Two-Lane Blacktop
Encyclopedia
Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie
directed by Monte Hellman
, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor
, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson
, Warren Oates
, and Laurie Bird
. 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. The film has since become a cult classic
. Brock Yates
, organizer of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash
(better known as the Cannonball Run) cites Two-Lane Blacktop as one source of inspiration for the creation of the race, and commented on it in his Car and Driver
column announcing the first Cannonball.
Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule
film of U.S. Route 66
during the pre-Interstate Highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue. As such it has become popular with fans of Route 66. Two-Lane Blacktop has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as Vanishing Point, Easy Rider
, and Electra Glide in Blue
.
rs (played by Taylor and Wilson) who live on the road in their highly-modified 1955 Chevy 150 (One-Fifty) two-door sedan and drift from town to town, making their income by challenging local residents to races. The movie follows them driving east on Route 66 from Needles, California
. They pick up a girl hitchhiker in Flagstaff, Arizona
(played by Bird), although it is more accurate to say that she picks them up by simply getting into their car. In New Mexico
, they encounter another car driver (played by Oates, driving a 1970 Pontiac GTO). An atmosphere of hostility develops between the two parties. Although Oates is not an overt street racer, and in fact seems to know little about cars, a cross-country race to Washington, D.C.
is suggested. Taylor proposes that the prize should be "for pinks
," or legal ownership of the loser's car. Characters are never identified by name in the movie; instead they are named "The Driver," "The Mechanic," "GTO," and "The Girl". The movie follows the group east through small towns in California
, Arizona
, New Mexico
, Oklahoma
, Arkansas
, and Tennessee
, but no character makes it to Washington D.C. during the film.
After sleeping with both the Driver and the Mechanic during the journey, the Girl disappoints them by abruptly leaving with the GTO while they compete at a racetrack in Memphis
. The Driver pursues them intently, finding them at a diner where the Girl has just rejected the GTO's idea to visit Chicago
. The Driver proposes going to Columbus, Ohio
to get parts, but the Girl rejects him. She hops on the back of a stranger's motorcycle, dropping her bag in the parking lot. The three men abruptly depart from the diner in their respective cars. The driver of the GTO, who has told a different story about himself to each of the many hitchhikers he picked up (including a gay hitchhiker played by Harry Dean Stanton
), stops for two soldiers on leave. He tells his passengers that he won the car while driving a home-built '55 Chevy, emphasizing the circular nature of the film. The film ends during a drag race at an airstrip in East Tennessee
. As the Driver speeds down the runway, first the sound drops out, then the film slows until the actual frames of the film seem to catch in the projectors gate, burning the film itself.
who had a two-picture deal with CBS Cinema Center Films
. He convinced the production company to pay Will Corry $100,000 for his original story about two men, one black and one white, who drove across the country followed by a young girl which was inspired by his own cross-country journey in 1968. Returning from Italy after a film project had fallen through, Hellman was introduced to Laughlin who presented Hellman with two projects, one of which was Two-Lane Blacktop. He asked Hellman to direct, who found Corry's story "interesting but not fully realized". Hellman agreed to make the film only if another screenwriter was hired to rewrite the script and Laughlin agreed. A friend of Hellman's recommended underground writer Rudolph Wurlitzer. Hellman read his novel Nog and was impressed enough to hire Wurlitzer. He began reading Corry's story but gave up after five pages. Hellman and Wurlitzer agreed to keep the basic idea of the cross-country race as well as the characters of the Driver, the Mechanic and the Girl. Wurlitzer invented the GTO character and the rest of the supporting cast. To prepare for writing the script, he stayed in a Los Angeles
motel and read car magazines, as well as hanging out with several obsessive mechanics and "stoner car freaks" in the San Fernando Valley
. Wurlitzer said that he did not know much about cars but did "know something about being lost on the road". He wrote a new script in four weeks.
