Steve (Howard) and Curt (Dreyfuss) are debating whether or not to go off to college. Steve is eager, though he realizes he and his girlfriend Laurie (Williams) must split if he does. Curt is reluctant, since as he says “It doesn’t make sense to leave home to find a home and say goodbye to people I love”. Steve generously loans his wheels to the nerdy Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) who picks up a flirtatious blonde (Candy Clark) and spends the entire night trying to impress her with his tall tales (until the car gets stolen). John Milner (LeMat) tries picking up women and winds up with the obnoxious 13-year-old Carol (Philips). Meanwhile, Laurie gives Steve the cold shoulder and tries to lure him back. Curt in turn goes from trying to find an attractive blonde in a T-bird (Suzanne Somers) to nearly joining the Pharoahs (a gang of hoodlums) to asking the Wolfman to play a request (all in the same night!). Milner later meets up with Bob Falfa who challenges him to a drag race.

The soundtrack features such classics as “Rock Around the Clock”, “Come Go with Me”, “Surfin’ Safari”, “Maybe Baby”, “At the Hop”, “Johny B Goode”, “Green Onions”, “Since I Don’t Have You”, “Teen Angel”, and “Only You”. This edition also features interviews with Howard, LeMat, Philips, Williams, Smith, and Lucas, explaining the making of this classic movie.

“Two Lane Blacktop” is a rather strange character study packaged as a car/road film. Strange because like a lot of Director Monte Hellman’s stuff, there isn’t much done in the character development department. Which makes studying the characters quite a strain but it seems like a lot of viewers are willing to burn serious energy on the subject. See “Ride the Whirlwind” and “The Shooting” for other examples of his technique. Hellman apparently is a master of working with actors from all backgrounds as he gets exactly the performances he needs from the experienced Oates and his three completely inexperienced co-stars. Note the use of local radio stations in this film and its similarity in this regard to “Reservoir Dogs”, a film that Hellman co-produced.

Anyway, what you have in the film are four people who converge from three different directions (universes) and link up. They interact for most of the movie and at the end separate and go back to doing exactly what they had been doing before, utterly unchanged by their interactions with each other. This is pretty much the polar opposite of most films, which exist to illustrate examples of characters changing as a result of their experiences. While there are films like “Fat City” where the main character is unchanged by the events of the film, “Two Lane Blacktop” may be unique in extending this to all four of the main characters. That it would be unique in this regard is especially interesting when you consider that real life interpersonal relationships are closer to the way they are portrayed in “Two Lane Blacktop” than in your basic uplifting film. I guess we are reminded of this fact daily and don’t need to be hit with it by our escapist entertainment.

An effort is made to symbolically illustrate the three universes Hellman portrays in the film. The Driver and the Mechanic are defined by their function and their 55 Chevy has been customized to maximize its most basic function, performance. It has no heater and no comforts other than a radio, which the Driver turns off when there is serious driving to be done. GTO is defined by things (his car and his baggage-both real and emotional). Like him, his car is a poser and is compromised by a host of non-performance related features. The Girl is defined by her companion of the moment and has neither function nor identity. The Driver is unable to teach her to function as a driver and she abandons what few possessions she has at the end.

What is most striking about the film is how beautifully it was shot and how contemporary it looks. The colors are great and the style is more like 2004 than 1971. The print being shown on the Sundance Channel is in perfect shape. A side benefit of the film is that it is a great time capsule of the muscle car era. There is an especially great shot early in the film, a wide shot from inside a diner with the jukebox on the right and a slit in the middle of the frame (the diner door) through which you see The Girl getting into the car. Highly recommended for brooding viewers.

He outruns the police in several states, brooding all the way over his past, and digs himself deeper and deeper into trouble with the law. He also meets a variety of characters along the way. His exploits are reported by a funky DJ and he becomes a counterculture hero.

