Wuchak "Pray for the Wildcats" is a TV "movie of the week" from 1974 about four businessmen (Andy Griffith, William Shatner, Robert Reed and Marjoe Gortner) who take a trip through the desert wilderness of Baja California on dirt bikes. Griffith plays Sam Farragut, an arrogant mogul who thinks money is power and anyone can be bought if the price is right; and, if they can't, well, they'll just have to be discarded one way or another. Needless to say, the trip doesn't go as pleasantly as planned.If you didn't think it was possible for Griffith to play a robust villain you need to see this film. Andy just eats up the role of the dastardly Farragut. Not only is his performance a pleasure to behold, it rings true! All the other actors are perfectly cast, as are the wives and girlfriend of the three subordinate bikers, Lorraine Gary, Angie Dickinson and Janet Margolin respectively."Pray for the Wildcats" is a morality tale in the manner of "Deliverance," except that the crime is inverted and the trip takes place in the SW desert/coast rather than a wild river in Georgia. Although a TV movie, "Pray for the Wildcats" is every bit as good as "Deliverance" and perhaps even better. And, thankfully, it doesn't contain anything as hard to watch as that infamous "squeal like a pig" scene.Judging from the reviews, many will ridicule such commendations. In fact, for reasons that elude me "Pray for the Wildcats" is often mocked as "campy" and "unintentionally funny." Really? I don't see this at all; and anyone who thinks it's campy obviously doesn't know what camp is. This is clearly a serious drama/adventure/thriller with the requisite soap operatics, but nothing overkill and definitely within the realm of believability. Another overdone criticism is Shatner's hairpiece, which is odd since it definitely LOOKS like his natural hair (not that it is).The real reason reviewers make fun of "Pray for the Wildcats" is because (1.) it's a TV movie and (2.) three of the stars had well-known TV shows -- The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek and The Brady Bunch -- and, gee, I guess there's no way they could really act and break away from their typecast roles. But they can and do superbly in "Pray for the Wildcats." Another thing I love about this film is the powerful message: ***SPOILER ALERT*** One man sins greatly, but has zero remorse and tries to cover it up through his power and money; another man also sins, but realizes his mistake and ultimately proves his character; the other two show that they believe money and position are more important than justice and therefore prove their lack of character. ***END SPOILER*** The film was shot in Arizona and Baja California and runs 100 minutes.GRADE: A+

stickboy_60 Most of the previous reviews are accurate: Griffith plays a thrill-seeking tycoon and has plenty of rewind-and-see-that-again moments ("Come on, Hippy," "YAAAAA-HOOOOOOOO!!!!!," "Now we're getting' it on, baby," and the split leg "Hoooot Daaaammnn!!!"); Shatner is pretty restrained until the "There is no myself" speech; Robert Reed plays a boring character boringly (if you look for gay subtext, I guess it's more interesting); Dickinson does nothing except gripe (her "You've KNOWN and you've let it go ON?!?" would sound just like Monty Python if done with a British accent); and Gary does nothing but look like the doe-eyed cow that her character is (a dense Ellen Brody, pretty much).In addition to the Trek-like biking shirts, the Mexican police Captain swaggers just like Barney Fife and wears a similar-looking uniform. These must've been deliberate, but the subtlety makes it more effective than a spoken-word in-joke.I just love the badness of Pray For The Wildcats. Five actors who I recognize and like, all of them embarrassing themselves.Just like Impulse, this movie is perfect for your next beer-and-pizza get-together. Grab a copy of this hard-to-find diamond, and NOW WE'RE GETTING IT ON!!!

