Rating: 
Summary: VERY VERY COOL
Review: I hadn't seen this film in such along time that I forgot what a gem it is. Such a departure from what you might expect considering the stars of the film. A must see for anyone into cars, music, the west, and road trips. And and intersting fact about the film - A.J. Solari, who plays the "Tennessee Hitchiker" (I believe the 3rd hitchiker Oates picks up)is the brother-in-law to legendary Los Angeles and New York disc jockey B. Mitchell Reed.
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: There is no need to read this review as the 40+ others do an excellent job. I am only writing to challenge some of the comments made about the acting- particularly Taylor and Wilson. I think the acting is outstanding. Can you imagine trying to "get out of the way" of this film? How many actors today would even consider doing a film where they weren't "the deal?" An interesting lesson of the film is that no one is the deal (even those who still want to believe in such things- aka Oates' character). Two Lane Blacktop is a great film and a timeless statement about the "other" America where the people are not all shiny, happy and infinitely interesting. (Remember, they actually used to make films like this.) In Two Lane Blacktop, car stuff IS heroic. And if the truth be told, several of the cars in this film remain more interesting than many of the people we know.
Rating:
Summary: Not just for gearheads...
Review: A good friend of mine is an insanely obsessed car-freak. One day he turned on his TV and popped a DVD into the player, and we watched Two Lane Blacktop. I'm not into cars at all, but I was transfixed by this movie. When it was all over, I didn't find it pretentious or confusing or boring in the slightest. I saw it as a very simple yet compelling story; Two men live for only one thing: racing their car, which has been stripped down to its barest essentials in order to give it maximum speed. Things like heaters and rear seats have been removed... steel has been replaced with fiberglass. And as they have done with their car, they have stripped away all "extraneous" elements from their lives, and from their very selves. They have no need for conversation or music, or for love or anger or any other emotion for that matter. They're cold and dehumanized. As they make their way across the landscape, they meet an older man who has lost his life and identity, and is desperately searching for new ones. Most importantly, they are joined by a girl who wants only one thing: human contact. As I saw it, the central point of the story is how she affects the men, one of them more than the others. I believe this explains the notoriously "ambiguous" ending. It isn't a perfect film by any means. Laurie Bird's neophyte status is painfully obvious in some of her scenes. At times this film may be too subtle and understated for its own good. It seems that some of the most important and basic plot elements are left to the viewer to infer. Then again, this may again be part of the "stripped down" theme that is so prevalent throughout. Whatever the case, it's an incredibly unique and very haunting film. I can certainly understand that it isn't for everyone. Two Lane Blacktop is actually much like 2001: A Space Odyssey in that respect; some will inevitably regard it as boring and pointless. Others will, for lack of a less elitist and arrogant term, "get it." I heartily recommend that everyone sees it for themselves at least once, and find out which group you belong to.
Rating:
Summary: Existential Road Trip
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: A pure slice of Americana
Review: This is one of the great 70's American road movies. Warren Oates, in his 1970 Pontiac G.T.O, challenges a 1955 customised Chevy to a cross country road race. Some great camera work, music and scenes follow. It features a weird ending too. The DVD is excellant. The picture is in widescreen 2.35:1 ratio and clear. The sound is in Dolby digital 5.1 and Dolby surround 2.0, and is good. The extras are good. They include an informative commentary from director Monte Hellman and associate producer Gary Kurtz. There's a documentary about director Monte Hellman. The rest are comprehensive talent bios and a trailer. The menus are superb. The main screen is a view of the two guys in the car from the backseat looking out on the road in a zoomed out blur shot, and has the radio playing and the engine ticking over. The other menus have music from the film, and when they change the engine of the car roars and the screen shoots forward. Impressive. Overall, a great film, given a great DVD transfer. Buy it now.
Rating: 
Summary: Just a comment
Review: Well, everybody else has offered a favorite quote from this video. Mine is by Dennis Wilson when he says "It's O.K., we don't want the goat anyway". Or maybe by Warren Oates "Just a second a minute". Whatever that means.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage street racing
Review: This movie does a good job of capturing street and legitimate "door slammer" drag racing as it existed way back in '71. If you're into hopped up cars you'll probably like this movie. You do need to get past or at least ignore the early 70's existential pretensions. However, it does also demonstrate how long ago all that was. Comparable cars today that would look very similar would be way quicker. The '55 Chev in this movie also starred in American Graffitti. It's worth the price of the movie just to ogle its engine, paper thin front end and trunk lid, I beam front axle and to get off on the transmission whine. In some ways this is sort of a follow on to American Graffitti. These guys might have been inspired by John Milner, when they weren't staring into space being obsessed.
Rating:
Summary: Color me gone, baby!
Review: I've just made my fourth trip down the two-lane blacktop, having recently caught this film on the Big Screen. (Do not--repeat, DO NOT--miss a chance to see this in a theatre.) This film gets better ever time I see it. Part road movie, part travelogue of America circa 1970, part existentialist tragedy, it's a strange, fascinating hodgepodge with no real precedent--not even "Easy Rider"--that I'm aware of. "Two-Lane Blacktop" is what it is; if you're expecting just another car chase movie, you will likely be disappointed. It's a movie for anyone fascinated by the mystique of lonely gas stations in the middle of nowhere, of long, quiet rides down the highway with nary another soul in sight.... I've never seen a movie that has so effectively communicated the extraordinary vastness of America. It manages to be sad, pathetic, funny, and haunting all at once. You can criticize it for its sometimes shaky acting (Warren Oates, at least, is fabulous), but I think the sum effect of the movie precludes serious complaint. And what an amazing ending....
Rating: 
Summary: 55--great, GTO--slow, Rest of Cast--Fair
Review: This is a movie for those that want to refresh their memory of musclecars--especially of one 55' with a BB-454 w/ 2 AFB carb's running through a Muncie M-22 Rockcrusher. Obviously, the writers in this era were not paid much and it shows in the script/dialogue, but the cars racing make it a movie to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Muscle Madness
Review: Truely a muscle car masterpiece that takes the viewer to a time when life was simpler and gas cheaper. The absence of dialogue between Dennis Wislon and James Taylor amplifies the true philosophy of racing. "No talking, concentrate on the engine." An example of this is when James Taylor tells Dennis Wislon to turn off the radio so he can hear the sound of the engine. The drivers downfall of course is when he falls in love with the hitchhiker and his obsessions are no longer with the machine. Having owned both a Pontiac GTO and several Mopars,the movie is very refreshing and exciting, comparable only to perhaps "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" and "Vanishing Point". Note: This is the same 55 Chevy that Harrison Ford drives in American Graffiti.
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