Vanishing Point

I saw this movie at the Riviera when I was 10 or 11 years old. Its the story of a mysterious car driver who must deliver a Chrysler Imperial form Denver to San Francisco in record time. While doing so he comes across various counterculture types and a DJ which seems to be sending messages of support to him. Even though it's all sort of pretentious, it does show you the hippie movement in the American Southwest in its waning days. One can clearly see it is heading for oblivion.

But let's face it. This is a movie about car chases. Actually the whole film is a car chase. And for a ten year old this was the coolest movie ever. There are some truly spectacular stunts in this movie. And seeing it today, it makes me long for the days when movies had real car chases and not computer generated images.


But seeing it today also makes me realize that it is quite a boring movie. It's the equivalent of a porn movie with 100% sex. After 15 minutes, it does get boring. I found myself stopping the movie and getting food from the fridge. Then watching a bit more and stopping again.

But for an 11 year old kid watching it at the Riviera so many years ago, truly exciting. Will I ever have a car like that? Will I be a cool guy like the one in the movie? Will I meet sexy chicks like the ones in this film? It was a movie that brought out questions about my life as an adult.
But even then, at the end, it was all about the car chase.