fdextro ABC hyped the premiere of this pop culture mind bender as "the television event of the decade". They may have been right. Written by Hack, I mean Jack Turley, it's a heavy-handed quilt of morality clichés as we follow three advertising execs (Shatner, Reed and Gortner) willing to do anything to land a big account. They make Darrin Stephens and Larry Tate look like models of integrity. This time, they agree to go on a motorcycle road trip to Mexico with a crazy rich (or is that Ritz?) cracker played by Griffith in an image-shattering performance. He forces them to wear matching leather jackets emblazoned with a "Baja Wildcats" logo, while underneath sporting what look exactly like extra-large long-sleeved Star Trek t-shirts. With a set-up like this, how can you go wrong? Well, for one thing, trying to jam in a bunch of soap opera backstory before the big ride.Shatner, wearing one of his funniest toupees (with sideburns to match), is having a serious midlife crisis. His job is in jeopardy, he's cheating on his wife, and, worst of all, the boss tells him to get some new suits with wider lapels (this is the 70s, after all). He takes out a life insurance policy and contemplates suicide for much of the movie. In a reversal of Griffith's performance, Shatner actually underplays his role but does it so turgidly; he still comes off as a pompous ham.Then we have Reed, still decked out in a full-Brady afro. He's married to Dickinson and things aren't going so well for them either. (In fact, she's the one having an affair with Shatner.) It's impossible to watch today and not read gay subtexts into Reed's dialogue, especially when he tells Dickinson, "The man you married lived in an apartment with only one closet." Delicious.Meanwhile, Gortner plays a proto-yuppie prick, willing to sell-out and sacrifice anything and anyone for the sake of his career. He can't even give his girlfriend a committed answer when she tells him she's pregnant. Willing to abort it if he says so, Gortner can't be bothered right now with making a decision. He's got a road trip to run. The women gather together to say goodbye and the Wildcats begin their fateful odyssey. That's too bad for us watching because we now have to squirm through what seems like an hour (it isn't, though) of random motorcycle mania. Worse than the similar biker bores in THE ACID EATERS, try not to fall asleep because you'll miss some of the most incredible made-for-TV moments ever devised.The first takes place in a cantina. Griffith has been tossing back tequila boilermakers and makes a drooling play for some poor hippie girl dancing her little hips off. The expected fight breaks out and our trio now have to face the fact that Griffith may be a total psycho. Gortner gets drunk and tries not to care. However, Reed and Shatner have a real heart-to-heart talk about responsibility and whether all this is worth some advertising job. The scene ends with another classic Reed-subtext line as he asks a heavily buzzed Shatner, "I'm going' back to the hotel. You wanna tag along?" Shatner declines the invite with a warm and knowing smile.The other key scene involves Griffith's confrontation with a hippie couple swimming nude on a beach. He and Gortner ride in and the bad vibes start almost immediately. Griffith shows an interest in the girl and offers the boyfriend a hundred dollars for her, flaunting the whole hippie free love ethic. The boyfriend tells him to get lost, but Griffith loses it in a completely different way. He grabs a hatchet and starts taunting, "C'mon hippie, let's go! C'mon freak!" Instead of bodies, Griffith butchers the hippies' van, pretty much dooming them to slow death because of the distance they would have to walk to reach help. Of course, Gortner plays the quivering toady.Back in Mexico, Shatner finally shakes off his suicidal bent with the realization that he's a better man than Griffith. Referring to the head Wildcat, Shatner says, "He's like acid. He makes people do anything." Reed remains ambivalent and Gortner continues as a self-denying scumbag.I won't reveal the ending, but I'm sure most of you have a good idea who won't survive. As I said, it's a morality play, but holds little weight as such. The value of this movie relies purely on 60s/70s pop culture appreciation. It's a predictably scripted, flatly directed late-period biker film, led by three attempts at a stereotype breakout. It's also a fun failure and well worth seeking out.

johdousha I agree with Teresa. This movie is a cheesy. But, on the other hand, I thought Andy Griffith did a fine job of being a bad guy for once. William Shatner, of course, played the part of William Shatner, but then, I just like him because he's Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. Robert Reed was pretty good, too, and if you see this film, check out the interior of his house--I swear it's the same house as the one in the Brady Bunch! And sure, the film is completely dippy, and the plot's weird, and the effects are royally hand-made, but I still think this is a film worth watching, if only for the interaction between the well-known television personalities. Besides, where else do you get a chance to see William Shatner referring to someone else as "The captain?" The don't make 'em like this anymore...maybe that's a good thing. But see it anyway!