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Summary: Vanishing Point
Review: This movie is at a slow pace for the first half hour, even with car chases that are monotonous. In order for Vanishing Point to work as a good time passer, I would recommend skipping the first half hour if you've already seen it before, because it's the rest of the movie that puts the pedal to the metal, and is pretty fun. Also, if you've recently caught a music video on T.V. by a group called Audioslave, for their latest single, "Show Me How to Live," it is basically a shot for shot remake of Vanishing Point, narrowed down to the songs running time.
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Summary: Vanishing Point- Sold by Drewski311
Review: Drewski311 the seller is honest and sent video in a timely manner.Hope to do business with him again.
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Summary: Vanishing Point Of View...
Review: What more could you want from a movie?? Car chases! Explosions! Nudity! Oh My!! Kowalski (Barry Neuman) is the ultimate anti-hero in this tale of rebellion for no apparent reason. The blind, mysterious "Super Soul (The Late-Great Cleavon Little)" is Kowalski's guiding light and biggest fan. Roaring through the desert on speed (in that car, that beautiful car), Kowalski becomes public enemy number one to hordes of cops, while becoming a folk hero to the outcasts who embrace him. No movie has better chase scenes! No movie has a weirder, more apocolyptic ending! You'll be rootin' for the "bad guys". A must see for all adrenaline freaks like me...
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Summary: Audioslave
Review: Now you can check out scenes from this movie in Audioslave's new video "Show Me How To Live." It's pretty cool so check it out.
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Summary: Also look for the "book end" to Vanishing Point
Review: Barry Newman found a fan with Vaninshing Point, but there is another film by him that also has excellent stunt work ( and an early appearance of Ben Kingsley) that was made at about the same time. Check out FEAR IS THE KEY...Newman wears the same blue denim outfit and attitude...and the plot makes sense! These movies are perfect for fans of either one.
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Summary: Critiquing the Critics
Review: BUY THIS MOVIE NOW !!!
IF YOU NEED FURTHER COAXING, THEN READ ON.
First of all lets put all the downsides to the movie aside. There are not enough to mention. All you critics who have that shallow spectrum of view, step off. Ya know the ones who say film quality could have been better, music could have been more mainstream etc etc. Or the best one from one of Amazon's own (Sean Axmaker)"it really does'nt make much sense". Please spare all of us your views on what an American Hero is or what criteria he or she has to meet to be one. WE KNOW. Be you the Blue Collar Gearhead or appreciative Internet Guru or CEO. Anyone can follow this movie and understand who Kowalski is, what he stands for, why he chose to do what he is doing in present character form, and why or why not he may or may not have taken his own life in the end. As all of us are seperate of mind and soul, we may draw our own conclusions. Gee I can't recall a movie with a more elementary outline of showing a characters bio than this one. I have seen alot of movies folks and I don't usually go out of my way to affirm the quality of a film. But some just don't need to be criticized. Here is some healthy advice for anyone who has viewed or intends to view this movie in the future. After watching this film, if you don't get it, then please start seeking psychiatric help. I cannot offer anymore in the area of temptation for you to buy this film. Although I can guarantee that you have nothing to lose in purchasing it. For if you don't like it, someone that you know will. So in a sense, you have nothing to lose.
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Summary: There's Something About Kowalski
Review: The caption on the movie poster read, "Makes Bullit look like drivers' training." This was back in the days when a new car was larger than a sofa and didn't resemble a jelly bean or a bar of soap so much as a statement of aesthetic poise and integrity.
The movie is a sort of mock epic of an anti-heroes' journey through the desert from Denver to San Francisco in what is supposed to happen in less than 15 hours. Although he supposedly commits suicide by running into two buldozers at 160 mph, the beginning shows him spinning around to again elude the state troopers. He is then shown delivering a 1970 Chrysler Imperial to where he will get a 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T and attempt to deliver it to its destination in 15 hours. Because the end shows a 1969 Camaro crashing into the bulldozers, and the beginning shows him eluding the state troopers, it becomes questionable if he does commit suicide. The twin themes of speed and death that permeate the film give it a sense of adrenaline, that perhaps speed is what makes one feel the most alive, and in this sense one eludes death, if only temporarily.
I liked the scene where Kowalski is challenged by a Jaguar XKE, but hated to see a Jaguar get destroyed. Maybe they could have used a Pinto with a Boss 302, instead of a Jaguar.
Although it featured a great soundtrack, songs such as The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider", Free's "Allright Now," Led Zepplins' "Heartbreaker," or even the later released Deep Purples' "Highway Star" would have worked well in this film.