In February 1970, Hellman conducted some location scouting and was a few weeks from principal photography when Cinema Center suddenly canceled the project. He shopped the script around to several Hollywood studios that liked it but wanted a say in the casting. However, Ned Tanen
, a young executive at Universal Pictures
gave Hellman $850,000 to make the film and gave him final cut. Hellman saw a picture of James Taylor on a billboard on the Sunset Strip
and asked the musician to come and do a screen test. Four days before principal photography began the role of the Mechanic was still not cast. Hellman was desperate and tested people he met in garages. A friend of casting director Fred Roos
suggested musician Dennis Wilson. Wilson was the last actor cast and Hellman chose him because he felt that the musician "had lived that role, that he really grew up with cars".
Principal photography began on August 13, 1970 in Los Angeles and lasted for six weeks with a crew of 30, three matching Chevys and two matching G.T.O.s traveling through the southwest towards Memphis, Tennessee
. Hellman insisted on going across country, like the characters in the film, because he felt it was the only way to convince the audience that the characters raced across the United States. He said, "I knew it would affect the actors—and it did, obviously. It affected everybody". Hellman took an unconventional approach of not letting his three lead, inexperienced actors read the script. Instead, he gave them pages of dialogue on the day of shooting. The actors felt uncomfortable with this approach. In particular, James Taylor, used to having control when it came to his music, was upset at being unable to read the script in advance. Hellman eventually gave him permission to do so but Taylor never did read it.
Hellman shot almost the entire script as written. The first cut of the film was three-and-a-half hours long. He was his own editor: "I can't look over someone's shoulder. I need my hand on the brake". He had final cut but was contractually obliged to deliver a film no longer than two hours. The final version ran 105 minutes. In their April 1971 cover story, Esquire
magazine proclaimed Two-Lane Blacktop, "film of the year". Hellman initially thought that the Esquire article would be good publicity for the film but in hindsight was not, because "I think it raised people's expectations. They couldn't accept the movie for what it was". There was a lot of advanced buzz about the film but Lew Wasserman
, head of the studio saw the film and hated it. He refused to promote it and when it opened in New York City
on the Fourth of July weekend, there were no newspaper ads promoting it.
", and "Vanishing Point"), Two-Lane Blacktop does not rely heavily on music, nor was a soundtrack album released. The music featured in the film covers many genres, including rock, folk, blues, country, bluegrass, and R&B. James Taylor
and Dennis Wilson
did not contribute any music.
However, there are some notable tracks featured in the film, including "Moonlight Drive
" by The Doors
, the traditional folk tune "Stealin'
" performed by Arlo Guthrie
, and the original version of "Me and Bobby McGee
" performed by the song's author Kris Kristofferson
.
gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "What I liked about Two-Lane Blacktop was the sense of life that occasionally sneaked through, particularly in the character of G.T.O. (Warren Oates). He is the only character who is fully occupied with being himself (rather than the instrument of a metaphor), and so we get the sense we've met somebody". In his review for The New York Times
, Vincent Canby
wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a far from perfect film (those metaphors keep blocking the road), but it has been directed, acted, photographed and scored (underscored, happily) with the restraint and control of an aware, mature filmmaker". Time
magazine's Jay Cocks
wrote, "The film is immaculately crafted, funny and quite beautiful, resonant with a lingering mood of loss and loneliness ... Not a single frame in the film is wasted. Even the small touches—the languid tension while refueling at a back-country gas station or the piercing sound of an ignition buzzer—have their own intricate worth". In his review for the Village Voice, J. Hoberman
wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a movie of achingly eloquent landscapes and absurdly inert characters". In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum
wrote, "The movie starts off as a narrative but gradually grows into something much more abstract—it's unsettling but also beautiful". The film currently holds at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film has since become a cult classic
.
only release a few films from their catalog each year and it was not a priority. In 1994, Seattle's Scarecrow Video invited Hellman to show the film at their store. They proceeded to collect 2,000 signatures, including Werner Herzog
's, for a petition to get the film released on video. Both People
magazine and Film Comment
ran articles about the store's effort and the film.
