Custom Bikes, Surf Boards, and Bros
Deus Ex Machina is a postmodernist, hipster’s wet dream. It’s an awesome custom bike shop, a surf shop, a cafe, a gear and apparel seller, and now it’s put out a film. Based in Los Angles, California, the company made a movie that’s perfectly “on brand,” so to speak. It’s full of surfer bros, killer bikes, and cool old vehicles all on a road trip.
The film is called Death Rides a Horse, which is a tribute of sorts (blatant ripoff of the name) of a late ’60s Western movie starring Lee Van Cleef, John Philip Law, and Mario Brega. The point of Deus’ film is as ambiguous as the company itself pretends to be. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s clear that it’ll be a weird and likely wild romp through California and down to Baja to ride around.
As much as I want to hate on it, the film looks genuinely cool. It’s like everything else the company does. It’s well designed. It fakes like it’s not meant to sell you something, but in reality, it’s just one of the best ways for Deus Ex Machina to continue marketing overpriced clothes, gear, and everything else.
Will I watch the full film? Probably. The company filled it with eye candy. It will likely inspire me and several others to go riding a little more, go exploring a little more often, and bring your friends into the loop. For that, I thank Deus Ex Machina, even if a part of me wants to pretend it doesn’t exist.