern vibe is good for hunkering down with. Besides the obvious high-level packaging, JOYRIDE's transfer looks a lot better then my old MGM DVD. That misty look deserves the better quality scan. Happy to have this edition on my shelf."
— Isaac W. (4/5)
Excellent packaging and top notch
"Excellent packaging and top notch picture quality"
— Sanjay S. (5/5)
Joyride Indeed!
"This terrific slice of cinema was definitely a joyride for me! It was a pleasant surprise as I had never seen it before now and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The movie looks fabulous and the peerless VS restoration process was on full display with stellar sound and picture! Thank you, VS, for continuing to lovingly restore and release so many wonderful films from every conceivable genre! You are keeping physical media alive in this streaming world we now live in! Highly recommended!"
— Paul K. (5/5)
Wonderful film
"Another gem from cinematographe"
— Oliver H. (5/5)
An engrossing adventure
"‘Joyride’ is a fairly typical New Hollywood-style road trip/youth culture film that is distinguished by its great cast and its diegetic setting (Alaska). Gritty realism collides with drive-in flick-like fast car chases and occasional touches of humour to really good effect."
— Lee B. (4/5)
Joyriders
"These Cinematographe releases are fab. I have a soft spot for these car-obsessed ‘70s indies with Robert Carradine, and this is probably the best of those, with Arnaz, Jr. and a young Melanie Griffith. Strong release all around."
— Kenneth F. (5/5)
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