Vanishing Point (1971)

In director Richard C. Sarafian's action, car-chase action-road film and B-movie cult favorite - its script by Guillermo Cain (a pseudonym) included early 1970s countercultural elements, such as hippie rebellion, disillusionment, drug use, a rock 'n' roll soundtrack, sexual freedom, and anti-police and authority sentiment. The movie was shot over a period of a few months in the summer of 1970, on location in the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.

With a budget of $1.585 million, the film grossed $12.4 million, mostly due to its success in European showings, and also to its re-release by the studio on a double-bill with The French Connection (1971). It was also a fan drive-in favorite when paired with the similar car-chase and road-crime drama Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) that starred Peter Fonda and Susan George. Exposure to the film was increased with its TV broadcasts, beginning in 1976. It was also remade (or rebooted) as a Fox-TV movie in 1997, starring Viggo Mortensen.

Later films emulated or were inspired by Vanishing Point, including Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007) and Edgar Wright's Baby Driver (2017).

It was advertised with the tagline:

"Tighten your seat belt. You never had a trip like this before."

• in the film's main plot, alienated, disgruntled, pill-popping Vietnam Vet, ex-cop and former race car driver Stanley Kowalski (Barry Newman), a car courier for Argo's Car Delivery Service, arrived at his HQs in Denver, CO at about 11:30 pm on Friday evening, with his latest car delivery (a black luxury 1970 Imperial LeBaron)
• although Kowalski was encouraged to get some rest by his supervisor, he was determined to keep working and immediately get back on the road; he departed from Denver, CO in the wee-hours of Saturday morning
• he first stopped at a biker bar to pick up amphetamine pills ("ups") to stay awake; he bet his dealer friend Jake (Lee Weaver) the cost of his Benzadrine pills that he could retrace his route on his next job back to the west in record double-time (under 15 hours) - the delivery of a customer's new muscle-car - a white 1970 2-door Dodge Challenger R/T (at 375 hp with a 440 cubic inch V8 Magnum); although the car wasn't expected in San Francisco, CA until Monday, he bet that he could deliver the car in San Francisco, CA by Saturday afternoon at around 3:00 pm, only taking 15 hours
• the film actually opened with the conclusion of his well-publicized odyssey and reckless chase by CHP (the California Highway Patrol) that had been tracking him as he neared his destination on Saturday; a roadblock (two bulldozers) had been set up in the town of Cisco, CA, where a CBS-News truck awaited his arrival; he attempted to bypass and evade the police by turning around, but found himself surrounded; as his car passed the black Imperial vehicle that he had been driving earlier, the screen freeze-framed - and Kowalski's Dodge Challenger faded away and vanished
• multiple motorcycle policemen and police cars chased the Benzedrine-popping anti-hero in his souped-up white car near Glenwood Springs, CO, and crossed over into Utah (on Interstate 70) and entered Nevada's SW desert areas toward his ultimate goal; the horizon where he was headed was a "vanishing point" - a hazy destination
• during flashbacks, Kowalski's background was revealed - he had taken the job of delivering vehicles after losing his job as a policeman; he had been vengefully framed during a drug bust after he had intervened to prevent his superior police officer from molesting-raping a young girl during a harsh interrogation; he had already survived a few near-fatal racing and car accidents; his loving relationship with girlfriend Vera Thornton (Victoria Medlin), who shared marijuana with him in a short vignette, ended when she died in a California surfing incident (revealed in a discarded newspaper)
• the film's score was a rock-soul soundtrack, with directions broadcast on radio station KOW (in Goldfield, NV) from blind, black disc jockey "Super Soul" (Cleavon Little), and his station's engineer (John Amos) - with a police scanner, who encouraged Kowalski to evade the police and regarded him as "the last American hero"; along his route, Kowalski continually faced obstacles, police in pursuit (via cycles, cars, and helicopters) bad-luck, and unusual characters
• along his route, Kowalski drag-raced against a 1966 Jaguar XK-E type convertible roadster (causing the competing driver to crash), experienced a flat left front tire and became lost in the Nevada desert where he encountered a crusty old, rattlesnake-catching prospector (Dean Jagger) who saved him from a snake bite; he worked for an unfriendly Pentacostal religious commune of J. Hovah singers (one of whom was Rita Coolidge) that provided him with fuel; he gave a brief ride to two hitch-hiking stranded, "Just Married" homosexuals (Anthony James and Arthur Malet) on route to San Francisco and had to fight them off when they attempted to rob him; near the CA state line, Kowalski was also aided by hippie biker Angel (Timothy Scott) and his infatuated nude female companion (Gilda Texter), who was infatuated by racer-cop Kowalski, and had idolized him by creating a scrapbook collage of his career
• as Kowalski entered California on early Saturday evening, he realized that he was being misled by the two KOW radio-station employees; he was unaware that they had been raided and assaulted by off-duty Deputy cop Charlie Scott (Paul Koslo) and other racist thugs, who were pressuring the DJ to entrap Kowalski; Kowalski was aided by Angel to evade the roadblock by making his Challenger appear to be a police car by disguising it with a red light and air raid siren on its top; he was able to drive through after the bulldozers were moved out of the way, but he had missed his 3:00 pm Saturday delivery deadline
• due to the delays in his trip, Kowalski phoned Jake to admit that he couldn't deliver the car as promised on time, and would therefore lose their bet, but he would be able to get the car there by its scheduled delivery time on Monday; with their next wager, he promised to double his bet
• later on Sunday morning, as the earlier segment had shown, Kowalski approached the massive roadblock in Cisco, CA east of San Francisco; this time, Kowalski refused to stop and accelerated at full speed as he approached the bulldozers; he smiled (self-satisfied and envisioning finding his existential escape and ultimate freedom) before his car crashed and exploded in a ball of fire
• the nihilistic film's concluding song "Nobody Knows," sung by Kim Carnes, described how his soul and spirt - 'light of life' - were extinguished: "Nobody knows, nobody sees, 'til the light of life stops burning, 'til another soul goes free"