Vanishing Point (1971)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writers:

Malcolm Hart (story)
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

It's the maximum trip... at maximum speed.

Plot:

Kowalski, works for a car delivery service. He takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Fransisco...

Plot Keywords:

Cars | Naked Woman | Hitchhiker | Highway Patrol | Challenger

Cast

Barry Newman	...	Kowalski
Cleavon Little	...	Super Soul
Dean Jagger	...	Prospector
Victoria Medlin	...	Vera Thornton
Paul Koslo	...	Charlie, Young Nevada Patrolman
Robert Donner	...	Collins, Older Nevada Patrolman (as Bob Donner)
Timothy Scott	...	Angel
Gilda Texter	...	Nude Motorcycle Rider
Anthony James	...	Male Hitchhiker #1, in Front Seat
Arthur Malet	...	Male Hitchhiker #2, in Back Seat
Karl Swenson	...	Sandy McKees, Argo's Attendant
Severn Darden	...	Rev. J. 'Jessie' Hovah
Delaney Bramlett	...	J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends)
Bonnie Bramlett	...	J. Hovah's Singer (as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends)
Lee Weaver	...	Jake, Kowalski's Denver Connection

MPAA:

Rated R for sensuality/nudity and drug content. (1998 re-rating)

Runtime:

99 min | UK:106 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

France:U | Iceland:L | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2008) | Singapore:PG | USA:R (re-rating) (1998) | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:GP (original rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Nevada, USA

Company:

Cupid Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [David Gates]The singer/songwriter (of Bread fame) played the piano during the rousing revival in the desert with the J. Hovah singers.

Goofs:

Continuity: A few seconds while driving in the desert are reversed showing Kowalski driving on the right side.

Quotes:

Super Soul: This radio station was named Kowalski, in honour of the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul. The question is not when's he gonna stop, but who is gonna stop him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)

Soundtrack:

Super Soul Theme

Don't Psychoanalyse

Please oh please can people just WATCH this film. Forget all the symbolism. You know since I was a kid this seems to have been a topic of conversation with just about anyone who's ever seen it, you've heard it haven't you? The bar-room amateur psychoanalyst or the self proclaimed expert on human behaviour, all giving out opinions of dubious worth.

HERE IS THE CLUE!..... It's a big one too! -------The title!.....There is no point... There.

Anyway back to the film. If you were thinking that I don't like it you're wrong because I think it's terrific. In fact it's brilliant, and not in some foot to the floorboards and brain out of the window way either. There IS a lot of meaning, albeit so jumbled up as to defy any reasoned explanation. So get the beers in, get your mates round and enjoy it--all 500 Horse Power, the gleaming chrome, the V8 rumble,the cool DJ, the clanking bulldozers, the surreal nudist and the full circle ending. Like I said, pointless. Brilliant. Memorable.