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 slim plot offers a network of society drop-outs that aid the "last free Man on Earth" (as the DJ describes him) on his obscure but obviously symbolic quest while flashbacks paint Kowalski as a world-weary hero. It doesn't really make much sense, but 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 Amazon.com

Wonderful service..definitely recommend.

I purchased Vanishing Point for my fiance and he loved it. I loved the great, fast service. I would highly recommend.

Thank you. December 22, 2008

Blu-ray out in Germany

The German BD came out containing some of the extras in 1080/24p: 17-minute Look Back with interviews with Barry Newman, Richard Sarafian and the nude Biker girl (clothed). 10-minute film, also in HD, about muscle cars and the Dodge Challenger. Trailer in HD, 2 TV spots in 480i.

Sountrack dts HD-MA with new remix with cars passing by to the side and to the rear in some instance. Seemed to me quite center concentrated.

It seems the US Version will have some more extras. BonusView extra about the music. December 14, 2008

perfect

I had been searching for this video. It was just what I was looking for! December 6, 2008

Not a car chase movie

Don't get wrong : this is not a fantastic car chase movie. It's a movie from the early seventies about freedom, about America living the end of a golden age, about a country made of hope and contradictions. It is also about space, and time, about beauty (the desert is amazingly beautyful).
R. Sarafian is a great director, with very little he does big effect, and Barry Newman is exactly the guy requested for this role.
Besides, it is a fantastic car chase movie. December 6, 2008

It Still Holds Up Today

I saw this in the theater in 1972 while restrained in the Marine Corps and was transported by the music, wide open desert spaces, anti-establishment themes, Kowalski's sense of fair play and nude hippie chicks on motorcycles. In other words all the freedoms I missed while being in the service. I really loved it then and was a little apprehensive about seeing it again as I wasn't sure it would hold up over the years. 36 years to be exact.

Well, the movie works on many different levels and it still holds up today for the same reasons it was a great "B" movie way back in the day. Now, the 1970 Dodge Challenger is a sweet, classic muscle car and just the sound of that engine revving over my home theater system is a nostalgic celebration. (Gotta get me one of those!) We miss Cleavon Little even more as he nearly steals the film as Super Soul the seemingly clairvoyant and misplaced desert DJ. We can still relate to the angst and frustration of not fitting in with mainstream society.

There are real humanistic themes here to go along with the weirdness and action. I appreciated Kowalski's sense of fair play, notice how when someone might be injured he usually stops, gets out of the car and determines whether they might need help. Nice touch. He does this in different ways all through the film. You really see the man behind the wheel as a person.

I did get concerned about the present value of this film during the first fifteen minutes because the early chases seemed rather like "Smokey & The Bandit". I was relieved that we move away from there quickly and head into deeper, darker waters. A very entertaining little film, indeed.

On the downside I would like to have seen some DVD extras like a "making of" segment or interviews and a 5.1 remix of the sound would have been great, too. I know, it's an old "B" movie, I'm just happy it's available at all! November 22, 2008

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