Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Blu Ray – Laurie Bird , Dennis Wilson

Cult road trip movie starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson in the two lead roles. Two car enthusiasts, secure in the knowledge that nobody has a ride like their 1955 Chevy, cruise around America looking for gullible marks to race. The Driver (Taylor) and The Mechanic (Wilson) pick up a winsome hitchhiker (Laurie Bird) who’s soon enamoured by their dedication to their machine. One day they meet their future likeness, ageing pump jockey GTO (Warren Oates), at a remote gas stand. His tales of hot rods past and his younger years spent under the hood and behind the wheel of classic Yankee iron, captivate the boys. Unbeknownst to them though, he’s a liar, and soon they’re locked in a race to The Capitol with him with the keys to their Chevy and the jockey’s ’70 Pontiac GTO hanging on the balance.

ult film director onte ellman follows up his legendary westerns and with another sterling film this time set on the paved highways of early 1970s merica aking their acting debuts musicians ennis ilson and ames aylor play a pair of drag-racing drifters who battle against willing competitors all along the back roads of merica encountering a wild cast of characters fter stopping for lunch one afternoon aylor (he river) and ilson (he echanic) discover a young woman in their back seat (aurie ird credited as (he irl) he newly formed trio continues to head east and places a risky bet with arren ates after bumping into each other at a gas station he first automobile to arrive in ashington is the winner he prize the loser’s car (aylor and ilson drive a 1955 hevy while ates pilots a 1970 ontiac ) trangely enough rather than turning into a relentless fight to the finish none of the participants seem too worried about picking up the pace n fact they act as if they’re afraid of reaching their destinations spurning an endless series of sidetracks that turns ellman’s film into a broad existential metaphor and cementing its place as one of 1970s ollywood’s bravest motion pictures

With the melancholy open-road epic Two-Lane Blacktop, American auteur Monte Hellman (The Shooting, Cockfighter, and the recent Road to Nowhere) poeticised the beautiful, terrible rootlessness of his nation in the era of Vietnam. Funded by Universal in a bid to recreate the success of Easy Rider – by giving a number of filmmakers $1m and final cut – Hellman’s effort is now regarded as one of the key films of the New Hollywood renaissance of the early 1970s.While driving eastward on Route 66, two rival car owners – The Driver (singer-songwriter James Taylor) and The Mechanic (Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys) in a souped-up, drag-racing ’55 Chevy, and a middle-aged braggart (Warren Oates) in a gleaming GTO – begin to race for each other’s pink slips and the affections of the listless female hitchhiker (Laurie Bird) who joins them on the road.Scripted by esteemed novelist Rudy Wurlitzer, and featuring the only screen performances of Taylor and Wilson, Two-Lane Blacktop remains a timeless, existential portrait of lives in transit and of a country questioning its identity. Special Director-Approved Blu-Ray Features: New restored high-definition master, supervised and approved by Monte Hellman Original mono soundtrack and optional newly remastered 5.1 mix Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired Audio commentary by Monte Hellman and associate producer Gary Kurtz On The Road Again: Two-Lane Blacktop Revisited, a 43-minute video piece in which Monte Hellman revisits the film’s locations Somewhere Near Salinas, a 28-minute interview by Monte Hellman with singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson Sure Did Talk To You, a 24-minute video piece by Monte Hellman, interviewing producer Michael Laughlin, production manager Walter Coblenz, and the director’s son Jared Hellman Rare archival screen-test footage of James Taylor and Laurie Bird Original theatrical trailer Optional music and effects track A lavish 36-page booklet featuring rare production imagery, the words of Monte Hellman, and more!