Let's put together 100 reasons why "Vanishing Point" had to have been set in the 70s instead of today. (yes, apart from the '97 remake)
Here's 2 to start:
1. Kowalski would have to carry around a suitcase full of cash in order to pay for all the fill-ups that gas-guzzling Hemi engine requires.
2. The nude biker chick would be covered from head to toe in cancerous melanomas.
And both of them smoke tobacco, but they are not bad people...
shareThe dodge challenger would have to be replaced with some sort of ricer. Pfft. I'm just gonna stop there. It makes me sick thinking about this film being adapted to todays time and audience.
A wise man once told me that nobody likes a wordsmith.
Actually they could just use a Challenger Hellcat!
shareHow about (1) There is no way to make using any drug other than caffeine to stay awake and alert acceptable to an audience except to set the movie in less enlightned times, (2) There are no radio stations with a broadcasting range of more than 300 feet that would play the great, non-commercial music that Super Soul played; nothing but corporate rock, "new" country, and The Zone from one side of the United States to the other and, (3) Kowalski would be apprehended in about 15 minutes because the GPS in his car would somehow be accessed to track his every move; Damn GPS ! Learn to read maps people !
shareYour first point brings up a very sad commentary on today's movies.
To stay awake, Kowalski would probably be slamming back dozens of cans of Red Bull (or some other energy drink) so that the whole movie would become a big product placement.
The movie was already a product placement for the Dodge Challenger
shareBy Parramatt:
How about (1) There is no way to make using any drug other than caffeine to stay awake and alert acceptable to an audience except to set the movie in less enlightned times, (2) There are no radio stations with a broadcasting range of more than 300 feet that would play the great, non-commercial music that Super Soul played; nothing but corporate rock, "new" country, and The Zone from one side of the United States to the other and, (3) Kowalski would be apprehended in about 15 minutes because the GPS in his car would somehow be accessed to track his every move; Damn GPS ! Learn to read maps people !
Parramatt, I love your post.
- There would have to be some sort of narrator, who explains each and every of Kowalski´s flashbacks
(Don´t forget, there´s one character, who´s in every modern hollywood-movie: Morris, the explainer)
- Kowalski would have to have some noble reason for his high-speed-trip.
Like bringing some sort of serum to a town to save the people from an epidemic or there would be an atomic-bomb linked to the Challenger´s speedometer, ..... or what ever stupid reasons studio-writers would come up with
The girl on the bike would weigh about 300lbs. Having made advances towards Kowalski he decides he'd rather be caught at the next roadblock and screams off.
shareThe bulldozers would have to go as police use stingers today. So the symbolism of the dozers would be lost and Kowalski would be saved from committing suicide. But then the guy in the e-type would be waiting to sue his arse off.
shareThe Jesus freaks have moved on. No longer holding revival meetings in the desert but instead have become multi-million dollar movements from TV shows and donations and getting us involved in unpopular wars.
The writers would have to "explain" why Kowalsky is doing this...
"I'm a writer. Non-practicing." -Hank Moody
"I'm a screenwriter. Non-practicing." -Joss Tincase
The only reason this movie couldn't be re-made would be due to the spinelessness of the Hollywood suits.
I've heard from Barry Newman, he says he'd be delighted to be a part of a remake and/or sequel. As far as the car, a white 2009 Dodge Challenger with a 6.1 LITER HEMI is the obvious choice. (That's a 373 cubic incher for the metrically challenged.) The new car can run circles around the original, from what I've read from than Barry Newman himself. He has stated the suspension (which is an 'E' class Benz) and Brembo braking system have caught up with the legendary performance of the mighty HEMI engine.)
For that individual that wanted a 'six pack' carburetor, modern direct injection renders carburetors into the realm of hand cranks.
That movie did however represent a particular type of freedom, Kowalski was the perfect anti-hero, the Cleavon Little role is complementary. The casual depiction of recreational drug use will be a huge problem with the 'just say no' crowd in any future sequel.
What's truly sad and depressing is I was 14 when that movie debuted, a time when America really was the best at everything. (There's one scene in the original where an oil 'Pump #18' was working like a bandit.)
What a lot of younger people don't get, and never truly can get, is the America that used to exist.
connorarroyo-1
Sadly, that last sentence is so, so true. That's why we will continue plodding along in the wrong direction.
But, the most important reason it would not be made today, other than that today's audience has neither the attention span nor the intelligence to reason it through, is that the idea of freedom in the sense it was used in "vanishing point" doesn't exist anymore. After all, I'm free to put gasoline in my car as long as it is 10% alcohol and water, aren't I? And I'm free to say whatever I wish as long as it doesn't offend a member of a "protected class". Today, the idea of turning a simple speeding offense into a multi-state manhunt even though the police knew the whole story would seem perfectly sensible.
