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American Graffiti (25th Anniversary Edition) (1973)
Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of
George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only
a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no
sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering
exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to
which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American
Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling
one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the
cusp of adulthood.
(In
essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days
as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way
for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's
rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become
as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character
subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of
meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and
vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The
once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully
that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of
performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron
Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie
Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true
American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's
list of all-time greatest American movies.
Vanishing Point (1971) Art film and road movie
collide for Vanishing Point, an existential car chase across the desert
in a post Easy Rider America. Barry Newman stars as Kowalski, a taciturn
driver who bets that he can drive a new Dodge Challenger from Denver to
San Francisco in 15 hours. He loads up on amphetamines and begins his
odyssey through the contemporary west while a funky black DJ (Cleavon
Little) turns the driver into a folk hero and broadcasts advice on
dodging the cops. It's like a counterculture precursor to Smokey and the
Bandit, with the road as the last bastion of freedom and the DJ
as a
combination commentator and mystical guide. The amazing car chases and
excellent stunt work are stunningly set against the American west,
beautifully captured by cinematographer John A. Alonzo. Vanishing Point
is most assuredly a product of its time, the heady, anything-goes era of
rebellion in the early 1970s. --Sean Axmaker
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) VHS Follow the high
jinks antics of two car-crazed vagabonds who challenge a stock 1970
Pontiac GTO to a cross-country race against their cool and customized
1955 Chevy. "The Driver" (singer James Taylor) and "The Mechanic"
(Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys) race against "G.T.O." (Warren Oates),
with "The Girl" (Laurie Bird), at his side. Taste a bit of Americana as
this band of renegades stop for hitchhikers, and at small-town diners,
gas stations and motels across the Southwest.
Directed
by Monte Hellman, this 1970s cult film has gained an avid following for
its automotive detail. Available in DVD under item number 135696. Color,
103 min.
Bullit (1968) VHS Starring Steve McQueen and
Jacqueline Bisset. The fast-paced, stylish detective thriller set in San
Francisco features some of the most intense car chase sequences ever.
McQueen is the detective who suspects he's not intended to do a good job
of protecting the witnesses in a Mafia case. The DVD version includes
production notes, the theatrical trailer and English, French, and
Spanish language and subtitles.
Available in DVD under item number 132867. Filmed in 1968. 113 min.
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) VHS This classic in
filmmaking history straps you in for a hair-raising ride as the cast
(made up exclusively of stunt drivers) outruns the law in an attempt to
steal 48 cars without getting caught. "Eleanor," the film's leading
lady, is a yellow Ford Mach 1 Mustang that rocks you through a fast and
furious chase scene wrecking five cities and destroying 93 cars in the
process.
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) VHS Fast, loud,
expensively mounted, and charged with testosterone (qualities it shares
with most other films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) Gone in 60 Seconds
is the archetypal popcorn movie that offers a shot of pure, visceral
entertainment. Nominally based on a 1974 B-movie with the same title, it
stars Nicolas Cage as a former car thief -- the best in the business,
we're told. Cage comes out of retirement to help his irresponsible young
brother (Giovanni Ribisi) pay off a debt to a debonair but ruthless
gangster (Christopher Eccleston). To do this he must steal 50 cars in
one night, a
herculean
task for which he enlists the aid of onetime associates Angelina Jolie,
Robert Duvall, and Will Patton. Director Dominic Sena deals with plot
absurdities by ignoring them, concentrating his creative energies on the
big heist and its unintended consequences. He develops nail-biting
suspense with this lengthy, elaborate sequence, but it's those
high-octane chase sequences that really put Gone's pedal to the metal.
Ed Hulse
Duel (1971) VHS Driving down a deserted Southern
California highway at a safe and sane 55 miles per hour, Dennis Weaver
steps on the pedal to pass a large gas trailer truck. Moments later, the
truck is back, dangerously tailgating Weaver before abruptly cutting him
off. Let the games begin! For the next 90 minutes, Weaver and the
never-seen truckdriver are pitted against one another in a motorized
duel....to the death. Author Richard Matheson conceived Duel after a
similar experience with a reckless trucker. The story first appeared in
Playboy magazine, then was picked up for adaptation by the producers of
The ABC Movie of the Week.
The
director chosen to helm Duel on location in Soledad Canyon was a bright
23-year-old who'd shown promise on such series as Night Gallery and
Columbo: Steven Spielberg. First telecast with surprisingly little
fanfare on December 18, 1971 (TV Guide reviewer Judith Christ casually
recommended the film for Dennis Weaver fans), Duel ended up one of the
surprise TV-movie hits of the season; it would most likely have been the
hit had it not been for Night Strangler, which came along a few months
later. So popular was Duel that a somewhat longer version (with added
violence and profanity) was prepared for theatrical release.
