>>>>>,in '66 ,,on my way back to Alaska from a vacation in Iowa,,in my '64 Tri-Power/4 Speed GTO ,,I stopped for gas in Fort St John ,,the start of the Al-Can Hi Way ,,A '64 Plymouth ,383 4-speed ,,challenged me to a race to Anchorage ,,2000 miles away ,,for $50 bucks ,,i beat him by two hours ,,, Back then ,,street /cross country racing was a way of life ,,we ate,slept and breathed it ,,, TWO LANE BLACKTOP ??? if you have to ask ,,You Will NEVER Understand ,,It's For Gear Us Heads Only ,,
>>>>,BTW; the Al-Can thru the Yukon Territory was 1400 miles of ,,,,Gravel ,,only the remaining 600 miles in Alaska was paved ,,
>>>>>,Two Lane Blacktop PLOT ???? anybody wonder WHY they started with 'Big Willies" Street Racers Assoc street race ??,,or why the "Driver" wore a Olive Drab Green tee shirt ,,in the middle of the Veitnam WAR ??why did GTO ,all of a sudden had a trunk fullof "Up - Down -Sideways-which ever way you wanna go" ,,,DRUGS in his trunk ,??,,how many Coke signs did you see in the movie ?? did you see ANY Fords ??/ This is a THINKING MANS movie,,,look beyound the obvious ,,look between the lines ,,look outa da box ,,lotsa "messages" in there ,,just gotta think ,,like you were living in 1971,,, The end ,,alota folks wonder about the end ,,well,,there was gonna be a 'part Two" ,,BUT ,,the Mechanic ,Dennis Wilson ,,the "Beach Boy" drowned ,,and the "Girl" in the movie commited suiside while living with Art Garfunkle ,, SO ,,a sequile was impossable to do ,,
OK, here's my story: Last summer the local drive-in resturant owner started showing movies onthe side of an abandoned warehouse. He's a car guy, so he decides to show "Two Lane Blacktop" and one of the Frankie/Annette beach filcks on the first night out. The word gets spread around and my wife and I figure what the heck. I'm kind of stoked, because I've never seen "Two Lane Blacktop" before and I've heard Freiburger wank over it in Hot Rod. The magical night arrives, it's 45 degrees. There's no heater in my Pontiac, because heaters weigh too much. Strike One. The car next to us was a 90's buick and the guy couldn't get the Headlights to shut off. Strike Two. The movie sucked. Strike Three. Oh, and since back seats weigh too much also, there was none of that to save the night from complete suckdom. They should have gone with "Vanishing Point", and I'm building the Willys with a heater AND a backseat.
TLB is a thinking mans movie. There are parts built into the movie to let your mind wander. Get you a nice buzz before you watch, or just go into it with an open mind, or both. I like cars, and street racing, but this movie is about so much more. The cars are just gravy.
If you think TLB sucks, you need to watch it again. It was made before people's mind's needed to be spoon fed.
As with most old car flicks I've seen them more times than I can count. I have hundred of car movies in my colection. TLB was cool for the time it was made and it's cool now. As someone else said use your imagination a little. If that is too hard to do then just close your eyes and listen to the sound of the Rock Crusher 4 speed as he's driving the car. The sound alone is worth watching it. I have it on DVD and I will still stop what I'm doing if it comes on tv just so I can check it out.
If not mistaken this movie came out around '71 or so.Imagine for a moment yanking the motor out of a new LS-6 Chevelle and stuffing it in your old '55.I'm a young man and watched this movie many times.Seems like they kept it pretty real to me.If you'd like a street racing movie with a plot and more"action", check out The Fast and The Furious.I hear its a super movie with some neat cars.HAHA.
Using your imagination is fine, it was just too hard for me to get past the shitty acting. I mean really shitty. Annoyingly, painfully shitty. I'm all for no name actors, but they still need to act. It's too bad because the cinematography was excellent.
James Taylor, and Denis Wilson, were far from no name in that time of the movie. The low key, acting is what the film required. You need to watch the movie a few more times before you comment again. I supose you'd like to see Will Smith in the role as the driver, maybe Edie Murphy as the mechanic? The acting was fine, and genuine....like I said, now a days movies spoon feed soggy brains.
I own the movie and usally get a beer when Dennis Wilson talks. I said no name actors, not no name musicians. I also said no name actors are fine, but they need to act. You need to decide, is your argument no name is good or not good? You said both. The acting was genuinely shitty, if you thought it was fine your opinion about spoon feeding means nothing since you discredit yourself with the belief the acting was credible. Warren Oates carried the movie and the girl's acting was geniune. The others sucked, but unfortunately were in most of it.
You're absolutely right. I bite my tongue as we speak I must have been having a prolonged brain fart not to recall 4th is a direct drive ratio.
James, and Dennis, the "Driver", and the "Mechanic". "No name" to the extreme. Real car guys don't carry on like "drama" queens. If you spend a lot of hours or miles with another guy you don't need a lot of dialog. They acted just fine, and very real. Warren Oats was great, I agree. He is my favorite in the movie. I'm sorry you don't get the movie. You either get it or you don't. It doesn't mean your a dumbass, or that the acting was bad. You just don't get it. Watch it a few more times.
Mac, please. You're not making any sense and your arguments are all over the place. If you want to have an discussion about "getting the movie," fine. And for the record, I do get it, I enjoyed it as an art film. Getting it and liking how a couple people act in it are two very different things. I own a lot of crappy B movies and actually enjoy them over the big budget flicks (perhaps because they offer a different level of expectation and escapism). But the dialog is the writer, not the actor. I thought the dialog was fine and I actually found the lack of it appealing. Especially since when Wilson or Taylor talk it snaps me out of the moment in the film. Hell, even the writer (the dude making bets in the beginning) did a great acting job comparatively. So, let me make this clear. I liked everything about the movie except for the acting of Dennis Wilson and James Taylor.
I just watched it again the other night for the first time in probably twenty five years. Although I had memories of some of the dialog being a bit lame, the overall memory I had kept in my mind all these years was a fond one of the movie. That said, before watching it again the other night I was a bit apprehensive - the you can never go home kind of thing. But I have to say, I wasn't let down in the least! Just as I really enjoyed the movie when it first came out, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it again years later. I'm sorry some of you younger guys didn't like it or couldn't relate to it. Perhaps it's a generational thing. Whatever the case, Two Lane Blacktop remains as one of my all time favorite car movies - I can definitely relate to it!
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