Vanishing Point 1971 Film Review

Every so often there comes alone the chance to review a movie that this reviewer really hasn't seen before now. Such as the case with this film as the only exposure to this film that I had was the fact that I saw it referenced in Death Proof and that was really it and well then I thought that now was the absolutely right time to check this movie and see if it's any good and so then join me as I review the film that has a really good looking 1970 Dodge Challenger as it;s main car with the film in question being called simply just "Vanishing Point" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when an ex-racer by the name of Kowalski is tasked with delivering a car to California he has to do it in just a few shorts days and finds himself being chased by the police along the way. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad but that's also the issue tho as this films plot really isn't all that good as it is rather thin on plot which does make it hard to tell what the actual plot of the film even is meant to e alot of the time as alot of the films plot is told to us through dialog from the various characters and even then alot of what there saying just isn't that interesting which granted might be the whole point of the film but you still need to have a decent plot if your going to have a really good movie and as this films plot isn't that good it is very easy to see why it gained the cult following that it did as in it's current state it would have been impossible for this film to have a large mainstream fanbase as the plot of the film is one that just begs for a cult following as it's not the kind of plot that would work well with a mainstream audience and the way that it's told just wouldn't work well with a mainstream audience either this is despite the fact that the actual idea for the films plot is one that's really good and really solid with the plot of this film not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Barry Newman as Kowalski , Cleavon Little as Super Soul and Dean Jagger as Prospector. Also starring in this film is Victoria Medlin as Vera Thornton , Karl Swenson as Sandy McKees , Lee Weaver as Jake , John Amos as Super Soul's Engineer , Tom Reese as Sheriff , Paul Koslo as Charlie , Robert Donner as Collins , Owen Bush as Communications Officer , Bill Drake as KLZ-FM Reporter , Severn Darden as Rev. J. 'Jessie' Hovah , Timothy Scott as Angel and Charlotte Rampling as Female Hitchhiker.

Now then interms of what I personally thought  felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in ll honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With alot of this films actors turning in some really solid performances the issue is tho is that alot more of this film actors turn in some really bad performances which is something that does make it hard to to get a really good read on this films overall quality of acting as in one scene you could get a really good performance and then in the exact same scene you could get a performance from an actor who is clearly hamming it up when this is the kind of the film that really does require a more serious approach to the scenes as this is a more serious film with it being made perfectly clear that this film director Richard C. Sarafian really has no idea how to get a  good performance out of his actors with the best actor in this whole entire film being Barry Newman as Kowalski with him turning in a performance where you can see the wheels turning in his head all of the time with him thinking two steps ahead of everyone else with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by this film s script as this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

It's made perfectly obvious that the main star of this film isn't Barry Newman rather it's the car and it's not that hard to see to why. As the car is a 1970 Dodge Challenger and it just looks gorgeous and while it won't ever top The General Lee interms f good looking cars it is a close second with this car lacking in alot of things that the car from The Dukes Of Hazzard has like charm and character but what's lacking in either of those it more then makes for in the fact it does look like the type of car that this character would drive and that it does have a certain ruggedness to it that does make it very appealing to look at and while alot of people might not understand what why this car is so good looking as to them this is just another car and that's fine but or those that do like these types of car movies they will get it and heck even those that like shows like The Duke Of Hazzard for example will kind of get it as well as both cars do look strikingly similar to one another and the fact that this car much like The General Lee does also does some jumps as well which means that they must likely totaled at least a dozen of these cars just in doing some of the stunts for this movie alone and while not alot of work went into either the script or the acting for that matter it's clear as day that alot of work went into finding the perfect car for this character to drive as the car gets alot more love and attention then both the actors and the script for this film did get.

While it might be in this films style to have it's characters be lackluster and poorly written as we the audience are meant to see ourselfs in these characters. That doesn't excuse the fact that the characters themselves aren't that well written with Kowalski himself being the worst offender of this and he's the main character of the movie as while we do get to find out quite alot about him none of what we do find out about him affects his characters personalities as we find out that he used to used to race cars , serve in the army and served in the police force and yet none of that effects the characters personalty this is despite the fact that the film does go out of it's way to make sure that we know that he used to race cars as they mention in quite alot of the time in this film and it's the same for all of the characters that he meets on the road as well as none of them come across as being really memorable characters as none of them are given the time that they so desperately need to get across what there personality is like or even meant to be in the first place and this is why Kowalski desperately needed someone in the car with him as it gives the character someone to talk to and through that we could have been able to get across what his personality was like and not just what his life was like prior to the events of this film in the first place heck Super Soul has more of a personality to him and he's more of a minor character in the film where as Kowalski is the films main character and yes us the audience are left feeling nothing towards not only him but alot of the films other characters as well.

