Two-Lane Blacktop

I been wanting two lane blacktop for a long time but 40 dollars was way to much , I picked it up other day for $19.99 , came in perfect shape and great movie

I hadn't seen this movie since its original release, and I watched it at a drive-in theater back then! I had forgot how little dialog there is in this movie. It's all about the feel of the era.

Less dated than Easy Rider, this early 70's time capsule is an existential masterpiece. What the hell does that mean? It means the film is full of space. It's about absolute nothing, or everything, or somewhere in between. It's a poem that doesn't deliver what an audience expects but is utterly faithful to it's idea. It doesn't have an emotional pay-off, but instead finds a stylish way to cinematically burn rubber and fade away. It's characters are called Driver, Mechanic, GTO and Girl. Its stars are James Taylor (yeah the pop singer), Dennis Wilson (yeah the late Beach Boy), Warren Oates (in perhaps his finest performances) and Laura Bird (most won't know her, she's good).Driver and Mechanic are the original slackers. They love racing, and hustling people to keep racing and their supercharged '55 Chevy. They are not hippies, but car junkies. The meet a loud mouth middle aged guy driving a newer sportier GTO who wants to race them for pink slips. Eventually they agree to what amounts to a gentlemen's type race from New Mexico to the East Coast. There's not a lot of suspense to the race, and the film is about. . . well whatever you want it to be about. GTO pretends to be someone else everytime he picks up a new hitch-hiker. He's amusing himself with his creative imagination and re-inventing himself to escape the middle age blues. Eventually there's a little bit of a competition over a young female hitchhiker.The film was filmed on location as cast and crew drove across the country. The bare-bones script is by Rudolph Wurlitzer and Will Curry.The film becomes more and more abstract as it moves along. The story matters less and less. A circle eventually forms and we realize we've been riding along on a very unique, one of a kind film. There's a wonderful example of an utterly open ended final shot.Some are going to find this film very dull and wonder what there is to admire and respect about it. Others are going to 'discover' all sorts of things that are of course not actually present in the film itself, but are thoughts and reactions the film has sparked and triggered within them as they watched the film. Other's will enjoy the muscle cars, and late 60's cars that make sporadic appearances or rev up their engines on occassion.It's a film you watch many times and find different subtexts, moods, ideas and space within. It's a film that requires the viewer to both observe, accept and participate in, like one would a living sculpture.It's the kind of art film you would never expect from a director who made two quirky Westerns for Roger Corman in the mid 60's (The Shooting and Ride the Whirlwind --with Nicholson right before Jack became a star with Easy Rider). Hellman also went on to make the very interesting Cockfigher with Warren Oates. He's appreciated by a small, growing cult of afficianado's and you'll find Hellman's name more recently as executive producer of Reservoir Dogs.For something really unique I suggest you find a way to watch the DVD of Two-Lane Blacktop.The film was long out of circulation because of disputes over music rights. They were resolved and the film has been beautifully transferred to DVD and actually looks better than it ever did since the contrasts in light were carefully boosted during the DVD transfer.Chris Jarmick Author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder - A steamy cyber thriller available January 2001. Please order it today. Thank You

All I can say is wow. I find it very enjoyable to seek out rare acting roles by famous musicians. Dennis does an awesome job playing his part. Much like Robbie Robertson in Carny, one must wonder why there weren’t more roles sought after by these naturals of the big screen.

Imagine James Tayor, young with hair, and one of the beach boys drag racing on the streets in little towns for cash while going cross country and racing Warren Oats cross country in a GTO. The dialog is pathetic for a car movie, they keep going to check the vales on the motor and adjust the jets on the carburetor they do these with a ratchet in like 2 minutes, lol if you know anything about cars it's cheesy but if you don't and you want to see a race movie with hippies from back in the day this is for you

I first saw this movie ages ago, probably not long after it was released. The 55 Chevy reminded me of my old 56 Chevy I paid $50 for when I was in high school. Its not a particularly well made movie and you can tell they had practically no budget to work with. But somehow it became a cult classic. Much like Night of the Living Dead, no budget, terrible acting, practically nothing going for it but it manages to attract a die hard following. Without spoiling the plot or ending I can say that the end of the film has puzzled me ever since the first time I saw it. Its just something about it that stays with you. If you have a few bucks, a couple free hours, and don’t mind spending the rest of your life scratching you head then I recommend you order this immediately, its getting harder to find. WARNING, make sure you order it in the correct region code and don’t wind up having to send it back and reordering the correct version like I did. Even so the return was easy and I ordered the correct one and got it fast.