Comments on: And there goes the Challenger, being chased by the blue, blue meanies on wheels. Vanishing Point.

By: Ed Bigelow

Ed Bigelow — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:07:32 +0000

Not that Tarantino is Spielberg or anything. But he is still an acclaimed movie maker. If guys like him are making reference to a “B” movie, then does it not show that it is more. I mean look at the time that has elapsed since the movie was made and when Quentin and others got started. It definately holds up. By the way, many have ventured into how or where the “Vanishing Point” title comes into play. In my opinion, I think it is near the beginning of the movie. If you pay close attention to the first scene. Kowalski heads toward the dozers, screeches to a turnaround and goes into the desert. Then he hits the road again. Then the scene breaks when he passes a big black sedan in slow motion. (By the looks a 1970 Chrysler Imperial) Look closely and you will see that it is the same one that he drops off at the garage before picking up the Challenger and heading out again. The moment that the 2 cars pass each other to me is the “Vanishing Point”. It is the void in time where he was either going towards the dozers to crash or just before delivering the Imperial to start his journey to death.

By: Retro

Retro — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 04:59:12 +0000

I just love a cool classic car like a convertible Cutlass. I see them all the time in movies and TV now.

By: Henrik Landler

Henrik Landler — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:06:02 +0000

For another fantastic car-chase, look
for the movie ” The Seven-Ups ” from 1973, with Roy Scheider.

By: Kasper Andersen

Kasper Andersen — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:39:56 +0000

I love the Driver. Ryan O’neal is great in that movie, and the chases!
There is actually a (oh no) remake on the way, believe it or not.
IMDb

By: Henrik Landler

Henrik Landler — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:07:19 +0000

I have to say, that “The Driver” is the mother of all chase-movies.
It´s a kind of Film-noir/thriller/chase-movie, in a 70es enviroment, with some
AWESOME car chases.
Once you´ve seen it, you wont´t forget it.

By: Bryan White

Bryan White — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:00:07 +0000

I hate to spoil it for everyone, but Henrik is right about the ending. Kowalski drives the car, pedal to the metal, right into the bulldozer roadblock and goes up in flames in front of the crowd that has gathered. I’ve seen some discussions about why he’s smiling when he crashes. Some people think that it has something to do with the ongoing freedom message throughout that no matter what the police do, nothing can stop him from freedom, not even driving 140 miles per hour into the buckets of two bulldozers. Quite frankly, I think it has something to do with Kowalski being a lunatic behind the wheel. He hasn’t really slept much throughought the movie and he eats amphetamines by the handful. The gap between the bulldozers must have looked huge to him.

Also, I haven’t seen The Driver. I’m a huge Walter Hill fan, but it never occurred to me to check that one out. I’m going to have to hunt it down.

By: Henrik Landler

Henrik Landler — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:49:04 +0000

Does anybody here, know the Walter Hill movie ” The Driver ” from 1978 ?

By: Bryan White

Bryan White — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:33:43 +0000

I’m not really much of car guy, but the Dodge muscle from that time make me want one so bad. Blade made me want a black ‘69 Charger and this one makes me want a ‘70 Challenger more than anything else. The new Challengers look great, too.

Grindhouse really played it up and if I had to pick a best car chase movie, I’d probably put my finger on the ‘74 Gone In 60 Seconds since that one is unrelenting. The tag line sells it: 93 cars destroyed in 97 minutes. I think the only other car chase that holds a candle is in The Blues Brothers. That one is just pure madness. I can’t think of any movie that wrecks cars in such an awesome way. It’s a total clusterfuck.

By: Retroman DC

Retroman DC — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:27:36 +0000

I totally missed the metaphorical approach this movie had. That definitely adds a layer of depth I really overlooked. Great observations. I think I was expecting more of an intensity to this film that wasn’t there since Grindhouse referenced it as the greatest car chase movie. I feel it was a bit slow in that regards. Still worth checking out though and you gotta love the car.

Retroman DC
http://www.dchighway.com

By: Henrik Landler

Henrik Landler — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:19:05 +0000

It´s funny you should write about this movie.
I saw it sometime in the eighties, and never got it out of my system.
Isn´t Kowalski killed at the end of the movie ?