Vanishing Point – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews

vanishingpointblu

Car chase films haven’t always been my preferred method of entertainment because I’m just not a very big car guy. I’m also not one that seeks out the action flicks that don’t have much of a story and end up with tons of explosions, all kinds of crashes, and things flipping eighteen times in the air and landing on all four wheels. You know fellow reviewer Scott Sawitz right? Dude is all about that stuff, but hey it’s cool. All those Fast and the Furious flicks are not anything I’ll even attempt to watch because there is no desire there. Sure I like Gone in Sixty Seconds and the occasional car chase in other films, but that’s because there is more of a story and such going on and the cars are not the main focus. So Vanishing Point delivers a little bit on both fronts, but I still ended up with mixed emotions after the credits started to roll. Actually…I may still be on the fence.

Kowalski is a car-delivery man that makes sure he gets each and every assignment done in the time allowed without fail. His latest delivery has him headed from Denver to San Francisco to deliver a 1970 Dodge Challenger in the span of just fifteen hours. That’s not entirely impossible when you think about it, but it’s at least a thirteen hundred mile drive and fifteen hours is really pushing it. Still, Kowalski is determined to make this drive in the time allowed, even though it’s not really known as to whom he must make the delivery for and why he needs to do it so quickly. Throwing down pill after pill to keep him going and mowing down anyone who gets in his path, but still making sure they’re alright, Kowalski doesn’t drive with anger, just determination. Soon his drive gets the attention of many supporters thanks to a blind DJ named Super Soul urging him on, but the law enforcement on his tail isn’t necessarily there to cheer him to his destination.

I’m not exactly sure what it is about Vanishing Point that I like or don’t like, but my opinion of it is just ridding down the middle of the road. The story of Kowalski is a pretty interesting one because the dude barely ever says a word and you hardly see him from behind the wheel of his Challenger. His past, present, and future is shrouded in mystery so we are left to sort of figure out what his deal is while also hoping he makes his drive without getting busted by the cops or killing himself. There are plenty of stunts and the entire film is pretty much one gigantic car chase, but one that has meaning. It’s exactly the type of film that was mentioned earlier as the type I like and the type I don’t like.

Can you see why I’m so confused and torn now?

Vanishing Point is a pretty fun flick that is good to watch some night when you’re looking for mindless fun. Ok, not really because you’re going to want to make sure you have a clear mind to comprehend all that is going on and try to figure out. Man, I don’t know why it’s so hard to figure this film out when it’s not really the most difficult time I’ve had in the past couple years. I almost kind of hated to enjoy parts of it because it goes against all the things that aren’t my type of thing, but I’m not going to judge based on just that because it was a little bit of a good time. How confusing has this last paragraph been? I’m sure you don’t get it because I even don’t really get it. Sad too because Vanishing Point isn’t a confusing film in the least bit, but it is one that people like me may find it hard to decide upon ever watching it again or not.

Vroom Vroom people. Vroom Vroom!

All the action of Vanishing Point is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and let’s face it; it’s not the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see, even on Blu-ray. Shot almost forty years ago and probably not with the biggest budget ever, Vanishing Point has been touched up a bit for this release but you’ll still see some obvious problems now and then. None of them should bother you all that much though.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound which also suffers a good bit thanks to the age and likely small budget back when it was filmed. Dialogue is heard clearly as are the sound effects and music, but the surrounding speakers in the room were never used to their full capacity.

D-Box Motion Control is available for those that have their system set up for it.

Interactive 1970 Dodge Challenger – Car experts give some technical information while viewers can put new coats of paint and do other modifications to a CG version of the 1970 Dodge Challenger.

Built For Speed: A Look Back At Vanishing Point – Cast and crew look back on the shoot for the film and discuss the fun and challenges that came along with creating Vanishing Point. They talk about the issues they dealt with in getting all of the shots to look correctly even though sometimes there was only one, maybe two attempts at most of the stunts. It’s a pretty fun featurette in a disguising “behind the scenes” outline. (17:51)

Virtual Dashboard

Audio Commentary – Director Richard C. Sarafian drives solo for the commentary track and I actually found it to be one of the more interesting commentaries I’ve heard in quite some time. He goes into great detail about the shooting locations, the challenges with the stunts, and more so just getting the film going since their budget was very small and they had an extremely tiny crew to work with. Kind of neat knowing that his initial choice for the lead role was Gene Hackman. Now don’t get me wrong because I think Hackman is a great actor, but I’m not entirely sure this would have been the perfect place for him.

Vanishing Point Trivia Challenge

Cars, Cops, And Culture 70’s Trivia Track

OA-5599 – Car enthusiasts everywhere will love this one as we have some of your own discussing the 1970 Dodge Challenger from one end of the chassis to the other. They discuss the paint choices, the engine, the tires, and even go into why they believe it was the “chosen one” for Vanishing Point. I’m not the biggest car person in the world, but this was very informative and short enough to keep my attention. (10:20)

Super Soul Me – This feature is shown as a picture-in-picture view during the playback of the film and has those who were involved with creating the soundtrack. All of the artists discuss the music, song-writing, and how they feel certain songs fit in with the different scenes. Chris Cornell of Audioslave (and formerly Soundgarden) also talks a good bit about his usage of Vanishing Point footage in the group’s video for “Show Me How To Live.”

Theatrical Trailer And TV Spots

TrailersThe Transporter, Speed, and Street Kings


Vanishing Point is a film that would be much more enjoyable if it was kept to the mindless action and over the top stunts, but that’s not where they stopped. There was a deeper look at times into things and it kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth when all was said and done. That’s honestly kind of weird because I’m usually the type of person that will enjoy more of a story then just solid action and car chases, but the opposite rings true here. It was still fun though, but not something I will probably end up watching again any time soon until stumbling across it while trying to find something to watch one boring evening. Seeing the big amount of special features though was a pleasant surprise because I never expected nearly as much as what comes on the disc and they were also rather entertaining. Fans of the film will surely hop ramps and ride on their two passenger wheels to pick up their own copy of Vanishing Point, but if you’ve never seen it before, I recommend doing a safe wheelie to pick it up for a rental.

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20th Century Fox presents Vanishing Point. Directed by: Richard C. Sarafian. Starring: Barry Newman, Dean Jagger, Cleavon Little. Written by: Guillermo Cain. Running time: 99 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: February 24, 2009. Available at Amazon.com