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Two-Lane Blacktop - Criterion Collection
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List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $34.99
Your Save: $ 4.96 ( 12% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
Starring: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson, David Drake
Directed By: Monte Hellman
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515026925
Format: Color
Label: Criterion Collection
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-12-11
Running Time: 102
Studio: Criterion Collection
Theatrical Release Date: 1971
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Editorial Reviews:
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Drag racing east from L.A. in a souped-up f55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer/songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boysf Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oatesfs Pontiac GTO-driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race?the prize: their carsf pink slips. Yet no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. Maverick director Monte Hellmanfs stripped-down narrative, gorgeous widescreen compositions, and sophisticated look at American male obsession make this one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: "Those Satisfactions Are Permanent"
Comment: This movie is the ultimate existential road trip.
Although I wouldn't normally say this when describing how I feel about a film but I love the way the movie distances the characters from the audience. Dennis Wilson and James Taylor's lack of acting experience actually adds to the films atmosphere. As true existential characters, they are too focused on 'the road' to worry about anything else. They only show true emotion when the Girl comes between them, making those scenes even more potent.
Everyone here is essentially an archetype with the exception of the Warren Oates character, who is a contradictory, chameleon-like personality, the one character searching not for a destination but an identity. In the midst of the aptly named Driver, Mechanic and Girl, GTO (Warren Oates) best defines the circular themes of the narrative, forever reinventing himself as if he has no true identity. Each character is an existential beast but the Oates character is the most human(or humble) in this sense. As an audience member, he was my entry point into accessing the meanings of the story.
This is one of my favorite American road movies. Highly recommended, worth every penny.
Customer Rating:
Summary: great 70's movie
Comment: a must see, not just for car fans,it is more about the people, places and an era in america.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Lonesome Highway
Comment: This movie grew on me. At first, the nonacting and dirt-cheap just-shoot-the-movie production values annoyed me but then I got into it. Two-Lane Blacktop has a sort of grubby charm to it. A very idiosyncratic road movie. For actors, James Taylor and Dennis Wilson make great musicians and Laurie Bird, as the girl, seems to exist as little more than a sketched plot device. Someone for the guys to interact with and fight over. Warren Oates seems to be the "talent" here. Most road movies are freespirited romps populated by horny teens and/or besotted, drugged out freaks. Here, the characters are decidedly dour. They eat, sleep and drive, drive, and drive. They don't explain themselves, they just are, man. The quiet side of the late 60's early 70's cultural revolution. We've got our freedom but now what? Still need money, still need to eat, sleep and interact with the world in some way. You escape just to fall into the same traps. The point of the movie seems to be: freedom takes it's toll just as much as any suburban 9-5 existence.
Yes, that's Harry Dean Stanton in the cowboy hat on his way to Oklahoma City.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Comment: If you love old muscle cars and want to glimse a long gone era in the good ole USA this movie is for you. Solid performances from the actors make this a really watchable movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Criterion Collection Release of Two-Lane Blacktop
Comment: This is not a review of the film itself - there are numerous sources of critiques and distillations of the plot (such as it is). Rather, this review is concerned with the presentation of the Criterion Collection dvd release.
The packaging is in a paper sleeve and similar to other recent double disc Criterion releases, such as The Double Life of Veronique - Criterion Collection. This release is one of the most extravagant releases Criterion has helmed, including not one - but two - informative booklets. One contains various essays and production photos and the other contains the entire screenplay.
A copy of the screenplay would be a delight with such Criterion releases as This Sporting Life - Criterion Collection and Kind Hearts and Coronets - both of which contain highly intelligent dialogue. However, with a film like Two-Lane Blacktop, it remains a dull, tepid read. I submit an example:
75. Interior. Car. Driver and Mechanic.
They can see only a hundred feet of road from the headlights.
The Girl is not visible.
GIRL'S VOICE: I'm hungry.
Still, it's icing on the cake for a wonderful release filled with interviews, photos, and outtakes - in addition to a fine print of the film itself. A bargain at nearly any price!
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