Movie Two Lane Blacktop......?

[Samckitt]

OK I decided to have my wife put this in her que from Blockbuster. About a week ago disc 2 came in the mail, so she had to request disc 1. Finally it came & tonight I watched it. I don't get it, am I missing something? Guy in the GTO is a wack job, the 2 in the Chevy hardly talk. I still have disc 2, but can't quite feel the need to put it in. Already lost a couple house of my life with disc 1 that I will never get back.

[DarkBuddha]

If you were looking for yet another throw-away car flick, 2LBT ain't it. And if you don't get it, you just don't get it I guess. But try to look at it this way: it's a road movie in the best sense... every bit as good as (or better than) Easy Rider; it's an existential experience. I find its starkness and sense of solitude captivating and compelling. Not everyone does I suppose, but it always gives me the same sense of being on a great roadtrip; and I mean a Kerouac roadtrip, not a spring-break-with-your-buddies-beer-run roadtrip.

BTW, if you didn't enjoy it, don't bother watching any more. I like to give this advice: if you find yourself somewhere doing something and you find yourself thinking "why am I here right now doing this?", get up and leave.

[Bow Tie 67]

I loved it and it also doubles as a good sleeping pill. I swear I had to watch it 6 or 7 times to get through it, I kept falling asleep.

[Memphis]

Two Lane Blacktop is a terrible movie with a couple cool scenes in it

[jilge71]

i think some people just get it....i just liked the cars

[LowBuckX]

You tryin to blow my mind????

Love it My friends and I used to watch L2B all the time. Its filmed as if it was happening right now like you where riding along with them. If you go into like your gonna watch a mega budget thriller its lost on you already.

[NOPANTS-68]

def one of my favorites. Warren Oates is just crazy.

[LeighP]

If you were looking for yet another throw-away car flick, 2LBT ain't it. And if you don't get it, you just don't get it I guess. But try to look at it this way: it's a road movie in the best sense... every bit as good as (or better than) Easy Rider; it's an existential experience. I find its starkness and sense of solitude captivating and compelling. Not everyone does I suppose, but it always gives me the same sense of being on a great roadtrip; and I mean a Kerouac roadtrip, not a spring-break-with-your-buddies-beer-run roadtrip.

I agree, I like Two Lane Black Top for exactly the reason I like Easy rider.....its an experience, not just a movie...I don't care thats theres no real beginning and end, I'm happy to come along for the ride.

[camcojb]

yep, no plot or storyline particularly, just like a couple guys headed out with a camera. I like it, but it's definitely an acquired taste and I totally get anyone who doesn't "get" it.

Jody

[PT Sportwagon]

Yeah, I agree it was a bore fest. I much prefer American Graffiti, or the Hollywood Knights.

Tim

[1969Crossram]

Try American Grafitti if you have not seen it. One of my favorites of all time.

[Samckitt]

I haven't seen American Graffiti in a long time but have seen it. Told my wife I wanted it for my birthday. If she can find it.

[critter]

Well, for some of us who knew Lakeland drag strip and live just down the road from Carlisle, Arkansas, it's like going home again.

Either you get it or you don't. If you're under 50, you probably don't.

[72ratnova]

Yeah, I agree it was a bore fest. I much prefer American Graffiti, or the Hollywood Knights.

Tim
hollywood knights is still 1 of the funniest movies ever
ive only seen 3/4 of 2lbt, got side tracked a lot while it was playing, is great 2 see all the cool cars

[Bill Howell]

I guess I am sharing my age now.....
The movie wasn't about getting the plot, it was a cool one to watch at the drive-in though..
You had to have lived in those days, drive-ins were not just about the show....

[lomazda92]

try CANNONBALL!! w/ David Carridine(sp)

[DarkBuddha]

Either you get it or you don't. If you're under 50, you probably don't.


I guess I am sharing my age now.....
The movie wasn't about getting the plot, it was a cool one to watch at the drive-in though..
You had to have lived in those days, drive-ins were not just about the show....