Although Kowalski seems to drift through life with no purpose, like the protagonist in “The Stranger,” he never loses his humanity. This is evident when he encounters a total jerk in a Jaguar who taunts him and engages him in a drag race. After the Jaguar driver runs off the road and crashes, Kowalski runs back to see if he is alright, putting himself at risk of being caught by the police, who are in pursuit and not far off.

The movie ages well. The early 70′s images don’t come off as corny, but rather as a clear snapshot of the time, much like “Saturday Night Fever” gives a snapshot of the late 70′s. This is not just another car chase movie with fruit stands being knocked over. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable tale of existentialism and defiance that reflects the tensions of the period.

Although it was filmed as a comedy, it is just so much more entertaining than the pathetic Burt Reynolds movies. There is a much, much larger focus on the cars. No sped-up footage anywhere here folks, and the fact that the cars are really being driven by the actors makes it all the more interesting. There is nothing I have seen in my entire life more satisfying than seeing and hearing the beautiful sounds of a Ferrari Daytona and an AC Cobra racing for superiority; and the camera captures it all beautifully, to boot.

As for the comedy, the movie does a far better job than I would have expected, serving up plenty of quotable one-liners, along with lots of straight car humor (the Jaguar’s problem starting, for instance). The acting is actually surprisingly good as well. Michael Sarrazin nails his role as Michael Bannon, an eccentric candy company exec with a passion for speed; and the late Raul Julia convinces as Franco Bertollini, Bannon’s rival, an Italian F1 ace with a passion for breasts. All of the other actors impress as well, though Sarrazin and Julia particularly impress.

This movie is the most captivating car movie I have ever seen. It’s a quotable movie with great cars, great cinematography, and great acting. Now my dreams are posessed by 70′s roadsters with Cibie fog lights.

His sidekick played by the underrated Adam Roarke slowly asserts himself in the movie, projecting a coolness that contrasts with Fonda’s obsessiveness. Susan George plays the slatterny Mary who throws a monkey wrench into Fonda’s plans, three’s a crowd indeed.

Vic Morrow lights up the screen with one of his classic hardass portrayals. He’s the rule breaking cop who’s determined to hunt Fonda’s car down and take him out. “You know how to take orders?” he says to the nodding helicopter pilot he’s comandeering. “Good, cause I give lots of ‘em!”

The car chases are excellent, don’t get me wrong. The drawbridge scene, the crazy driving on the orchard roads, the close calls with tractor trailers, the good ol’ boy cop in his loaded car chasing Fonda down a dusty rural road, just great action all around. For those who like Dodge Chargers you’ve come to the right movie.

Don’t forget Roddy McDowall’s uncredited cameo as the supermarket manager. Oh yes, the ending is great, no spoilers here, enjoy.

It may surprise some to learn that the only movie to beat Smokey and the Bandit at the box office in the year of its release was Star Wars. There’s a reason the movie was successful and that is simply because it’s such a fun ride.

If you like car chases that always result in destruction, trucking, CB radios, outrageous sheriffs, sarcasm, country music, bar fights, or any combination of the above, then you will likely enjoy this movie.

Jackie Gleason steals the show on this one. Eager to work in movies again at the time, he worked for a lower salary so the director/producers would give him more lattitude with his character. The result was a lawman no one in their right mind would ever want to run into and you have to see the movie to really appreciate it.

The movie was made in a different era, so don’t expect it to be exactly PC. There are one or two moments of racist/sexist/whatever overtones, but they are mostly the rantings of the out-of-his-mind sheriff engaged in a nine-hundred mile hot pursuit, and it’s strictly for comedic effect. I don’t believe that most people (other than actual law enforcement) would find this movie offensive.

Much of the movie is given over to an almost loving examination of all the sights and sounds of Le Mans and of the racers and the fans it attracts. Michel LeGrand’s score nicely supports the fast/slow pacing of the movie on and off the track. The racing scenes are well done, using a variety of camera angles and lighting effects. The race is hard to follow during a rainy night in the middle of the competition. The racers are often hard to distinguish from one another in their helmets and protective gear.