BTW: Why did he need to get to S.F., anyway? Even after the bet was over, he still said he had to get there. In the Charlotte Rampling scene (U. K. version only) he said it was "home". Does "home" refer to the home of the hippie (freedom) movement?
He had to go to San Francisco to deliver the car there... The bet was that he was supposed to do that within a time period, two or three days, I'm not sure... It's been a while since I last saw it... Though the first time I saw it was on tv... It was 1977 and I was five... But the best thing was that some guy living on my street had the exact same car... (and he died in a car accident in 1981... The car was totalled...)
"Et maintenant, qu'est-ce qu'on fait ?"
"On continue la mission..."
Thanks for the response. It only serves to make the title itself 'Vanishing Point' ever more ironic.
shareThey put the same suspension on the new Challenger that they use in the E class Merc? Oh Christ! Why, oh why do you boys have to do that? It's a big, heavy car with a hell of a lot of grunt! Why fit the softest suspension known to man? If they are determined to use the legs from a Merc, those on the SL would have provided a much better driving experience. The LAST thing you want in something that big and heavy is masses of body role and shifts in the center of gravity in a hard corner when driving at speed.
You seem to get almost all the way to making a pretty exciting car, with a great soundtrack and a real bruiser of an engine. Then you go and ruin it by screwing the handling up.
Now, I'm not getting on a 'all American cars are crap' thing here, that's just not my bag. But you do seem to struggle when it comes to handling. I know that for the domestic market, they are ideal with your big wide, straight, smooth roads, but I would love to be able to sweep along some of our English country lanes in a big ol' dude of a muscle car (I'm a Charger man), but I know from experience that the suspension just can't cope with our roads.
Us Brits do like our corners and my Alfa fits the bill perfectly for that. One of the roads I use reguarly has a corner which I swear could have been taken straight from Au Rouge at SpaFrancochams circuit. Shift down from third to second as you enter the left hander and then boot the fu_ck outta it as you take the uphill right hander (imagine a reverse corkscrew ala Lagune Seca with more of a sweeping turn in). Pure heaven. I just long for the day when a big heavy piece of Detroit iron can handle a corner like that with the same degree of satisfaction.
Anyway, back on topic. Couldn't be done today because it's just not eco friendly to drive like that for no real reason these days. The Prius brigade would kick up such a fuss that the film would never be able to replicate the spirit of the original.
"Even a big bitch cockroach like you should know... never, but never, fu_ck with the King"
Thanks for that response. To answer your question re: "Why an E class Benz suspension?". Dodge merely used that as a starting point. It has been seriously tweaked and upgraded and is substantially beefier. The advantage of starting with that one is that they already had proprietary rights to it, as a result of its short lived association with MB, they didn't have to start with a blank sheet of paper. The original Challenger had a bone shaking solid rear axle, as opposed to the four wheel fully independent suspension, which provides a more sure footed driving experience. Your concerns are I'm happy to say unfounded. Barry Newman himself gave rave reviews to the new Challenger, you can watch a now grey haired Kowalski behind the wheel of the new Challenger in a short video interview here, with cut ins from the original movie. He said he'd love to drive the same roads in the new one. I think Dodge even gave him one.
http://www.motortrend.com/av/features/112_0804_2008_dodge_challenger_srt8_barry_newman_interview_video/index.html
Maybe you just need to learn how to drive, not all our roads are wide and straight. I grew up in the ozarks of northeastern oklahoma, and there were several times me and some buddies would race on the back roads through the hills to missouri and arkansas, these roads are really narrow and curvy, also they tend to go from pavement to dirt without warning. i was doing this in a 74 nova, one friend in a 75 trans am, and another in a 70 chevelle, and we never had an accident, and we definately were not obeying the speed limit. People always say stuff about how american cars don't handle good, so why did so many camaros, mustangs, cudas, challengers, and javelins win in scca and various other road races around the globe. Obviously it is a big change to go from a jaguar to a charger, but its all about being able to adapt. currently i am driving a 64 dodge dart 4 door, and i was scaring some friends up here in the mountains of northwest washington (where i am stationed in the navy) with even the narrow 13 inch tires. Basically, a car is only as good as it's driver.
STG3 Welch
I live in Shelton and the road ralley cars run through these hills every year. Granted most are rice burners but its still fun. One year the McGyver actor was in the race and crashed his vehicle. When he got to town he got out of the car and walked past me, looked me in my eyes all dramatic-like, and all the kids were yelling, what's a matter McGyver couldn't you get out of that fix? He climbed in his trailer and never came out.
share~~~~~What a lot of younger people don't get, and never truly can get, is the America that used to exist.~~~~~
I think you put that rather well; it's the same in England.
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.
This film could not be set in the present because it portrays a pair of homosexuals as unpleasant, criminal people. These days that would be "hate speech".
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