Two-Lane Blacktop 1971 Criterion Collection
They barely talk. The Driver (rock singer-songwriter James Taylor) drives their souped-up '55 Chevy while The Mechanic (the late Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys), occasionally fixes things that need to be fixed. They don't stop unless they absolutely must - like when they have to eat, change tires, or buy gas. They are heading back East, to do something, somewhere.

A girl (Laurie Bird, Cockfighter, Annie Hall) quietly joins The Driver and The Mechanic, but they don't seem to care much about her. She is also heading somewhere. Occasionally they exchange a few words, but mostly when the girl tries really hard to have a conversation, usually a meaningless one.

At a gas station somewhere on Route 66, The Driver, The Mechanic and their passenger meet GTO (Warren Oates, Badlands, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia), a middle-aged man who may or may not have won his car in Las Vegas. They agree to race for each other's 'pink slips'. The first car to reach Washington D.C. wins the race.

The race begins but soon it becomes clear that no one really wants to win it. It also becomes clear that none of the racers are who they pretend to be. The tiny bits of information about their past that they occasionally share with the people they meet in bars and diners along Route 66 are always different.


Director: Monte Hellman
Cast: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson
Country: USA
Genre: Drama

BD50 + 2xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:42:37 | 42.6 Gb + 13.9 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Extras:

Monte Hellman and Allison Anders – Audio commentary recorded by the Criterion Collection in Los Angeles in 2007.

Rudy Wurlitzer and David N. Meyer – Audio commentary recorded by the Criterion Collection in New York City in 2007.

On the Road Again: Two-Lane Blacktop Revisited – A 43-minute video piece in which Monte Hellman and his film students revisit the film’s locations.

Make it Three Yards (00:38:33) – After not having seen each other in thirty-five years, Monte Hellman and James Taylor sat down for this conversation, recorded in the fall of 2007 in Massachusetts.

Somewhere Near Salinas interview with director Monte Hellman and singer-songwriter-actor Kris Kristofferson.

Sure Did Talk to You – In this 24-minute video filmed in 2007 the director Monte Hellman interviews producer Michael Laughlin, production manager Walter Coblenz, Steve Gayedos, and his son Jared Hellman.

Those Satisfactions Are Permanent – These screen test outtakes were discovered in director Monte Hellman’s garage in 2007. The casting interviews are conducted by A.J. Solari, who also reads with Laurie Bird and appears in the film as the malcontented Tennessee hitchhiker.

Color Me Gone – A collection of rare behind-the-scenes photos and publicity stills from Two-Lane Blacktop.

Performance and Image – Car enthusiast Walt Bailey tracked down and, with the participation of Richard Ruth, restored one of the three ’55 Chevys used in the filming of Two-Lane Blacktop. Bailey’s account of that process and a selection of restoration photographs are provided here, as well as a look at some of the shooting locations in 2007.

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