Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion Collection)

Cast View all

	James Taylor	The Driver
	Warren Oates	G.T.O
	Laurie Bird	The Girl
	Dennis Wilson	The Mechanic
	David Drake	Needles Station Attendant
	Richard Ruth	Needles Station Mechanic
	Rudy Wurlitzer	Hot Rod Driver
	Jacqueline Ebeier	Driver's Girl
	Bill Keller	Texas Hitchhiker
	Harry Dean Stanton	Oklahoma Hitchhiker
	Don Samuels	Texas Policeman #1
	Charles Moore	Texas Policeman #2
	Tom Green	Boswell Attendant
	W.H. Harrison	Parts Store Owner
	Alan Vint	Man in Roadhouse
	Illa Ginnaven	Waitress in Roadhouse
	George Mitchell	Truck Driver at Accident
	A.J. Solari	Tennessee Hitchhiker
	Katherine Squire	Old Woman
	Melissa Hellman	Little Girl with Old Woman picked up by G.T.O.
	Jay Wheatley	Man #1 at Race Track
	James Mitchum	Man #2 at Race Track
	Kreag Caffey	Boy with Motorcycle
	Tom Witenbarger	Pickup Truck Driver
	Glen Rogers	Soldier #1

Crew View all

Director	Monte Hellman
Writer	Rudy Wurlitzer, Will Corry, Floyd Mutrux
Producer	Gary Kurtz, Michael Laughlin
Photography	Jack Deerson, Gregory Sandor

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Notes

Christmas 2021 gift from Beth

Drag racing east from Los Angeles in a souped-up ’55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer-songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oates’s Pontiac GTO–driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race. The prize: their cars’ pink slips. But no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. With its gorgeous widescreen compositions and sophisticated look at American male obsession, this stripped-down narrative from maverick director Monte Hellman is one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Monte Hellman, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by Hellman and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
Two audio commentaries: one by Hellman and filmmaker Allison Anders and one by screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer and author David N. Meyer
Interviews with Hellman, actor James Taylor, musician Kris Kristofferson, producer Michael Laughlin, and production manager Walter Coblenz
Rare screen test outtakes
Performance and Image, a look at the restoration of a ’55 Chevy used in the movie and the film’s locations in 2007
Color Me Gone, photos and publicity from the film
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Kent Jones and, for the Blu-ray edition, appreciations by director Richard Linklater and musician Tom Waits and a 1970 on-set account from Rolling Stone by Michael Goodwin
New cover by Marc English

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