Another thing worth mentioning is that this film has much in common with "Easy Rider." This was yet another counter-culture film where the police, the government, and the establishment are all the bad guys and are given stereotypical roles.
Although Kowalski doesn't have much dialogue in this film, we are granted insight into his character through a series of flashbacks that show him as a frustrated and idealistic loner. Therefore it seems likely that speed and death are the only solutions he chooses to solve his problems. But the scene where the Camaro crashes into the bulldozers raises the question, did he, or didn't he?
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Summary: Where Have You Gone Kowalski?
Review: The 1972 existential road movie "Vanishing Point" succeeds on so many levels, that it is difficult to pinpoint any one reason for its enduring popularity. This rousing, if not groovy, car-chase flick has so much going for it, most notably the era in which it was produced (early 1970s, Woodstock generation)..... "Vanishing Point's" main protagonist, a speed-popping anti-hero known as Kowalski - nicely played by Barry Newman - is an unshaven, darker version of the Steve McQueen persona perfected in the film "Bullit." In fact, "Vanishing Point" is just a full-length movie version of that film's now-famous car chase scene. But the filmmakers (director Richard C. Sarafian, writer Guillermo Cain) got lucky. They located the car chase along the stretches of America's breathtaking western landscape. They chose a car, a growling white Challenger, that had extraordinary esthetic muscle. And they gave Kowalski an energetic, anti-establishment sidekick in radio DJ Super Soul, superbly played by the late Cleavon Little. And the dream-like imagery, including a nude woman upon a motorcycle, a hippie commune performing an impromptu concert in the Nevada desert, and of course, Kowalski driving aimlessly across the desert as if lost in his own hallucination, all contribute to a film that plays like one long MTV video a full decade before that medium was created. Certainly the contemporary psychedelic/folk music (including Mountain and Kim Carnes) contributes to the overall counterculture allure of "Vanishing Point." Like an odd puzzle where the pieces never entirely fall into place (another part of the attraction to this film is it can be interpreted a number of ways), "Vanishing Point" tells the story of one Kowalski, an aimless driver who delivers cars for a living. On a bet, he decides to deliver a Challenger from Denver to San Francisco within 15 hours. He's eventually chased by policemen from three different states as they attempt to put a halt to his speed odyssey. DJ Super Soul picks up on the story on the scanner, and begins to give Kowalski secret tips on the air to elude police roadblocks. It all leads to an explosive conclusion on the California border which will stay with the viewer long after the film's final credits. "Vanishing Point" moves at such a breakneck pace, one can forgive the film for its many faults. These would include the multiple out-of-place flashbacks, detailing Kowalski's troubled life; the comedic portrayal of policemen as bumbling keystone cops; and several heavy-handed scenes of symbolism portraying Kowalski as a Messiah-like figure. But the filmmakers captured this counterculture era almost perfectly, and the image of Kowalski speeding across the plains of Colorado and Nevada, staring off into the sun-baked western landscape of nowhere through the dusty windshield of a roaring Challenger, is about as cool an American symbol of rebellion as one will ever see on film. And that is why "Vanishing Point" is such a terrific film. After 30 years, this groovy drive-in flick which came out of nowhere to become a cult classic, is still "cool."
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Summary: Vanishing Point - a 90 Minute Dodge Commercial
Review: But this movie is for cars and car chases what Top Gun is for fast flying.
Barry Newman is superb as the emotionally haunted hero of this cult classic film.
I saw it in the theater when it came out, own the VHS and can't wait for the DVD. It's stirring, poignant, and makes you want to go find your own Mopar Muscle car and drive like the big boys!
Gillian
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Summary: Classic timepiece movie...
Review: This is a classic movie that is as much social commentary as car chase. I remember watching this on a Saturday matinee on my local television station (long before the advent of cable television) and was mesmerized. I recently purchased the VHS version and it was just as sweet twenty years later. The premise isn't much: the main character, former member of society now riding on the fringe, has to get a car to San Francisco in 15 hours. Load up on amphetamines and off we go. The 'plot' is merely a vehicle for the ride. The car chase scenes are great and realistic (none of the special effects laden hocus pocus you see today) and the cinematography of the West is beautiful. The characters, from the DJ who plays mystical guide to the helpers the driver meets in the desert, show life on the fringe. I'm sure on some level this is a mystical, metaphorical journey of sorts but to me it is simply fun to watch. The soundtrack is absolutely great. It is kind of the O Brother Where Art Thou of the 70s -- the one that missed the radar. It isn't music you hear on the radio and it certainly isn't mainstream in any fashion but it sure is good. I give this five stars quite simply because of the cinematography, the cast of characters and the music. Well worth the visit. They just don't make films like this anymore.
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