Whoa fellas... I don't think it has anything to do with age at all. I just turned 37 but I fell in love with that movie when I was 15 (when A&E aired it on a rare Sunday afternoon).

No, it's not about age, it's about a culture that has been lost (or was never found) for a lot of folks. It's from the days before "supercars" were kids' dream cars, before computers and internet, before ordering online, back when you needed to know the right people and go to speed shops to get performance parts, when people had to build and tune their own cars without the help of a tech support line or a tutorial, and when street racing was real, semi-illicit and semi-accepted. I suspect that culture still exists in some places, but it is definitely rarer now and those that missed it don't know to miss it now. But there is evidence that some people do miss that culture and are getting back to it a bit. Thank goodness.

BTW, one of best movie lines of all time:

"...lets make it 3 yards muthaf!@ker and we'll have a automobile race."

[Tony_SS]

good points Wyatt, I agree with both of your posts.

[critter]

Note that I said "probably" don't get it. :)

You summed it up well. That culture and time are long gone.

This is the web site for the one real drag strip they showed in the movie. It's long gone but it was the hot spot over in Memphis back when Coleman Taylor Transmission wasn't TCI. Man, I'm old.

http://www.lakelandraceway.com/

[BritishGreen68]

I watched it first when i was about 20 (27 now) and i thought it was cool.. I just liked the fact you can hear the muncie whine and has a lot of cool little car culture elements in it. It is slow and boring to anyone not way into cars i guess, my girlfriend hated it lol..

[JEFFTATE]

I felt the same way about the original " Vanishing Point " .
It was a terrible car movie.
BUT , a great counter-culture , anti-establishment , screw "the man" , movie.
I always hate how Hollywood always wrecks the great cars.
I guess it was one of those movies about the times.

[drflex]

i'd love to comment on this ..but i've got to change the jets in my carbs.

[shmoov69]

Lol!
It is an extremely boring movie, if you watch movies for plots and drama and such........but it is a really cool movie nontheless. You just gotta sit back and take it in and when it's over you say wow and remember certian things as they come up in your life.

Basicly, Budah nailed it!

[TonyHuntimer]

Lawrence! Lawrence of Arabia! He came to fight the Turkish! Hollywood Knights is one of the greatest car movies of all time.

2LB is an experience...not a blockbuster. It's not a movie to watch with your wife...unless you're David Pozzi. It's something you watch with some car buddies. But it's one of those movies you get or you don't.

[elacruze]

Well, for some of us who knew Lakeland drag strip and live just down the road from Carlisle, Arkansas, it's like going home again.

Either you get it or you don't. If you're under 50, you probably don't.

Exchanging movies is a major hobby over here. I've introduced probably 30 'hot rod guys' to this movie, and noticed that two things are generally required to 'get it'; First, you're 40yrs+. Second, you grew up poor or on a farm.
Younger people who grew up in the 'golden years' of the '80s-90's just never experienced living in a fashion that enables them to relate.

That's my psychological navel-gazing for today. :bsjerk:

[twosaturns]

yes, it's a get it or not kind of movie. just a day in the life kind of thing.
I love the part when James taylor is driving looking for that girl, neither him or Dennis are saying anything. all of a sudden Dennis goes 'you know, we passed her back a few miles ago', or something like that.
I like when Dennis is swapping license plates from some local cars in the little town they stumble into. great stuff.
btw, I'm only 39.

[DarkBuddha]

As I said, I don't think it's an age thing, though I'll readily admit that there can be cultural differences between generations. In this case though, I wonder if it has to do with the way we became engaged in car culture. For example, as I've stated, I just turned 37 but have been a fan of the movie for 20+ years. I remember helping my dad bleed brakes when I was 5... like a mantra, he'd chant "pump pump hold". I also grew up doing long distance road trips with the family, drinking Yoohoo while watching towns drift by from the backseat, lit only by passing headlights and the dim glow of the radio and dash lights, while noisy, erratic chatter sounded from the CB with things like "come on back" and "... lookin' for a bear report east bound...". I had a handle when I was 5 too. The good news is that there are still roads to drive, truckers on the CB, and Yoohoo to drink. And there are still folks building, tuning, maintaining, cruising, and (street)racing cars on the road. That's the culture I'm talking about.

