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Vanishing Point

  • 1971
  • R
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
30K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,717
322
Vanishing Point (1971)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:21
1 Video
99+ Photos
ActionCrimeThriller

During the 1970s, car delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time but always runs into trouble with the highway cops.During the 1970s, car delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time but always runs into trouble with the highway cops.During the 1970s, car delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time but always runs into trouble with the highway cops.

  • Director
    • Richard C. Sarafian
  • Writers
    • Guillermo Cabrera Infante
    • Malcolm Hart
    • Barry Hall
  • Stars
    • Barry Newman
    • Cleavon Little
    • Charlotte Rampling
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    30K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,717
    322
    • Director
      • Richard C. Sarafian
    • Writers
      • Guillermo Cabrera Infante
      • Malcolm Hart
      • Barry Hall
    • Stars
      • Barry Newman
      • Cleavon Little
      • Charlotte Rampling
    • 200User reviews
    • 107Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:21
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos138

    Dean Jagger and Barry Newman in Vanishing Point (1971)
    Victoria Medlin and Barry Newman in Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Barry Newman in Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Vanishing Point (1971)
    Charlotte Rampling in Vanishing Point (1971)
    Victoria Medlin in Vanishing Point (1971)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Barry Newman
    Barry Newman
    • Kowalski
    Cleavon Little
    Cleavon Little
    • Super Soul
    Charlotte Rampling
    Charlotte Rampling
    • Hitch-Hiker
    • (scenes deleted)
    Dean Jagger
    Dean Jagger
    • Prospector
    Victoria Medlin
    Victoria Medlin
    • Vera Thornton
    Paul Koslo
    Paul Koslo
    • Deputy Charlie Scott
    Robert Donner
    Robert Donner
    • Deputy Collins
    • (as Bob Donner)
    Timothy Scott
    Timothy Scott
    • Angel
    Gilda Texter
    • Nude Rider
    Anthony James
    Anthony James
    • First Male Hitchhiker
    Arthur Malet
    Arthur Malet
    • Second Male Hitchhiker
    Karl Swenson
    Karl Swenson
    • Sandy McKeese - Clerk at Delivery Agency
    Severn Darden
    Severn Darden
    • J. Hovah
    Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
    • J. Hovah's Singers
    Lee Weaver
    Lee Weaver
    • Jake
    Cherie Foster
    • First Girl
    Valerie Kairys
    • Second Girl
    Tom Reese
    Tom Reese
    • Sheriff
    • Director
      • Richard C. Sarafian
    • Writers
      • Guillermo Cabrera Infante
      • Malcolm Hart
      • Barry Hall(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The car featured in the film is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, with a 440 cubic-inch V-8, and not a 426 Hemi V-8 (as is often believed). Eight white Challengers loaned from the Chrysler Corporation were used during the filming.
    • Goofs
      As Kowalski approaches California, Super Soul warns him of a "welcoming committee in the Sunshine State". California's official nickname is "The Golden State". The Sunshine State is Florida.
    • 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.

    • Crazy credits
      The Fox logo is shown without the fanfare making it one of the first times this has happened.
    • Alternate versions
      When first released in Brazil, the movie had some scenes cut, reducing the running time to 99 minutes.
    • Connections
      Edited into Gone with the Wind: The Remarkable Rise and Tragic Fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      You Got to Believe
      Composed by Delaney Bramlett

      Sung by Delaney & Bonnie & Friends

      (Courtesy of Atlantic Records)

    User reviews200

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    The road can work on your mind.
    Kowalski transports cars across the western US in 1970. He gets a gig transporting a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T from Denver to San Francisco and sets out at maximum warp, stopping only for gas and strategy. He commits no crime outside of speeding, and fleeing the cops who are trying to stop him simply because he will not stop. He finds allies along the way, including an old prospector, a DJ named Super Soul, and a hippie who seems to me to be an alternate ending to the life of Peter Fonda's character Wyatt in "Easy Rider". He drives and drives and drives until he meets his destiny in a tiny town on the California-Nevada border at 10:04 AM on some unnamed Sunday.

    Why? Is it because of his past; ex-cop, ex-racer, tragically bereaved? Is it because of the truckload of speed he takes at the beginning of the movie (draw your own metaphors between Kowalski's internal use of the noun and external use of the verb)?

    Or is it the road, the infinite expanses of the Southwest, the silence, the freedom, the sound of the motor surging, the tires spinning, the wheels gobbling up and sitting out the black asphalt? Who knows? Kowalski seems indifferent as to why he drives, only that he must drive, must evade, must get to where he is going and will not - can not - be stopped.

    Do yourself a favor. Rent the original, don't see the '97 made for TV movie (it has some high points, but it's like watching the '99 "Psycho" before seeing the Alfred Hitchcock original). In fact, rent this and "Two Lane Blacktop" from Monte Hellman, and "Mad Max" and/or "The Road Warrior". Watch all of them in as close to one sitting as you can get.

    If after watching these movies, you don't understand how they're expressions of the same call to the open road, return them and give up. Not everyone was meant to hear it, just like not everyone has perfect pitch or the ability to wiggle their ears.

    This movie drove me (pun intended) to take the handle kowalski and buy a Challenger of my own (flame red, 1973, you see the 1970 R/Ts are very hard to get).

    It probably won't do the same for you, but if you've ever been driving down the open road and wondered what would happen if you _didn't_ get off at the next exchange, in fact if you never got off at all, then this film is for you.

    And I hope the next ignoramus who compares this masterful film to "The Dukes of Hazzard" loses his brakes and plows into a line of parked Harleys outside some bar with a name like Whiskey Junction or the Dew Drop Inn.
    helpful•140
    20
    • L_Miller
    • Jul 8, 1999

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    FAQ1

    • What are the differences between the US-Version and the UK-Version of this movie?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 13, 1971 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Fluchtpunkt San Franzisko
    • Filming locations
      • Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield, Nevada, USA(KOW radio station)
    • Production company
      • Cupid Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,585,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,442,673
    • Gross worldwide
      • $12,443,328
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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