TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) CRITERION EDITION

This is for disc 1 (main movie disc) of the 2 disc Criterion set.

Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. "Blacktop" means an asphalt road.

Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971 and even published the entire screenplay in its April 1971 issue, but the film was not a commercial success. It has become a counterculture-era cult classic. The Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2012 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Overview

A '55 Chevy takes on a '70 GTO in a race across the Southwest in Monte Hellman's cult favorite. The Driver (James Taylor) and the Mechanic (Dennis Wilson) phlegmatically slouch from race to race, pitting their gray Chevy against any and all gearheads in order to make money for gas and food. They and the tag-along Girl (Laurie Bird) meet their match in "Oh Maybelline" fan GTO (Warren Oates), and they all set off on a cross-country race to Washington D.C., with the winner getting the loser's car. But it isn't the end that really counts; it is the process of getting there, as the Girl's fickleness forces the Driver to decide what matters more: endless races or her. Shot on location from a spare script by Rudolph Wurlitzer and Will Corry, Two-Lane Blacktop was trumpeted as the "film of the year" in Esquire magazine before its release. It bombed, and disputes over music rights kept it from home video until 1999, but repertory and TV screenings have gained it an avid following for its automotive detail, flashes of authentic idiosyncrasy, and artfully abstract examination of the urge to forge ahead, whether or not there is anywhere to go.

Two-Lane Blacktop
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Monte Hellman
Produced by	Michael Laughlin
Written by	Rudolph Wurlitzer Will Corry (also story)
Starring	James Taylor Warren Oates Laurie Bird Dennis Wilson
Music by	Billy James
Cinematography	Jack Deerson
Edited by	Monte Hellman
Production company	Michael Laughlin Enterprises
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 7, 1971
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$875,000