MovieChat Forums > Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Discussion > Booooooooring

Booooooooring

posted 20 years ago by B-Bere
24 replies | jump to latest

Okay this has got to be the most boring movie I've ever seen. This is more of a documentary if you can call it that. No start, no end - no story. Just an event of driving across the states. That's about as exciting as it gets, folks.

However the acting is great. The cars are great. The characters are great. I guess I can't say the plot sucks because there isn't one.

Sure you could say that this accurately portrays the time period that the movie takes place in - for some it's a walk down memory lane. But that doesn't make for interesting convo, let alone a film.

Well, this movie was a burned dvd given to me. Maybe it was a sick joke? Whatever this movie was supposed to mean I'm not sure - but I know that my copy is meant for the garbage.

The best part was the ending. If only it actually did burn to a crisp forever to be forgotton. Very difficult to sit through. I want those 2 hours of my life back!
PEACE

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] fast1967pony 20 years ago

No plot, no story, no point, horrific acting IS the point of this movie. It is simple, mindless entertainment!!! Don't over analyze it.

[–] Byronik 20 years ago

This movie occured after James Taylor had appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. Also Dennis Wilson, on the original Beach Boys, has since died, so it is a memory of a younger, less turgid time. As well, the stock car boom of the 90's and today, that is NASCAR, has owes a lot to these pioneers of street racing. I suppose you would approve of a Vin Diesel character doing Vroom.

[–] melplac 20 years ago

There were two things that I didn't like about this movie.

1) That friggin' hippy whore. DAMNIT! These guys have kick-ass cars and THAT is the best they can do?!?

2) The ending was a little "...what?" Maybe they did do this, and I just missed it, but if they showed the other car pulling away from the Chev and then had the screen burn and bubble away, that would have been a fitting ending.

Other than that, it was an excellent movie. Great cars, and other than the ho-bag, great characters.

[–] Krustallos 20 years ago

It's definitely not just entertainment. It's the #1 existentialist road movie of all time. As Kerouac once (moreorless) wrote: "Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?" Driver/Mechanic and GTO represent two different directions America could go, two versions of the Anerican dream. Not so hard to see which one won out.

[–] Druff 19 years ago

I consider this movie to be to "car movies" what 2001 A Space Odyssey is to sci fi movies; If you go into it expecting a lot of excitement and crashes etc., you're going to be bored, and basically label yourself as a thoughtless, shallow moron. "Duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh, where's all the car crashes, maw?!?!"

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] dave-greg 19 years ago

It is currently rated 2nd place in my top 100 films. I managed to get a region 1 LTD edition copy of this film a couple of years back on e-bay. The guy who said it's 'Booooooooooring' is obviously not really a 'petrol head' or attended any drag race meetings!

'left alone, in the dark, seeking out your lost soul.....'

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Interesting post. The girl's choice to leave with the MC - what might that represent within this view of America?

Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.

[–] painterofdeadgirls 19 years ago

The ending isn't supposed to be about winning or the 55 pulling away. Listen to G.T.O.'s little speech right before the last race. His lies, his fabrications, he doesn't know what the feeling of driving and building a car is. You know this because he has a brand new car nothing done to it and lies about everything. That's all he is are a bunch of lies. He's a fake. He does not know the feelings of pride or freedom.

Now we cut to the last race. We see the driver in the car. He looks over to a barn where there happens to be another chevy and a few other cars sitting there. I knew exactly what the driver was thinking at that time. My entire family are motorheads and this movie is for those who truly know the pride and freedom that the driver feels. He comes back to focusing on the race. Everything is silent, complete concentration. He's one with the car. The reason that they didn't show the 55 pulling away from the el camino is because thats not what its about. It's not about winning its not about anything but freedom and the pride of knowing that you took that car that was sitting by the barn and you made it what it is.

[–] mr_eliminator 18 years ago

Painterofdeadgirls is the only one that gets it..

ex-AMX
ex-Camaro
now looking for a new one

"Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!"