For those of you that don' know this film basically has two different cuts with there being an American cut of the film which runs at just over one hour and thirty eight and a UK cut of the film which is a little bit longer. With this review being based on the UK cut of the film with the only thing that makes the two standout being one extra scene featuring Charlotte Rampling as The Female Hitchhiker and that's really it as during her scene she offers Kowalski some drugs and that's really it and yet that's not a good enough reason for creating two different cuts of the same film as it's not something that adds anything to the plot of the film heck it doesn't anything to the character of Kowalski as a character it's literally just there so that the film can have a another pretty girl in the movie and that's really it with the the scene itself not even being in the American cut of the film because of the fact that the American distributors of the film cut it out for no reason whatsoever which quite frankly while they are wrong to do that as the films director should have been the one to remove it himself it was the best call that they could have made as it's not a scene that adds thing to the film and nor does it really take away anything from the film it was just a pointless scene in the movie and it's a scene that would have been more more better off on the cutting room floor in the first place as it really just that pointless of a scene and it's one that really had no right to be in nay cut of the this film UK or not as you get nothing that adds to the overall experience of this film from watching this scene.

To give this film some form of credit it really does feature some really good looking locations all throughout the film. With the film even having some really good looking shots in it but just because the locations look nice and the shots look good doesn't mean that the film is good as the film does lack alot of the things that make for a good film and while granted this film did gain a cult following so much s that it was remade in the nineties as a made for TV movie starring Viggo Mortensen that doesn't mean that the film as a whole is a good as you still need a good script and decent acting and while the film does indeed have some really good acting it's script isn't good as instead of just showing us what Kowalski was like in the past it tells us all of that and top of that it makes Kowalski out to be a flawless character which does make him look like a Gary Stu type of character as he's done all of these things in his past and yet he's still meant to be a relatable character if your going to make him be a relatable character then have him be someone that the average joe can relate to but on the other hand if your going to make him male fantasy character where every single male who watches the film wants to be him then do that but go all of the way with it look at James Bond as a good example of that type character and yet because the film does neither of those things we are instead left with a character that's meant to be relatable but also meant to be a male power fantasy figure and it's just not something that really works for this film at all.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty minuets and forty eight seconds. Which is a really solid running time for this film to have as this film really does have the right amount of plot there to cover that long of a running time but at the same time tho this film really doesn't need to be as long as it is as alot of this film is just repeat mode anyways with Kowalski getting chased by the cops before outsmarting them and then meeting another new character to help him on his way where we'll maybe get more of Kowalski's backstory but not always and that's it with there being no variation in that set up which is something that I guess works for this film as the set up for the film alone really does allow for there being much in the way of variation but when you can outright predict how the film is going to go excluding it's explosive ending then something very clearly should have done by the makers of this film to add some level of variety into the film just to keep things fresh and different instead of repeating what we just saw but in a different setting as all that does is make the film come across as being dull and boring and it's something that really does come across as being dull and boring as well as all we the audience are left doing is watching the same thing happen again and again and that's really it and it's things like that that make it obvious as to why this film became a cult classic as it wasn't designed to be a hit with mainstream audiences with that being due to alot of the films issues and more trippier form of storytelling but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the films action being the true highlight of the film which is something that does make alot of sense as the makers of this film did put alot more effort into making the films already good looking car look like the kind of the car that you really want to drive fast in and as such it does make sense that this films action would be really good with the film taking the Mad Max: Fury Road approach to it's action where the film is basically one long action scene with a very few little breaks inbetween to get across more of the plot but where as that was something that did work for that film it's not something that works for this film as this film doesn't take the time to give us likable character where as with Fury Road they did and while this film does have the better looking vehicle as muscle cars do always look really good the War Rig in Fury Road was used alot more effectively then the car in this film was as the with the War Rig we got to see how characters could hide in it for safety as well as use it as a deadly weapon where as here we don't get to see how Kowalski could use this car more effectively which fair enough does work well enough for this films more realistic setting and tone but it also limits not only what kind of action scenes you can see in this movie but also how much more fun that they also can be in this very movie as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.  

Overall while i'm finally glad to have finally seen the movie that they not only referenced in Death Proof but also pretty much used the exact same make and model for the car as well this film is one that is impossible to recommend to anyone who really isn't a die hard fan of motor cars as there the only ones who to be frank here will get any real sense of entertainment from this film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from the really great Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.