Two-Lane Blacktop (The Criterion Collection)
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Movie Reviews of Two-Lane Blacktop (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Cool Movie for the 1970's
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked this movie and is along the lines of "Vanishing Point". I enjoyed seeing the good old days of cruising, racing, etc. Gasoline at .41 cents per gallon and the old American landscape was a hoot. The movie does move slow in some places but very well done for the 1970's. No green screen special effects, just plain filming on the fly. Quality of reproduction was very good....Movie Review: two lane blacktop
Summary: 4 Stars
i bought this dvd for my boyfriend. we sat and watched it and was very satisfied with the condition the movie was in. there was no skips or scratches on it at all which is surprising for a used dvd..i would definitely order againMovie Review: The Existential Action Film
Summary: 3 Stars
It's fair to say that Two-Lane Blacktop is not your typical road movie. The film focuses on a cross-country race that pits James Taylor and Dennis Wilson against Warren Oates. Laurie Bird stars as a hitchhiker who cannot decide whose side she wants to take in the race.
What sets Two-Lane Blacktop apart is that it offers the viewer no easy answers. Arguably, the film offers the viewer not much of a story, period.
The four characters all spend their lives in action. Nothing that they do, however, makes any difference; that is why this is an existential film. Oates is the standout as the middle-aged character known only as GTO (after his car). GTO picks up a string of hitchhikers with whom he tries to establish a bond by telling outlandish, self-aggrandizing lies. The hitchhikers never ride with the overbearing Oates for long. The only hitchhikers to reach their intended destination are going to a cemetery; consider the symbolism in that.
The rest of the cast is unimpressive. Taylor and Wilson are not uniformly terrible, but they are both wooden in many of the scenes. Bird is OK, but her character is poorly developed.
Car freaks will love seeing all of the vintage "muscle cars" in this film. Two-Lane Blacktop also contains some incredible landscapes. The shots that I enjoyed the most, however, were those of a vanished America; we see the gas stations, diners, and main streets of yesterday throughout the film.
If viewers can stand a movie that goes nowhere, Two-Lane Blacktop is worth a look. This film certainly is different. Viewers may find, however, that the film's lack of a narrative is frustrating.
Movie Review: It's really deep 3 Stars
For those who were into street-rods in the 1970s, this film will strike a few cords, and take you back. Although this movie is more bleak and joyless than I remember those days, it does have a certain realism about it that grabs you. What a lot of younger people probably don't realize is how common street-rods and street racing was back in the 70s. It was nearly everywhere, and in my area (Southeast N.E.) quite organized. There wasn't as much money around back then, or easy credit. But the muscle cars were fast, serious, and many of them hairy and radical as hell. I'm not trying to promote anything,.... just reminiscing. This film both grabbed me and disappointed me at the same time, which parallels the story itself. I think it could have been a lot better. But it seemed to be so deadly serious about being taken seriously, that I think it adversely affected it's balance. The film-maker dove deep, metaphors flying. But it really didn't work in that regard in my opinion. Even still, it's a rare breed of film, and certainly was worthy of my time for the nostalgia and feel of those times, if nothing else.Movie Review: "Existential" means "Not A Whole Lot Happens"
Summary: 2 Stars
An LA snob friend of mine said I HAD to see this movie. She knew I grew up in the Midwest and was a kid when the muscle car 1970s was in full swing. I hung around in the garages with centerfolds and old cars and motorheads guzzling beer and tinkering under hoods.
So I watched this movie. And I have no idea what I was supposed to like about it. Cool cars, okay. But after about ten minutes of watching non-actors doing some non-acting (except for Warren Oates, who, well, drives a lot), I could not figure out what I was supposed to like about this movie.
I also grew up watching movies like VANISHING POINT; DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY; CANNONBALL (not THE CANNONBALL RUN); AMERICAN GRAFFITI; heck, even SMOKEY & THE BANDIT...and those may have been cheap drive-in movies...but they at least DID SOMETHING. Characters, plot, dialogue, gags, stunts. Low-brow and obvious, but I didn't scratch my head and wondered what the heck was even going on like I did suffering through TWO LANE BLACKTOP.
So I told my LA snob friend that I didn't like the movie because mabye--just maybe--someone who's actually rode in those cars, ate in a country diner, waited on the mechanic in the rain somewhere in the Midwest--wouldn't find these scenes all that compelling.
Oh. I get it. There wasn't supposed to be a POINT. That's the point! Got it. Well, forget that. Where the heck is Dom DeLuise?