Christine
Director John Carpenter returns to the suburban landscape he explored
so chillingly in Halloween (1978) with this lean, stripped-down
adaptation of the Stephen King best-seller about a haunted car with a
devilishly bad attitude and the teen underdog who falls head-over-heels
for her chrome-accented charms. Shortly after geeky, horn-rim-sporting
Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) narrowly escapes a beating at the hands
of shop-class bully Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander) on the first day
of his senior year, he soon falls prey to a far more duplicitous villain
in the form of a rusted-out 1958
Plymouth
Fury nicknamed "Christine" by its crusty owner George LeBay (Roberts
Blossom) -- who sells wide-eyed Arnie the old hulk despite the protests
of best friend Dennis (John Stockwell) and the admonition of his
domineering parents. As Arnie sets to the task of restoring Christine,
his hobby grows into an obsession -- and the real power that hums
beneath her hood begins to emerge, seemingly granting newfound coolness
and sex appeal to the once-nerdy outcast, while simultaneously drawing
away his very soul. A vengeful spirit, Christine lashes out violently at
those who dare to stand between her and Arnie -- starting with Repperton
and his gang, who completely trash the car, but are soon hunted down one
by one and pulverized beneath the whitewalls of the
miraculously-restored Fury. When Arnie's pretty, popular girlfriend
Leigh (Alexandra Paul) begins to suspect she may soon be on the
receiving end of automotive vengeance, she calls on Dennis for help...
but a frightening midnight ride in Christine convinces Dennis that
Arnie's only hope lies in destroying the demonic vehicle. Carpenter's
follow-up to the underrated, ultra-gory horror classic The Thing (1982)
is clearly aimed at a wider audience, but manages to deliver potent
scares with the tight editing, gorgeous widescreen compositions and
moody electronic score (blended effectively here with snappy 50's tunes
on Christine's radio that often comment directly on the action) that
have become Carpenter's trademark. Fans of the novel may be disappointed
(as with many 80's King adaptations) by the excision of virtually every
subplot, particularly with the link between the late Roland LeBay (his
sullen brother George was actually a benign character in the novel) and
his beloved Plymouth, which became possessed of his virulent spirit.
Nevertheless, Christine can be appreciated as a horror film distinct
from its source material, with a chillingly effective power of its own.
Cavett Binion
Mad Max (1979) This stunning, post-apocalyptic
action thriller from director George Miller stars Mel Gibson as Max
Rockatansky, a motorcycle policeman in the near future who is tired of
his job. Since the apocalypse, the lengthy, desolate stretches of
highway in the Australian outback have become bloodstained
battlegrounds. Max has seen too many innocents and fellow officers
murdered by the bomb's savage offspring, bestial marauding bikers for
whom killing, rape, and looting is a way of life. He just wants to
retire and spend time with his wife and son but lets his boss talk him
into taking a peaceful vacation and starts to reconsider.
Then
his world is shattered as a gang led by the evil Toecutter (Hugh
Keays-Byrne) murders his family in retaliation for the death of one of
its members. Dead inside, Max straps on his helmet and climbs into a
souped-up V-8 racing machine to seek his bloody revenge. Despite an
obviously low budget and a plot reminiscent of many spaghetti westerns,
Mad Max is tremendously exciting, thanks to some of the most spectacular
road stunts ever put on film. Cinematographer David Eggby and stunt
coordinator Grant Page did some of their best work under Miller's
direction, and crafted a gritty, gripping thrill ride which spawned two
sequels, numerous imitations, and made Mel Gibson an international star.
One sequence, in which a man is chained to a car and must cut off a limb
before the machine explodes is one of the most tense scenes of the
decade.
Road Warrior (1982) A strong candidate for the
designation of most thrilling action movie ever made (the turbo-charged
exhilaration of its full-throttle highway chases has never been
equaled), the second part of George Miller's post-apocalyptic trilogy is
also a magnificently imagined movie myth. Like the Star Wars trilogy (by
that other George) the Mad Max films draw their inspiration from the
works of mythologist Joseph Campbell. In the 1979 original, Max (Mel
Gibson) is a policeman, the last guardian of civilization and order in a
devastated world reduced to chaos. But when a leather-clad gang of
sadomasochistic speed demons mows down Max's family, his remaining
connections to humanity are also permanently severed. After brutally
exacting his revenge, Max wanders off into the wasteland alone, "a
burned out shell of a man" who (to paraphrase The Searchers) is destined
to wander forever between the winds. In The Road Warrior, Max
rediscovers a sliver of his shattered humanity, and a spark of
redemption, when he helps an embattled colony of pioneers fight off the
savages who are after that most precious of all commodities: "guzzline."
