Easy Rider is a low-budget movie filmed in an unconventional amateur-like manner that tells the story of two long haired bikers, played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, that trade cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles and then get on the road in an attempt to reach New Orleans in time for Mardi Grass.

On the road they give a ride to a hippie taking him to his commune where they are invited to stay for some days. The “Stranger on the Highway” gives them some LSD to “share with the right people” as they depart. Once again on the road the two bikers get arrested for “parading without a permit”. In jail they meet an alcoholic, played by Jack Nicholson, who helps them get out and decides to join the duo. They later introduce him to marijuana despite his reluctance to try it because “it leads to harder stuff”.

He ends up dying from being beaten. When the bikers arrive to New Orleans they find a brothel and along with two prostitutes, ingest the LSD. The trip is represented by rapidly shifting images and sound effects. While financially successful their trip was a spiritual failure: “You know Billy, we blew it”.

Despite the glamorous, positive role drugs take on the movie the tragic ending sort of ruins it for the detached, free lifestyle the two main characters dreamed of.