Alternate ending?

i just put it on to check and make sure and what you might be talking about is the opening scene.

it's opens to that small town in the morning and the bulldozers moving into place, kowalski comes racing towards town and sees the dozers, he pulls a quick 180. then, headed the other way, sees that 2 patrol cars are coming to close him in between them and the small town, so he hops off the road and drives into the desert for that "final rumination" scene. after that he gets back onto the road and races towards the town, passing a black car. freeze-frame on the 2 cars passing each other, then that crude (but wonderful) fade out of the portion of the frame that has kowalski's car... leaving just the black car. then let the film run and it's just the black car on the highway, headed away from town.

i hope that helps... and is clear enough.

Maybe the 1997 TV movie (the remake, starring Viggo Mortensen) has the ending you're thinking of?

If I remember correctly, the car disappears just before the final collision?

I think I've seen the 1997 version only once.

no, you are not crazy or inventing or misremembering...

you are remembering correctly, and i wish that they would put the theatrical versions on dvds when they make them... the same thing happened with bladerunner.

this is indeed a great film, and anyone who doubts it should watch any ten minutes of any burt reynolds driving movie as a reality check... while those were fine films and provided a lot of adrenaline, they were not art - which this film aspired to and attained at several moments in its arc. and, while dated, it is still art.

this was a very defining film for me (along with the driver, gone in 60 seconds, grand prix and in a smaller way bobby deerfield) and that ending that you mention was the one potent thing of the whole film that really made it stand out.

i have not seen in the film since 1970, and it is indeed a different film for me, since i see things of import now that i did not catch or understand then. but that point of return to the black & white cars crossing paths pushed this film inot transcendance, and it is a dirty shame that sarafian left it out.

i wrote about sarafian in a longish piece for empire magazine, and this is perhaps his best film - the camera work, the editing, the direction of many nonactors and inexperienced actors (the looped voices tell a lot about what he must have gone through, with poor line readings vying with desert winds to make him crazy).

it is interesting that a guy of his age at that time who came out of tv would turn out this poetic portrait of a chaotic time in america. it isn't my favorite film, but it is way up there on the list - and it still awakens adolescent reactions in me...

let's hope for both our sakes that they make that ending available!

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever."
--Anonymous

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I have been looking everywhere to find the information about the ending you described for Vanishing Point. I just watched the movie and expected the Charger to vanish just before impact. Your message is the only place I have found the ending I remember seeing years ago. My wife and I both remembered the vanishing ending. Thanks for your post. Dan

I ended up here tonight purely because I've just seen the film on Sky and was curious about the alternative ending that I remember from all those years ago. So I can confirm that there is an ending where the car disappears into the distance, or "Vanishing Point". The first time I saw the film that ending was missing and I left the cinema just wondering what was that all about. Seeing the film for a second time with the car disappearing into the distance was so much better an ending, kind of all made sense, although at my age now, who knows.

Great film.

I ended up here tonight purely because I've just seen the film on Sky and was curious about the alternative ending that I remember from all those years ago. So I can confirm that there is an ending where the car disappears into the distance, or "Vanishing Point". The first time I saw the film that ending was missing and I left the cinema just wondering what was that all about. Seeing the film for a second time with the car disappearing into the distance was so much better an ending, kind of all made sense, although at my age now, who knows.

Great film.

Strange thing that I also remember the same thing about the Dodge NOT crashing but disappearing in the distance, very intriguingly. I watched again the ending from an old DVD transfer and it bears the known-to-all version.

The black and white car crossing each other's path do bear the white car edited out while the tape is halted, but I am almost 100% sure it's not the right one.

Is it actually a memory from a different road-movie's ending ? I can't tell for sure right now.

This film went through several release versions. The original US release cut which was censored for nudity and drug use, a UK release( which is probably the closest to a directors cut), a second US release, and an Australian release, a VHS release, a couple of DVD releases and now a Bluray release. Each of these releases were edited differently.

We aren't talking about large differences in running time. The original US release was the shortest theatrical release at 1 hour 34 min 59 sec, the Original directorial edit weighed in at 107 minutes ( it is debatable on whether that version was ever publicly shown ), the official UK release was 99 minutes and I have also heard that another edit in the UK or Europe was 105 but I haven't seen that officially listed. The second US release, in 1973, was 98 minutes 45 seconds with some of the censored nudity and pot smoking scenes re-added, probably a result of the 1972 change in the MPAA ratings system that allowed for the PG and PG-13 ratings instead of jumping straight from G to R.

Hopefully the original 107 minute directors edit of the film will surface on one of the Bluray releases. So far I have only seen the original US and UK versions on DVD and the second US version in the theaters in 1973. A recent Bluray review of Vanishing point listed two versions of the film; a 99 minute US release and a 106 minute UK release. This is the first time I have seen a release mentioned that was 106 minutes. I am hoping that this is the original directorial edit as it will be the first time I have seen this available and looking forward to watching it.

As for the alternate ending, it has been a very long time but I think you may be right. I do remember the bit at the beginning where he races towards the bull dozer then flips around but thats not what I am remembering at the end.
Seems like there was a scene where Kowalski races towards the dozers and just before impact the car and driver just disappear. Camera pulls back and all the people just pack up and walk off.

Like I said tho, it was a long time since I saw it in the theater in 1973 and I might be dealing with selective memories. Hopefully one of these Blurays will have a copy that explains the variation in our memories, besides old age. :)