Max is transformed into a legendary hero, just as Mel Gibson was
catapulted to international movie stardom. With its final stirring
images, The Road Warrior transcends its genre (whatever that may
be--science fiction? Western? action adventure?) and becomes something
timeless. It's a great movie. --Jim Emerson Additional features: The Road Warrior--Special Edition is a
part of the Century Collection from Warner. It includes an all-new
digital transfer and an additional 25-minute documentary on the making
of the movie, as well as the original theatrical trailer. The
documentary recalls on-set experiences and incorporates
behind-the-scenes footage never seen before. --This text refers to the
VHS Tape edition.
Rendezvous VHS
Better than any chase scene ever filmed, because its real! Renowned
French director Claude Lelouch mounted a camera on the nose of his
Ferrari, then drove flat out through the streets of Paris, running
countless red lights, using pedestrians as apexes and sidewalks as
streets. The sound of his roaring V-12 is stirring enough, but the sight
of Paris rushing by on the Champs Elysees at over 100 mph makes this ...
a must-see piece of auto cinema. 9 minutes of non-stop excitement!
Grand Prix: Deluxe Letter - Box Edition (1966)
This Academy Award-winning classic racing film features riveting Grand
Prix action from the 1966 season that was actually shot from Phil Hills
car. A true-to-life tale of the drivers lives on and off the track as
they battle for the World Championship. Stars Yves Montand, James Garner
and Brian Bedford, with cameos by some of the best drivers of 1966. ...a
must for automobile racing enthusiasts.
Color.
2 hours, 51 min.
The Italian Job Great cars (what they do to a
couple of E-Types and an Aston Martin is a crime), lots of action, and
the sights and cars of 1969. The heist of the century, it's a
cliffhanger in every sense of the word. Stars Michael Caine, Noel Coward
and Benny Hill.
Color
99 min.
Hollywood Knights (1980) You've got to give
credit to the Hollywood Knights. They may be crass, juvenile, sex-mad
pranksters, but they have an open-door policy: nerds and jocks alike are
welcome, as long as they show proper disrespect for authority. The
Hollywood Knights, a minor 1980 cult comedy poised somewhere between the
innocent nostalgia of American Graffiti and the raunchy humor of Animal
House, chronicles the antics of a practical-joking high school gang on
Halloween night, 1965. In tribute to the last night of their favorite
hangout, a Beverly Hills drive-in marked for destruction by the snooty
drive-in marked for destruction by the snooty Chamber of Commerce, the
gang's court jester Newbomb Turk (Robert Wuhl in his film debut) leads
the Knights in an all-out assault on the forces of law and order,
conformity, and good taste. Nestled in the parade of toilet humor, fart
jokes, mooning rebels, and topless co-eds, however, are the ruminations
of the end of an era: the times they are a changin'. The doo-wop and
surf soundtrack gives way to Motown, the Mamas and the Papas, and the
Byrds as high school sweethearts Tony Danza and Michelle Pfeiffer
weather the transition from puppy love to adult romance and Vietnam
looms on the horizon. It's a schizophrenic film, bopping from juvenile
anarchy to thoughtful drama and back again with a sloppy but energetic
drive and a rowdy rebelliousness that will never be accused of
sensitivity, decency, or dignity. Fran Drescher, Gary Graham, and a
hilarious Stuart Pankin also star.
Smokey And The Bandit (1977) "Smoky," aka
Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), is the prospective
father-in-law of unwilling bride Carrie (Sally Field). The Bandit (Burt
Reynolds), a maverick race car driver, makes an $80,000 bet that he can
transport a shipment of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to Atlanta
within 28 hours. It's important to note that in 1977, it was illegal to
sell the Coors brand east of the Mississippi River without a permit; if
we don't note that, then the plot won't make sense at times. Already in
danger of arrest from redneck lawmen like Buford T. Justice, Bandit furthers his
chances at a stiff jail term when he offers a ride
to Carrie, who hopes to escape her unwanted wedding to Justice's boy.
The rest of the film is one long chase, not quite as subtle as a Road
Runner/Coyote cartoon, not quite as restrained as a Three Stooges
comedy. Universally panned by critics upon its first release, Smokey
and the Bandit reaped something in the neighborhood of $50,000,000 at
the box office. Hal Erickson
Ronin (1998) This action-packed thriller is the sensational story
of a rag-tag group of misfits, led by an ex-CIA agent (DeNiro), hired by a mysterious
client to steal a top-secret briefcase. These operatives for hire, known as
"Ronin" are assembled in France where this seemingly easy task soon reaches the
boiling point as other underworld organizations vie for the same prize. Crank up the
action for one of the greatest chase sequences ever filmed!