The movie has a number of highlights. One is an accident on the track that threatens to take McQueen prematurely out of the competition. A second moment, of almost pitch-perfect clarity, is McQueen’s explanation to the widow of why men race automobiles. A third is the tense conclusion of the race itself.

This movie is highly recommended to fans of endurance autoracing and of Steve McQueen.

If a car disappears, it’s most likely Pace’s gang that’s done it. In order to protect themselves in the event the police overhear them, Pace declares that they will only refer to cars by code names, not by the actual make and model of the car. Today is Tuesday and a very valued client has just contacted Pace with an exceptional order. A South American drug lord pays Pace $400,000.00 to steal 48 specific cars for him, and all but one – a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, whose code name is “Eleanor” – are successfully stolen by Maindrian and his associates. The buyer wants Pace to deliver the cars to him by Saturday.

All are very high-end cars ranging from Mustangs to limousines, making the order difficult to fill under the time limit. Still, Pace savors the challenge and agrees to complete the order. Pace also has Eugene’s wedding to go to in Dunkirk, New York where he asks Eugene to call off his honeymoon for some court cases next week. After arriving back at Los Angeles International Airport Pace and his crew spot Eleanor at the airport and Corlis (Ronald Halicki) tries to steal her but fails because the driver is still in the car asleep at the wheel. Then they leave the airport.

Later that night his crew is somewhat taken aback by the audacity of the plan, but they realize that if anyone can do it, Pace can. Mapping out a basic strategy, the gang begins to scout out their targets, which have all been given female names. Being part of the insurance industry, Pace does have one small idiosyncrasy when it comes to stealing, all of the cars he steals must be insured. Pace refuses to steal an uninsured car, because his secretary Pumpkin (Marion Busia) got him to agree to it during a walk in a park in Dunkirk.

Later that night Pace goes to Ascot Park and steals J.C. Agajanian’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Also later that night Pace goes and steals Harold Blight Smith’s (Edward Abrahms) Eleanor right out of his garage at his home. After Mrs. Smith’s constant nagging, Mr. Smith takes his dog out to the front yard where he discovers his Mustang backing out of his garage. Mr. Smith then jumps in his blue 1972 Plymouth Satellite and chases Pace for several miles screaming “that’s my car”, causing the police to pull him over in order to find out why he is driving maniacally around town. Because Smith has cheated a number of people on insurance claims, Pace returns Smith’s undamaged automobile in the exact position it was in the garage, so that when Smith and the police officers return, Smith is in trouble because (as far as they can see) nothing has happened.

Pace manages to steal all seven Limousines and The Pantera and finally Eleanor. Then Atlee steals the 1974 Cadillac Coupe De Ville right in front of the Hungry Tiger Restaurant. Then Pace steals the 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and the 1971 Chevrolet Corvette. And so they begin stealing the 48 cars. As it happens, it’s proceeding extremely smoothly, the thieves have found all the cars they need with little hardship, and no complications have arisen. That is, until they come to Eleanor, a prized ’73 Mach 1 Ford Mustang. They’ve found their Eleanor, stolen it, but then discover that it’s not insured. The owner has placed an ad in the paper pleading for the car’s return, no questions asked. Because of giving his word to Pumpkin, Pace decides, much to the chagrin of his buddies, to return it.

Pace spots another ‘Eleanor’ Mustang in Long Beach and prepares to steal it, but is unaware that Eugene (Jerry Daugirda) has alerted to the police to the potential theft as a result of a dispute involving a stolen Cadillac that was discovered to have a million dollars worth of heroin hidden in it (Eugene wanted to keep the drugs but Pace decides to park it in a dirt lot and burn it, after telling Eugene he would take care of it). As a result of the tip-off, two detectives (Butch Stockton) and Phil Woods) are waiting for Pace as he steals Eleanor. They do not suspect him at first but decide to check him out. Pace spots them as he has stopped in the driveway to disable the car alarm and decides to run when they show the police light. The ensuing pursuit is the longest car chase (40 minutes) in movie history and takes Pace through five cities as he attempts to lose police.