For years, Universal had been looking for a partner to give Two-Lane Blacktop a proper release benefitting its cult film status. However, efforts to release it had always been hampered by issues with music rights, in particular the use of "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors. Director William Lustig
, also a "technical advisor" for Anchor Bay, got Hellman to approach the surviving band members to get their approval. In 1999, Michigan-based Anchor Bay Entertainment
licensed the film from Universal and released it on VHS
and DVD
with an audio commentary by Hellman and associate producer Gary Kurtz
and a documentary on Hellman directed by George Hickenlooper. The limited edition DVD was housed in a metal tin and extras included a 48-page booklet featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and liner notes about director Monte Hellman, a 5" X 7" theatrical poster replica, and a die-struck miniature car key chain. Anchor Bay released a regular edition without the poster and key chain.
At a July 2007 screening of the film, Hellman revealed that the Criterion Collection was releasing a two-disc special edition DVD that featured a new documentary made by Hellman that included an interview with Kristofferson about how "Me and Bobby McGee" has become so closely associated with the film. This DVD set was released on December 11, 2007.
Road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main character or characters leave home to travel from place to place. They usually leave home to escape their current lives.-History:...
directed by Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson
Dennis Wilson
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
, Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
, and Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird
Laurie Bird was an American actress and photographer.-Biography:Bird's mother died when she was three. Her father, an electrical engineer, was ex-United States Navy and worked long hours...
. Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
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. The film has since become a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
. Brock Yates
Brock Yates
Brock Yates is an American journalist and author. He was longtime executive editor of Car and Driver, an American automotive magazine. He was a pit reporter for CBS' coverage of certain NASCAR Sprint Cup series races in the 1980s, including the Daytona 500...
, organizer of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash
Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash
The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known simply as the Cannonball Baker or Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, if not outlaw, automobile race run four times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, CT, on the US Atlantic coast, to Redondo Beach, a Los Angeles...
(better known as the Cannonball Run) cites Two-Lane Blacktop as one source of inspiration for the creation of the race, and commented on it in his Car and Driver
Car and Driver
Car and Driver is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. Its total circulation is 1.31 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011...
column announcing the first Cannonball.
Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule
Time capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
film of U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
during the pre-Interstate Highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue. As such it has become popular with fans of Route 66. Two-Lane Blacktop has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as Vanishing Point, Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, and Electra Glide in Blue
Electra Glide in Blue
Electra Glide in Blue is a 1973 film starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy Green Bush as his partner. The name stems from the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle issued to traffic cops....
.
Plot
The premise involves two street raceStreet racing
Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or well-planned and coordinated. Well coordinated races are planned in advance and often have people communicating via 2-way radio/citizens' band radio and...
rs (played by Taylor and Wilson) who live on the road in their highly-modified 1955 Chevy 150 (One-Fifty) two-door sedan and drift from town to town, making their income by challenging local residents to races. The movie follows them driving east on Route 66 from Needles, California
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
. They pick up a girl hitchhiker in Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
(played by Bird), although it is more accurate to say that she picks them up by simply getting into their car. In New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, they encounter another car driver (played by Oates, driving a 1970 Pontiac GTO). An atmosphere of hostility develops between the two parties. Although Oates is not an overt street racer, and in fact seems to know little about cars, a cross-country race to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
is suggested. Taylor proposes that the prize should be "for pinks
Vehicle title
In the United States, the certificate of title for a vehicle is a legal form, establishing a person or business as the legal owner of a vehicle. Vehicle titles in the U.S...
," or legal ownership of the loser's car. Characters are never identified by name in the movie; instead they are named "The Driver," "The Mechanic," "GTO," and "The Girl". The movie follows the group east through small towns in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, but no character makes it to Washington D.C. during the film.
After sleeping with both the Driver and the Mechanic during the journey, the Girl disappoints them by abruptly leaving with the GTO while they compete at a racetrack in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. The Driver pursues them intently, finding them at a diner where the Girl has just rejected the GTO's idea to visit Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The Driver proposes going to Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
to get parts, but the Girl rejects him. She hops on the back of a stranger's motorcycle, dropping her bag in the parking lot. The three men abruptly depart from the diner in their respective cars. The driver of the GTO, who has told a different story about himself to each of the many hitchhikers he picked up (including a gay hitchhiker played by Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
), stops for two soldiers on leave. He tells his passengers that he won the car while driving a home-built '55 Chevy, emphasizing the circular nature of the film. The film ends during a drag race at an airstrip in East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
. As the Driver speeds down the runway, first the sound drops out, then the film slows until the actual frames of the film seem to catch in the projectors gate, burning the film itself.