The French Connection (1971) VHS This thrilling film contains one
of the best high-speed chase scenes ever filmed! See Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle and Roy
Scheider as Buddy Russo star as New York City detectives on an unrelenting mission to
break a heroine smuggling ring and ultimately uncover The French Connection. With gritty
realism this action-packed thriller takes on heightened intensity when one of the
criminals tries to kill Doyle. Inspired by a true story.
Winner of 5 Academy Awards
including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Color, 104 min.
Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner (2-Volume Set) VHS
Martin Milner hosts this heartwarming return to what remains of Route 66. It's an
incredible 2,400 mile trip that winds its way through eight states, hundreds of small
towns, and a cast of real-life people along the highway. Return to the Road takes you back
to the America of another time... when diners, drive-in movies, and greasy spoons did
booming business along the shoulders of two-lane highways.
Color. 120 min.
Car Wash (1976) Michael Schultz directed this kinetic,
hyperventilating comedy (scripted by Joel Schumacher) concerning the crazed events that go
on within a single 10-hour period at a Los Angeles car wash. The cast of colorful car-wash
employees includes Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), an ex-con; Duane (Bill Duke), a militant black
activist; and Lindy (Antonio Fargas), an obnoxious homosexual. Sully Boyar plays Mr. B,
the frazzled car-wash owner who has to deal with his screwball employees along with his
over-educated slip of a son, Irwin (Richard Brestoff), who quotes Mao and wants to
radicalize the workers.
Also along for the wash and wax are Miss Beverly Hills (Lauren Jones), with a wild assortment of wigs; Marsha (Melanie Mayron), the distracted car wash
secretary; a mad bomber (Prof. Irwin Corey), who is terrorizing the neighborhood; and
Daddy Rich (Richard Pryor), the founder of the Church of Divine Economic Spirituality, who
sports a gold limousine. Paul Brenner.
Pit Stop (1969) Cult director Jack Hill earned his reputation
largely for his energetic exploitation classics: The Big Doll House, Coffy, Switchblade
Sisters, and the mad black comedy Spider Baby. This edgy, tight racing drama, virtually
unseen for years, is less flashy but more intense and assured than those quirky pictures,
a well-written, solidly acted drama highlighted by dynamic racing scenes. Dick Davalos
(James Dean's brother in East of Eden) is a curt, quiet street racer lured by conniving
promoter Brian Donlevy to the dangerous, short-lived sport of figure 8 racing (a
hair-raising collision of stock car and demolition derby).
He just wants a grudge match
with his quick-tempered, strutting champion (Hill favorite Sid Haig), but cool customer
Davalos has bigger ambitions: He wants to use the crowd-pleasing track as a catapult to
the pro circuit, and he'll run down anyone in his path. It's a surprisingly handsome
picture, considering--shot quickly and cheaply in black-and-white to make use of fast film
stock for the high-energy nighttime racetrack scenes. Those wild amateur races are so
vibrant that the pro rally is anticlimactic, but Hill makes that work for him in a chilly
coda. Davalos is appropriately surly and Haig wild and boisterous, but the best turn
belongs to the understated Ellen Burstyn (under the name McRae) in her first major role as
the mechanically minded wife of a racing champ. -Sean Axmaker.
The Fast and the Furious (2001) A guilty pleasure with excess
horsepower, The Fast and the Furious efficiently combines time-honored male fantasies (hot
cars, hot women, hot action) into a vacuous plot of crystalline purity. It's trash, but
it's fun trash, in which a hotshot Los Angeles cop named Brian (Paul Walker) infiltrates a
gang of street racers suspected of fencing stolen goods from hijacked trucks. The gang
leader is Dom (Vin Diesel), ex-con and reigning king of the street racers, who lives for
those 10 seconds of freedom when his high-performance "rice rocket" (a highly
modified Asian import) hurtles toward another quarter-mile victory.
Racing is street
theater for a lawless youth subculture, and Dom is a star behind the wheel--charismatic,
dangerous, and protective toward his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), who's attracted to
Brian as the newest member of Dom's car-crazy team. Director Rob Cohen treats this like
Roman tragedy for MTV junkies, pushing every scene to adrenaline-pumping extremes; when
his camera isn't caressing a spectrum of nitrous oxide-enhanced dream machines, it's
ogling countless slim 'n' sexy race babes. The undercover-cop scenario cheaply borrows the
split-loyalty theme perfected in Donnie Brasco; a rival Asian gang adds mystery and
menace; and digital trickery is cleverly employed to explore the fuel-injected innards of
the day-glo racecars. It's about as substantial as a perfume ad, but just as alluring, and
for heavy-metal maniacs of any age, Diesel's superblown '69 Charger proves that Detroit
muscle never goes out of style. --Jeff Shannon.