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Listen to G.T.O.'s little speech right before the last race. His lies, his fabrications, he doesn't know what the feeling of driving and building a car is. You know this because he has a brand new car nothing done to it and lies about everything. That's all he is are a bunch of lies. He's a fake. He does not know the feelings of pride or freedom.

Great point and he won the car in a game. He didn't even choose to buy it, it was simply his winnings.

Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] DigginForFire 19 years ago

I agree that it was boring and pointless, but I don't agree that the characters and acting is great. One of the worst films I've ever seen.

"My own grandmother fought the Indians for 60 years then choked to death on lemon pie"

[–] Oliver-50 19 years ago

I certainly don't think this movie is boring, but I do find that the acting of the three young leads is pretty weak and one-note. It's awfully hard to take all the existentialist rantings seriously when the actors don't seem to understand all of what they are saying. Warren Oates is the best part of the film and deserved more recognition. Leonard Maltin said that he should have won the Oscar in 1971 and I'm inclined to agree. I haven't seen it in a while, and I've been meaning to go back and watch it again, because even though my initial thought was that movie was 'good but not great' it has a way of staying with you.

[–] film-snob 18 years ago

Not so much boring as pointless, in my opinion.

[–] DirtyGrainius 18 years ago

I love "The Fast and the Furious". I DO NOT think it is a great movie. It is a quintessential cheesy cars, speed, and crashes(combined with crime/police) movie with hammy-acting that appeals to the LCD. I Love It.

Two-Lane Black is another movie I love, however this movie IS a GREAT MOVIE. I just saw it on Sunday Night, and was amazed. Anyone who says or claims boring, is not looking at it as an artistic/poetic/metaphorical vehicle, which it most obviously is. In this sense, TLB is a mind-blowing event. As for boring acting, you just mean no-one is oozing-bacon grease, and I am pretty sure thats purposefully done. To make GTO even more of a "Character", everyone else had to be low-key, except for "the girl", who didn't really know she was full of crap, so she didn't come-off with any "pompous-ity"(thank you Don King). But when GTO speaks, it's classic. Every speech Warren Oates gives is hilarious. The actors being monotone adds to the drearyness. They exist in a world of feelings,not appearences(like GTO's scam) hence their car looks like a peice of crap, but is the most modified.

Wether you think this movie is boring or not, is irrelevant. Almost EVERYBODY else in the world thinks what YOU do everyday is totally boring. And what you are seeing here is what these guys do everyday. I think that their existence was captured magically in this movie; TLB rocks.

"Inside the Dusters there were 3 men... So?... Inside the men there were 3 bullets." - d{^_^}b

[–] Gerogerigegege 18 years ago

I agree, boring... fell asleep in the latter half of the film. I like Monte Hellman, I just didnt feel this film. I'm a simple man, with simple needs. Lots of action and more chicks (I mean, this is a car racing film). I appreciated the direction he took with the western (ride in the whirlwind wasn't what I expected). I just think he missed the mark on this one.

[–] chuckzombie 18 years ago

I wouldnt go so far as to say this film was boring, but it was rather stupid. This was supposed to be a race, ok then why did they stop all the time? that whole thing about the "importance of competition" goes right out the window because every 5 minutes they're either in a coffee shop or on the side of a road yacking it up for hours on end. That chick the 2 guys are vying for has absolutely no personality and shes not exactly hot. she barely says anything, it makes it very hard to believe anyone would go to such trouble over her. The best part of the film for me is that one hippy who gets in the GTO and stops GTO driver in the middle of his BS speech, then says none of what he is saying matters and that to stop the car and let him get out in that very dry ineffectual voice. I loved the subtlety of it.

I also dont see where its indicated that the 55 chevy blows up at the end. to me it was just an artsy fartsy way of saying that everyone lived happily ever after.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] rjr573 11 years ago

I like it cause it's like looking back at old home movies from the day. This was a gear heads life back in the day.

[–] ridge-m-1 9 years ago

Boooooring is as boooooring does.