Savage Dawn

Ben Stryker (Lance Henriksen), a former soldier, is riding on his motorcycle in the desert, on his way to see his friend Tick Rand (George Kennedy) in the small town of Aqua Dulce, Texas. Stryker stops at a gas station to get some gas. There are 2 bikers, Spyder (John Lisbon Wood) and Meatrack (Charles Hyman) who ride in; they are members of a motorcycle gang called the "Savages". The two bikers start trouble with the gas station owner, and Stryker comes to deal with them, but they both ride off.

Stryker arrives in Aqua Dulce,^{or Agua Dulce?}. He asks for directions, and he is greeted by the town lawman, Deputy Joe Bob (Lewis Van Bergen), who is making sure Stryker is not here to cause trouble. A lady come up to Stryker and kisses him, and he realizes that it is Tick's daughter, Katie (Claudia Udy). She invites him to the house for lunch. Stryker goes to an abandoned mine, where he meets Tick's son Danny (Michael Sharrett). Danny likes the motorcycle Stryker has, and Stryker tells Danny he will give him a ride later. Stryker goes into the mine and sees Tick in there working; they both greet one another, and talk about old times. They realize how much things have changed over the years.

Later, on the highway, a big group of motorcycles are on their way to Aqua Dulce: they are the rest of the "Savages". They stumble across a man and a woman whose car broke down. The "Savages" decide to have their way with the woman; Zero (Mickey Jones), one of the "Savages", rapes the woman. On the mountainside, Stryker and Danny are riding on the bike, and they see what is going on. Danny suggests they help the girl, but Stryker says there are too many bikers.

In town later in the evening, Stryker and Tick are having a drink at the Tomkat bar, and Tick introduces Stryker to Rachel (Karen Black), the waitress at the bar. The town of Aqua Dulce has a fight contest every year, in which Deputy Joe Bob is the reigning champion. He asks Stryker if he wants to enter the contest, but Stryker refuses. The people in the bar hear motorcycles outside; the "Savages" arrive. They are entering the bar, and they get a little rowdy. Rachel announces to everyone that whoever defeats Deputy Joe Bob in the contest will win $500. A man comes in; it is Pigiron (William Forsythe), the leader of the "Savages". He wants to get the $500, so he lets Zero fight Joe Bob. The contest starts, Zero and Joe Bob fight, and Joe Bob is winning the fight, until Pigiron comes up and punches Joe Bob out. In the bar, Rachel is about to give Pigiron the money, but Zero is disqualified by the bartender because of the cheating. Zero gets mad and hits the bartender. A shot gun is heard; it is the Sheriff (Leo Gordon), who makes the "Savages" leave. The mayor of Aqua Dulce, who is also the reverend of the local church, Rev. Romano (Richard Lynch) orders the "Savages" to leave town. The Sheriff decides to hold Zero to show they are serious. Pigiron swears he will return. Rachel wants to come with Pigiron, and he lets her.

The next day, Pigiron, Spyder, and Meatrack ride into town, where Danny is with a girl. The three bikers ride over and mess with the girl. Danny hits Spyder, and Pigiron ties Danny by the feet and drags him with the bike. Stryker hears Danny calling him, and he deals with the three bikers.

Later that night, Pigiron is planning his vengeance on the town. At the Armory outside town, two female members of the gang pretend to need the help of the guards because of their car breaking down; the guards decide to help them, but they get hit from behind by Pigiron.

Pigiron rides into town on his bike, and taunts the local lawman, who throws him in jail. Joe Bob and the Sheriff call for help, but the phone wires are cut. They hear a machine noise, which is discovered to be a tank. The Savages, having stolen weapons from the Armory, take over the town. Reverend Romero is in the church, where he meets Lipservice, the female Savage he met at the contest in the bar earlier. She seduces him, and he gives in to temptation.

At the barbershop, Zero asks a barber (Sam Kinison) to give him a beard trim. The barber tells him is a born again Christian, and Zero warns him to not mess with him. When the barber starts singing "Amazing Grace", Zero gets angry, slitting the barber's throat and shooting him.

At Tick's house, Tick and Stryker get a visit from the Reverend, but refuse to help him. Tick, Danny, and Katie decide to fight back, but Stryker refuses; he doesn't want to lead people he cares about to their deaths. Tick has weapons he made while he was in the military. In town, Katie distracts Pigiron by hitting on him, making Rachel jealous, causing the two to fight. Danny, with the help of some of the locals, cause an explosion at the gas station. Tick fires a shoulder-mounted missile launcher at the tank. Pigiron has the tank fire on some of the town buildings. A man on a motorcycle rides in; it is Stryker. A grenade is thrown into the tank, it goes out of control, and runs over Rachel. Pigiron is angry, so he shoots Tick with a machine gun. Stryker runs over, and Tick dies. Stryker now wants revenge for the death of Tick, so he kills some of the "Savages". Pigiron and Stryker meet up, they fight, and Stryker kills Pigiron with the tank's small rocket launcher. Spyder, Meatrack, and another biker escape. Stryker is hot on their tail; he causes one member to crash into a spike on a tractor. Stryker ends up at a grain elevator and deals with Spyder, throwing him off the side of the steps, then he lassoes Meatrack with a rope, causing him to go up through an open spiked walkway. The "Savages" are defeated, and Stryker walks off onto the train track, having lost his good friend Tick.

• List of American films of 1985

• Savage Dawn at IMDb
• Savage Dawn at AllMovie
• Savage Dawn at Rotten Tomatoes