Vanishing Point

Hmmm...

I was surprised and let down by this one. I'm not sure where to begin. All I knew was that it was the car chase film. Greater than Bullitt. This is supposed to be the shit.

It's not. At all.

The plot is thinner than a pizza at Crispelli's. A dude bets he can drive a supercharged Challenger from Colorado to California in 15 hours. He drives fast and the cops chase him. That's the whole story pretty much. Very little by means of sub-plots. It's certainly loaded with social commentary on race, religion, sexuality and freedom and I'd bet the audio commentary on the DVD is better than actually watching the film alone. I just can't be bothered watching a Challenger drive through the dessert for another hour and a half.

From a film history perspective, this is worth watching if you're a Tarantino or Rob Zombie fan. You can definitely see these characters being lifted and referenced in works by both Directors. My favorite thing about Vanishing Point was Super Soul. That dude was freakin sweet. But his musical selection was kinda wack. Honestly. Tarantino picks better joints.

You'd think 1971 plus dudes on rad choppers, a naked chick driving a motorcycle, a supercharged Challenger R/T, a great black soul DJ, and tons of open road would make for an awesome movie. But it doesn't. It's just pretty boring. It gets better as it goes on, but this ain't no fucking Death Proof, my friends. I'm taking time and place into context, too. This doesn't measure up to a lot of the motorcycle flicks of the era. Shit, even the acting is crappy for the most part (Super Soul excluded).

Basically, if you're a car nerd or a film nerd then you simply have to see this for the sake of being a completist and a historian. But if you actually want to enjoy yourself for an hour and a half then cut to the chase and watch Death Proof.