In a notable scene, Eleanor is clipped by a Cadillac as a result of misjudging the freeway exit, spins out and collides with a lamp post. This scene was, in fact, a real accident, as Halicki misjudged both the lane and speed of the Cadillac. Halicki was injured in the crash, but the scene was left in, and Eleanor is seen driving away from the accident and as chase continues.

The jump scene at the end of the chase is also notable and set the standards for a number of subsequently produced pictures. Acting as the climax to the lengthy chase sequence, Eleanor is seen jumping over the scene of a traffic accident unrelated to the chase, after a hood leaning on a car, allows him to catch air. The jump manages to achieve a height of 30′ over a 128′ in distance – a feat which would not be easily replicable without the use of modern CGI techniques – and the Mustang barely manages to land safely as it meets the ground in a rather awkward fashion, injuring Halicki once again.

Shortly after this jump, the chase is ended when Pace spots another yellow Mustang pulling into a car wash. He asks for his car to be washed and then dupes the owner of the other Mustang into believing that her car must be washed again and instructs her to report to the manager’s office. Pace subsequently leaves the car wash with the stolen car as the manager (who matches the description of Pace, who was wearing a grey wig and a grey jacket during the chase) is believed to be the suspect and arrested. Pace removes his disguise, asks a police officer at a road block directions, and gets away scot-free.

Most cast members from the first film returned for this sequel, including Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith and even Harrison Ford turns up for a cameo appearance. The notable exception is Richard Dreyfuss.

Plot

The film, set over the four consecutive New Year’s Eves from 1964 – 1967 depicts scenes from each of these years intertwined with one another as though events happen simultaneously. The audience is protected from confusion by the conceit of a distinct cinematic style for each section. For example, the 1966 sequences echo the movie of Woodstock using split screens and multiple angles of the same event simultaneously on screen, the 1965 sequences (set in Vietnam) shot hand-held on grainy super 16 mm film designed to resemble war reporters’ footage. The film attempts to memorialize the 1960s with sequences that recreate the sense and style of those days with references to Haight-Ashbury, the campus peace movement, the beginnings of the modern woman’s lib movement and the accompanying social revolt. One character burned his draft card showing a younger audience what so many Americans had done on the television news ten years before the movie’s release. Other characters are shown frantically disposing of their marijuana before a traffic stop as a police officer pulls them over, and another scene shows the police brutality with billy clubs during an anti-Vietnam protest.

The listed fates of the main characters at the ending sequence of American Graffiti were updated again at the end of this sequel. In More American Graffiti, John Milner was revealed to have been killed by a drunk driver in December 1964 (reminiscent of the tragic death of James Dean in 1955 though the accident involving Dean did not involve a drunk driver), with the ending scene of the movie driving his trademark yellow Deuce at night along a lonely highway toward a swerving vehicle. Set on New Year’s Eve 1964, it is never actually shown that his tragic end comes after his racing win on the last day of the year. The anniversary of John’s death is mentioned in both the 1965 and 1966 sequences. Terry “The Toad” Fields’ classification as “missing in action” is not explored in greater detail since the movie shows that he faked his own death. The ending sequence would have read “killed in action” had the story ended there. Terry is believed to be dead by his superiors in 1965 and by his friends – Debbie in 1966 and Steve and Laurie in 1967. Joe Young (the leader of “The Pharaohs”) is Toad’s war partner, and vividly meets his death with a sniper’s bullet to the chest in one scene after having promised once again to make Terry the Toad a Pharaoh once they get back from Vietnam.

The relationship of Steve and Laurie is strained by Laurie’s insistence that she start her own career, though Steve forbids it saying he wants her to be a mom to their young twins. Free-spirited Debbie “Deb” Dunham has turned from Old Harper to marijuana and has given up her platinum blonde persona for a hippie/groupie one in a long, strange trip that ends with her performing with a country-and-western music group. Wolfman Jack briefly reprised his role, but in voice only. The drag racing scenes for More American Graffiti were filmed at the Fremont Raceway, later Baylands Raceway Park, in Fremont, California.