[Ted Cunterblast]

Little seen, little known and hugely underappreciated movie by Stephen Spielberg.

When Spielbergs canon of movies is discussed in documentariesm making-of pieces or retrospectives of any kind, Duel is of course always rightly given prominence, but Sugarland Express is always kind of glossed over, then of course Jaws and subsequent movies are given much more screentime.

I first saw this movie as a kid in Liverpool, on a double bill, it was second feature to Billy Wilders comedy The Front Page, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Had never heard of Spielberg or Duel at that time, but I do remember being hugely impressed with the film.

I think at the time it was incorrectly marketed as a car-chase comedy movie. Yes, it does have some car chases, and it does have Goldie Hawn...but the movie was based on a real-life incident involving husband and wife convicts who broke out or prison to prevent their baby from being taken into care, hijacking a police car and taking a trooper hostage, then chased across the state by 150 police cars (Only in America...).

And it's something of a lost classic. You can see many of Spielbergs trademark styles used for the first time...dolly shots (well before the famous one in Jaws with Chief Brody on the beach), crane shots, long pans and zooms, plus Spielbergs knack for using local characters and non actors. In a similar way to using the town of Amity and it's population in Jaws, here he involves the people of the towns that the 'express' passes through.

And it's one of the most beatifully photographed movies I have ever seen, Spielbergs framing of shots and sense of composition are incredible here.

Plus it has something of a revalatory performance from Goldie Hawn, as the seemingly kooky (remember she was largely known at that time as the daffy girl from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In) mother, yet she was also something of a neurotic and obsessive character, and in the end perhaps a little unhinged.

Good to see William Atherton in an early role too, before he became typecast as those buffoonish, officious roles he seemed to play for much of his career (Ghostbusters, Diehard etc).

[mel_drew]

I haven't seen this film for well over thirty years, but now you've brought it to mind I'm surprised at how much of it I can remember.

I also recall my feelings back then of how much more grown up and assured it was than Duel just a couple of years earlier. (Not that I'm dissing Duel!)

I'll have to look it out, and hope it's as good as I think it was. If nothing else, an hour or two of young Goldie can't be wasted.

[Fear of Fours]

I saw this for the first time a few years back and ended up really enjoying it. It seems to have gotten lost in amongst Steven Spielberg's big blockbuster films that he went on to direct after. I'm a big Goldie Hawn fan and will watch anything she's in. It's a shame that her dramatic roles have been few and far between over the years as she's actually really good in them. The Girl from Petrovka is another earlier film that's well worth checking out.

[ganderpoke66]

Based on a true story or not, just a anti-establishment hippy, car chase / cop caper road/movie, much in vogue at that time [ Electra Glide in Blue, Two Lane Blacktop, Easy Rider, Vanishing Point, Zabriskie Point ].

It's OK, but I had little sympathy or liking for the two main protagonists, Spielberg would learn how to flesh out his main characters later in his career.