Production
Two-Lane Blacktop originated with producer Michael LaughlinMichael Laughlin
-Filmography:*The Whisperers *Joanna *Two-Lane Blacktop *Strange Behavior *Strange Invaders *Mesmerized...
who had a two-picture deal with CBS Cinema Center Films
Cinema Center Films
Cinema Center Films was the theatrical film production division of the CBS television network. Founded in 1967 , its films were distributed by National General Pictures. CBS closed the unit in 1972; its last film was the Peanuts animated musical Snoopy Come Home...
. He convinced the production company to pay Will Corry $100,000 for his original story about two men, one black and one white, who drove across the country followed by a young girl which was inspired by his own cross-country journey in 1968. Returning from Italy after a film project had fallen through, Hellman was introduced to Laughlin who presented Hellman with two projects, one of which was Two-Lane Blacktop. He asked Hellman to direct, who found Corry's story "interesting but not fully realized". Hellman agreed to make the film only if another screenwriter was hired to rewrite the script and Laughlin agreed. A friend of Hellman's recommended underground writer Rudolph Wurlitzer. Hellman read his novel Nog and was impressed enough to hire Wurlitzer. He began reading Corry's story but gave up after five pages. Hellman and Wurlitzer agreed to keep the basic idea of the cross-country race as well as the characters of the Driver, the Mechanic and the Girl. Wurlitzer invented the GTO character and the rest of the supporting cast. To prepare for writing the script, he stayed in a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
motel and read car magazines, as well as hanging out with several obsessive mechanics and "stoner car freaks" in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. Wurlitzer said that he did not know much about cars but did "know something about being lost on the road". He wrote a new script in four weeks.
In February 1970, Hellman conducted some location scouting and was a few weeks from principal photography when Cinema Center suddenly canceled the project. He shopped the script around to several Hollywood studios that liked it but wanted a say in the casting. However, Ned Tanen
Ned Tanen
Ned Stone Tanen was an American movie studio executive behind films that included American Graffiti and Animal House....
, a young executive at Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
gave Hellman $850,000 to make the film and gave him final cut. Hellman saw a picture of James Taylor on a billboard on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
and asked the musician to come and do a screen test. Four days before principal photography began the role of the Mechanic was still not cast. Hellman was desperate and tested people he met in garages. A friend of casting director Fred Roos
Fred Roos
-Life and career:Roos was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Florence Mary and Victor Otto Roos. Beginning in television as a casting director for The Andy Griffith Show, Roos went on to produce most of Francis Ford Coppola's films subsequent to The Godfather, including Apocalypse Now...
suggested musician Dennis Wilson. Wilson was the last actor cast and Hellman chose him because he felt that the musician "had lived that role, that he really grew up with cars".
Principal photography began on August 13, 1970 in Los Angeles and lasted for six weeks with a crew of 30, three matching Chevys and two matching G.T.O.s traveling through the southwest towards Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. Hellman insisted on going across country, like the characters in the film, because he felt it was the only way to convince the audience that the characters raced across the United States. He said, "I knew it would affect the actors—and it did, obviously. It affected everybody". Hellman took an unconventional approach of not letting his three lead, inexperienced actors read the script. Instead, he gave them pages of dialogue on the day of shooting. The actors felt uncomfortable with this approach. In particular, James Taylor, used to having control when it came to his music, was upset at being unable to read the script in advance. Hellman eventually gave him permission to do so but Taylor never did read it.
Hellman shot almost the entire script as written. The first cut of the film was three-and-a-half hours long. He was his own editor: "I can't look over someone's shoulder. I need my hand on the brake". He had final cut but was contractually obliged to deliver a film no longer than two hours. The final version ran 105 minutes. In their April 1971 cover story, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine proclaimed Two-Lane Blacktop, "film of the year". Hellman initially thought that the Esquire article would be good publicity for the film but in hindsight was not, because "I think it raised people's expectations. They couldn't accept the movie for what it was". There was a lot of advanced buzz about the film but Lew Wasserman
Lew Wasserman
Lewis Robert "Lew" Wasserman was an American talent agent and studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career spanning more than six decades...