[Tony_SS]

I'll never forget growing up and always enjoying the new old junk my Dad would bring home, only to resell when he could to make a few bucks. Most of the time my Mom got stuck driving them. She didn't make it 100 feet out of the driveway one time before the driveshaft fell out of a 74 Charger.

Back in the early 80's my Dad had to commute to work about 50 miles one way. So he picked up a Honda. One summer, all 4 of us rode in it down to Cape Canaveral from St. Louis. My brother was 8, I was 6. We had the back seat folded flat and the suitcase stood straight up like a wall to divide us for half the ride down there. I don't remember it being uncomfortable, but it was an interesting journey for 2 days.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[shmoov69]

Wyatt, what was your "handle" then?
Mine was Little Smokey!

Roger that!

[DarkBuddha]

Wyatt, what was your "handle" then?
Mine was Little Smokey!

Roger that!
Fireplug. :)

[Yoda4561]

2LBT is one of my favorite movies. I only saw it once when I was around 18 or 19 when TNT used to run some cool older films late at night. Fell in love with the whole thing, atmosphere, cars, it was 3am and I had some trouble following the plot, but I really didn't care, cuz it just sucked me in like that. Do I "get it" ?? I'm not sure if you're supposed to "get" anything, it was just a great movie, don't ask me why cuz I have no idea:rotfl: .

[BossaNova]

Two Lane Blacktop changed my life.
Not the movie, but the screenplay.
I read that book so many times I actually knew the actor's lines when I finally saw the movie.
I can understand why someone wouldn't "get" the movie-It actually flopped at the theatres. You don't know anything about the characters (even their names) and you don't really learn anything about them as the story (?) develops. All of that is left up to your imagination.
To me, 2LBT was about freedom. 2 guys riding around the country drag racing...and they picked up a girl hitchhiker! As a 16 year old, I could think of nothing I would rather do at the time.
Forget work, forget school, forget all responsibilities. Hit the road with your best friend and your whole existence could be wrapped up in your car.
Damn, I get goose bumps thinking about it.
Anybody from that era will tell you that the freedom that was portrayed in 2LBT was not that far fetched.
It's hard to believe what we've lost in 39 years.
Oh well. I still spend most of my day thinking about cars.

[Ishmael]

I don't know. In ways we still have that - like kids still have that spirit, its just with cars they can afford.
I'm 34 and I've loved that movie since I can remember. I started my car movie collection looking for that movie.
Buddha is right, it is existential in the sense that it is about those men in that environement going through that experience so it is about that experience. I don't think it is about when and where you come from or what your back ground is, if you appreciate American iron, have raced and wrenched on your own car - especially with a friend - then I can't see how you wouldn't love this movie. If you don't love it just have it on in the background and watch that shoebox whenever it comes on the screen - like listening to the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds instead of watching it. I still haven't found a copy - now I gotta an itch and it has to be scratched.
thanks

[DRJDVM's '69]

"Well the punch does have a certain 'wang' to it"

Hollywood Knights was awesome

I bought 2LBT on DVD a couple of years ago after having seen it on TV years before.......its a very bad movie.... that is when you compare it to the standard movie "test"... it has basically no plot....no character developement....and some completely random scenes.

Its much more of a "cult classic"....it just has the "vibe" and feel to alot of cars guys. I watch it from time to time but its still not what I would call a good movie

Its still a must see for all true car guys

[terryr]

..am I missing something? Guy in the GTO is a wack job, the 2 in the Chevy hardly talk.

Nope. That's about it. It's "Arty".

The 55 ended up as Harrison Fords car in American Graffiti. They got rid of the tunnel ram and scoop but kept the engine. [So Milner was up against a 454.]

The Judge wrote off my 69 camaro, with me in it. Or one like it.