Easy Rider is a 1969 film directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Peter Fonda and himself as two counterculture bikers named Wyatt (Fonda) and Billy (Hopper). They set out on a cross-country trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans with the intent of selling a large stash of cocaine that they smuggled across the Mexican border. Along the way, they encounter a variety of characters, including a hitchhiking hippie, a commune of free-spirited hippies, a drunken lawyer, and a prostitute.
As they travel through towns and rural areas, they encounter hostility and prejudice from conservative locals who see their long hair, unconventional attitudes, and use of drugs as a threat to their way of life. The film explores themes of freedom, rebellion, and the clash between the counterculture and mainstream American society in the late 1960s.
Easy Rider was a landmark film that helped to define and popularize the "New Hollywood" era of filmmaking that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was also noted for its use of a non-traditional soundtrack featuring music from popular artists of the time, such as Bob Dylan and The Band. The film's ending, which is violent and abrupt, shocked audiences and became a signature moment in the history of American cinema.