Hellman, Monte

Two-Lane Blacktop - Criterion Collection

Drag racing east from L.A. in a souped-up '55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer-songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson in their only acting roles) accompanied by the tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way they meet Warren Oates's Pontiac GTO-driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race - at stake: their cars' pink slips. Yet no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. Maverick director Monte Hellman's stripped-down narrative gorgeous widescreen compositions and sophisticated look at American male obsession make this one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.System Requirements:Run time: 103 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/RURAL LIFE Rating: R UPC: 715515026925 Manufacturer No: CC1729DDVD

James Taylor is The Driver, a car-obsessed racer with stringy hair and a concentration that precludes conversation. He travels the backroads of rural America with his buddy, The Mechanic (Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys), an equally obsessed lost soul at home only in the car or under the hood. They have no names, only designations, and no life outside of their gypsy existence, riding the unending highway in their souped-up '55 Chevy from race to race. After picking up a hitchhiking Girl (Laurie Bird), whose presence breaks the tunnel-vision focus of the two men, they challenge a middle-aged hotshot, the garrulous G.T.O. (Warren Oates) to a cross-country race. Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop is the most alienated evocation of modern America ever made, an almost abstract study in dislocation and obsession set against a vague landscape of roadside diners and rest stops. Taylor and Wilson deliver appropriately blank performances, only expressing emotion when The Girl sparks jealousy between them. Oates is a glib dynamo constructing a new persona in every scene, as if trying on characters to play as he ping-pongs between the coasts. "How fast does it go?" asks The Driver, admiring G.T.O.'s car. "Fast enough," he answers. The Driver snaps, "You can never go fast enough." These are characters on the road to nowhere who can't work up enough speed to escape themselves. --Sean Axmaker

A Fistful of Dollars (2-Disc Collector's Edition)

A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself. --Edward Buscombe

An anonymous but deadly man rides into a town torn by war between two factions the Baxters and the Rojo's. Instead of fleeing or dying as most other would do the man schemes to play the two sides off each other getting rich in the bargain.Run Time: 100 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: R UPC: 027616077387 Manufacturer No: M107738

A Fistful of Dollars

A mysterious gunman (Eastwood) has just arrived in San Miguel a grim dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers are terrorizing the impoverished citizens. A master of the "quick-draw" the stranger soon receives offers of employment from each gang. But his loyalty cannot be bought; he accepts both jobs...and sets in motion a plan to destroy both groups of criminals pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated set-ups showdowns and deadly confrontations.System Requirements:Starring: Clint Eastwood Marianne Koch John Wels W. Lukschy S. Rupp and Joe Edger. Directed By: Sergio Leone Running Time: 110 Mins. Color This film is presented in both "Widescreen" and "Standard" formats. Copyright 1999 MGM Home Entertainment Inc.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: R UPC: 027616785824 Manufacturer No: 907858

A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself. --Edward Buscombe

Back Door to Hell

During WWII a three-man commando team places it's trust in the hands of a band of Filipino resistors as they try to knock out a Japenese communication center.System Requirements:Features; Full Frame Feature Theatrical Trailer Fox Flix: Decision Before Dawn Destination Gobi Immortal Sergeant & You're In The Navy Running Time: 75 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 024543240822 Manufacturer No: 2234082

Ride in the Whirlwind/The Shooting

This DVD includes 2 movies, 2 cartoons and some old-fashioned TV commercials, all for one low price. Ride in the Whirlwind-a western opus starring and written by Jack Nicholson. When a group of cowboys stumble upon a band of desperadoes hiding from the law, they're not sure if they should shoot it out or just get on their horses and move on. The Shooting-Produced by and starring Jack Nicholson, an offbeat low budget Western offering up superior performances from an all star cast.

The Greatest

The incredible career of perhaps the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, is dramatized in this exciting film starring Ali himself. Fresh from his gold medal victory at the Olympic Games, 18-year-old Cassius Clay is ready to seek the heavyweight championship. Under the masterful guidance of trainer Angelo Dundee (Ernest Borgnine). Clay snatches the title from Sonny Liston. Soon afterward, Clay converts to the Islam religion and changes his name to Muhammad Ali. When he is suddenly classified 1A by the Draft Board that earlier rejected him, Ali refuses the draft on religious grounds. His hard-won title is taken from him. Winning a three-and-a-half year long court battle. Ali returns to the ring for what have been some of the greatest fights of all time.

China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)

Condemned gunman Clayton is given a last minute reprieve on condition he murders rancher Matthew for a railway company. Visiting Matthew's ranch, Clayton is unable to bring himself to kill Matthew and leaves, but Matthew's wife, Catherine, believing she has killed Matthew during an argument joins Clayton. Matthew, still alive, and mad as hell joins Clayton's equally angered employers to hunt down the pair

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Two-Lane Blacktop [Region 2]

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