True, Bullitt actually HAD a plot, and a plot that didn't have anything to do with the car at that! If you haven't seen Tarantino's Deathproof, it's the best damn car movie made in decades. My favorite movie, period. Didn't Hilnicki (sp?) die making the sequel to Gone In 60 Seconds called "The Junkman"? VHS don't have extras . The only good part of the remake was Angelina Jolie... mmm... She was lookin' especially hot in that one, too. I still say Dirty Mary Crazy Larry's the best of the crop...
well I don't know about you guys but that hearing that M22 whine as it ran through the gears in that bitchin' 55 made me slap one in my '55.
The movie ending was typical early 70's; a free spirited open imagination (on or off drugs) and do your own thang-right in line with the song "Bang a gong" by T Rex... "meanwhile I'm still thinkin bout". The song lets you fill in your own ending. In 1975 my first car in High School was a primer gray 55 post. Small block, Muncie, 513 gears. The car had only a dash and front seat for the interior-no door panels, back seat, carpet. My 55 (and my long hair) is long gone, but 30+ years later I can watch TLB and sure as hell it takes me back-I can smell the gear oil and burned rubber wafting up through the bare floor of my old 55. That does it for me.
Indupedably,superb film!Was it Warren Oates in the gto was hilarious,James Taylor and one of the Beach Boys (Dennis Wilson,not sure) anyhow the 55 was bad ass cruising the States and drag racing,a little girly action,what else is there supposed to be
Oh ya, HOT ROD the movie!! MUNZ ROOT BEER!! Had it's good parts and bad parts, but another car movie that I grew up with that I still watch from time to time man.
It was slow, but cool and interesting from a "car" point of view. Since this thread mentions other car movies, why has nobody has mentioned........ "The California Kid"
When the movie came out I was a pot smoker with a 62 Impala 409. I thought it was a great movie. Watched it the other day and slept through most of it. I guess the artificial mental stimulation helped a bit.
I remember reading an article in Hotrod Mag several years back about the Grafiti movie cars. It said that this car was in Two Lane Black Top also. The hood was never raised (or rather front end never tilted since it had a one piece tilt front end) in Grafiti since it had a non period BBC.
One of the cars was. The other one was sold by the studio before AG came out. It's restored to it's former glory as in the movie. It was the "Camera" car that had camera mounts on it for close up shots. The real AG car is still around but is not much like it used to look.
I couldn't find the car craft it was in but they ran the car to see if it was BS and got either a 10.40 or a 10.80 out of it, I can't remember which. Whether it had the tightest plot or not, this movie defined the hot rod to me: a primered, straight axle tri five chevy with radiused rear wheelwells, a stick shift, and lots of rpms.
If you weren't around to remember running over a rubber hose to make a bell DING at a gas station.... Then you won't get this movie. TLB is a cult classic film
the BEST car chasing scene ever on film was the real time chase through san francisco in BULLITT with Steve Mcqueen,won awards...rent it!
we have a gas station here in torrington that still has a rubber hose to ring the bell he is a car guy that way I get my gas there Bill
I hadn't seen this in years (I liked it as a kid). So I bought the collector edition with all the interviews, etc. I didn't remember much from when I was a kid, so it was like seeing it for the first time. It was great up to the point where James Taylor starts talking about the Plymouth with a Hemi in it. It was hard to watch after that (except Warren Oates). Watching the interviews, I get the impression that Hellman really only cared about the cinematography and that is really great in this film. He completely let the writer have his way and left it un-edited (except for cuts due to time). The editing really sucked though, it was just hacked up and jumped around. I actually liked the ending. Warren Oates carried the film. I get the impression if Hellman spent more time getting better actors, and edited the story to fit better in the time alloted, it could have really been a decent movie. I agree with whomever that said it's not a car movie. I see it more as an art film. Car guys have made it into a car movie (understandably), but even Hellman only gave small credit as a car movie. He spent a lot of time discussing the cross country trip vis a vis Kerouac's "On the road."
I got the bell and hose in my shop, gonna hook it up one of these days. hell i remember going to the station and the guy would let us put a little gas down and some water and we would ride the ol' honda trail 70's through it and slide all over the place, doughnuts and whatever other stupid things we could do. them days were a blast.
Nope...Check out minute 3:06. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi1cHV0Iez0 "Make it 3 yards motherfucker and we'll have an automobile race."
Hell I just thought all old car movies were bad on purpose thats what made them cool. I miss the lost drive in on speed vision thats were I seen all these movies.
Right. I have the transcript and he says yards. I don't really want to get into the discussion about whether or not it's a 10 sec. car or not, but man it launches hard for a 12+ second car. That was the one thing that really impressed me was how hard it launched. I dug the race against the Vette, he totally hole shotted him. Launched hard, but the Vette was gainng fast near the end, but the '55 held him off. I really thought that was some realistic movie making. Too bad they didn't focus more on the drag racing because I really thought they did their homework there and made it pretty believable for a movie. I'm not just saying that because I like cars, I'm saying that from a movie making standpoint. Woulda been cool to see a few more drag races along their way east.
I love the movie. I can just watch it over and over and not get tired of it. But it's not for everyone. As mentioned, it is a love it or hate it movie. Also have a bunch of other older movies, including the original gone in 60 sec, van pt, ag, junkman, Bullitt, as well as a few compilation dvd's of old b/w car films. "On any Sunday" is also a good one, though ,a bit off topic. I did give away my "Funny car summer" as I found that too boring to watch. I also dirty larry, crazy mary on tivo, but watching that- I now know where they got the footage for the opening of "The Fall guy"!
It's my favorite movie. Not because it seems to be hip now a days for a young guy like me to be into vintage stuff, nor because it has cool cars in it. I just love everything about it. I don't believe there really is anything I dislike about the movie - except for the remarks delivered by impatient, unimaginitive people who need explosions and modern CGI to be satisfied. I hate all of these "it's boring" or "there's no plot" remarks, because people are too damned impatient to become immersed in anything other than a 2-hour long action sequence. I found Taylor and Wilson's minimal and "to the point" dialogue to fit perfectly with the context - two friends (more like colleagues), both with strong, silent, no-bullshit personalities. They reminded me of modern (circa 1971) gunslingers. They pass through each town, race their '55 Chevy which they've put their blood and sweat into, eat with their winnings and then drift on into the next town. They live a meager existence - but it's a f-king cool one. When I watch the film I become immersed in the the sounds and the visuals. Everything grabs me and sucks me into the film, like I'm in that '55 Chevy as it's flying down the highway. As for dialog, if you spent your days driving from state to state with one other person you'd run out of things to talk about as well - that's why these guys spend most of their time just thinking and to themselves. As for the cars, the primer-gray '55 Chevy is perfect. A home-grown racing machine ready to take on the best the assembly lines can dish out. The car suits the drivers perfectly. No flair, no unnecessaries - just a serious, all business, no bullshit presence. Some people may not have the interest or attention span to watch a movie without much talking or action involved and that's fine. I love all-out action movies as well, but I'm glad I'm able to enjoy different paces because I'll get a lot more out of it. I just couldn't imagine myself not being able to appreciate everything about this film. But then again, I guess I'm just thoughtful.
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