Vanishing Point

source: Vanishing Point

Trailer—Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point

the plot summary covers the story and yes! there is a story wrapped around one long car chase. the speed is real, the NOISE is real, that Challenger leaves black lines on the road........ I saw it when it was first released (when I was young and silly) and then spent 15 years trying to track down a Video copy of the movie (made more difficult as it had to be a PAL copy). I got the video in the '90s and still watch this amazing film. People rave about the chase sequence in Bullitt or The French Connection. Vanishing Point takes that excitement and extends it. Simply a great car movie for those who like a great car movie.... watch it

Many people don't know where the radio d.j. was broadcasting from in the movie. He was broadcasting from the then closed Goldfield Hotel, in beautiful "downtown" Goldfield Nevada! I should know! I was a resident in this picturesque little town of 110 people (in 1971). The Goldfield Hotel has since found new life as a restored historical landmark. The town itself has surged in population due to new mining processes, and the re-opening of the long closed mines. During the movie, a scene picturing the front of the "Green Frog Market", you will see the faint glow of a freckle-faced, red headed little boy, gazing out of the window......yeah..it's me!! This movie was quite exciting in a town of 110 people!

This is the essential 1970s anti-hero movie. It is not supposed to make sense and I have often wondered if it were not meant to be someone's psychedelic dream. Nudity when nudity would not seem to fit; bad cops; beaten people out of sync with plot line. Sounds like a trip. The cast is excellent and this is one of Cleavon Little's last main roles as well as the last main role for the early love interest. John Amos is so underplayed he is almost unrecognizable, I'd love to see his commentary on the movie. And one guy is so ripping off James Dean (though as a racist) that it is unintentionally funny. I'd recommend it as an addition to any American tape library. A true cult classic.

One thing I realised about carfilms, or whatever you might call them, is that a certain degree of monotony is always required (check out the wonderful Two Lane Blacktop too see what I mean). If you waste too much time with backgrounds, character development, story etc the really important stuff starts lacking (the car as an instrument of freedom, the road, the desert...). In this way Vanishing Point is the perfect carmovie: it's about the most monotonous, yet beautiful things i've ever seen! It's about: 1. The car 2. The road 3. The desert 4. The music And nothing else! Some vague attempts are made to make a character out of Kowalski, but fortunely they're small in numbers. The car is the true main character of the film. I recommend this film with all my heart.

Barry Newman is perfect in an episodic movie about an ex-cop, now drifter/car ferryman, who takes a friend up on a timed race from Denver to San Francisco in somebody else's car. Once Newman is detected speeding, a lengthy car chase ensues that covers several states. Nice photography of the Open West; great, understated performance by Newman. Some of the movie is dated, and the blind-DJ subplot can be annoying, but the non-stop action makes up for it. Infrequent showings on TV for many years, so watch it or tape it on one of it's rare appearances.