, head of the studio saw the film and hated it. He refused to promote it and when it opened in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the Fourth of July weekend, there were no newspaper ads promoting it.
Soundtrack
Unlike other existential road movies of the time (such as "Easy RiderEasy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
", and "Vanishing Point"), Two-Lane Blacktop does not rely heavily on music, nor was a soundtrack album released. The music featured in the film covers many genres, including rock, folk, blues, country, bluegrass, and R&B. James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
and Dennis Wilson
Dennis Wilson
Dennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
did not contribute any music.
However, there are some notable tracks featured in the film, including "Moonlight Drive
Moonlight Drive
"Moonlight Drive" was one of the seminal tracks on The Doors' second album, Strange Days. Although it was only a B-side , it is a favorite in The Doors canon...
" by The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, the traditional folk tune "Stealin'
Stealin'
Stealin' is an American folk song from the 1920s. The song is particularly identified with the jug band tradition, but gained wider popularity after several folk and blues artists recorded it in the 1960s....
" performed by Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, and the original version of "Me and Bobby McGee
Me and Bobby McGee
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, originally performed by Roger Miller. Others performed the song later, including Kristofferson himself, and Janis Joplin who topped the U.S. singles chart with the song in 1971 after her death, making the song the second...
" performed by the song's author Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
.
Reaction
Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "What I liked about Two-Lane Blacktop was the sense of life that occasionally sneaked through, particularly in the character of G.T.O. (Warren Oates). He is the only character who is fully occupied with being himself (rather than the instrument of a metaphor), and so we get the sense we've met somebody". In his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a far from perfect film (those metaphors keep blocking the road), but it has been directed, acted, photographed and scored (underscored, happily) with the restraint and control of an aware, mature filmmaker". Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks is a film critic and motion picture screenwriter.He is a graduate of Kenyon College. He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before moving into film writing....
wrote, "The film is immaculately crafted, funny and quite beautiful, resonant with a lingering mood of loss and loneliness ... Not a single frame in the film is wasted. Even the small touches—the languid tension while refueling at a back-country gas station or the piercing sound of an ignition buzzer—have their own intricate worth". In his review for the Village Voice, J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
James Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a movie of achingly eloquent landscapes and absurdly inert characters". In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
wrote, "The movie starts off as a narrative but gradually grows into something much more abstract—it's unsettling but also beautiful". The film currently holds at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film has since become a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
.
Home video
Two-Lane Blacktop was unavailable on video for years because Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
only release a few films from their catalog each year and it was not a priority. In 1994, Seattle's Scarecrow Video invited Hellman to show the film at their store. They proceeded to collect 2,000 signatures, including Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's, for a petition to get the film released on video. Both People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine and Film Comment
Film Comment
Film Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world...
ran articles about the store's effort and the film.
For years, Universal had been looking for a partner to give Two-Lane Blacktop a proper release benefitting its cult film status. However, efforts to release it had always been hampered by issues with music rights, in particular the use of "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors. Director William Lustig
William Lustig
William Lustig , also known as Bill Lustig, is an American film director and producer who has worked primarily in the horror film genre.-Movie career:...
, also a "technical advisor" for Anchor Bay, got Hellman to approach the surviving band members to get their approval. In 1999, Michigan-based Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
licensed the film from Universal and released it on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
with an audio commentary by Hellman and associate producer Gary Kurtz
Gary Kurtz
Gary Kurtz is an American film producer whose list of credits include American Graffiti, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. He later produced The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz after departing from the Star Wars series...
and a documentary on Hellman directed by George Hickenlooper. The limited edition DVD was housed in a metal tin and extras included a 48-page booklet featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and liner notes about director Monte Hellman, a 5" X 7" theatrical poster replica, and a die-struck miniature car key chain. Anchor Bay released a regular edition without the poster and key chain.
At a July 2007 screening of the film, Hellman revealed that the Criterion Collection was releasing a two-disc special edition DVD that featured a new documentary made by Hellman that included an interview with Kristofferson about how "Me and Bobby McGee" has become so closely associated with the film. This DVD set was released on December 11, 2007.