Poll Position: American Graffiti

To be perfectly honest, I did not think that “American Graffiti” was going to beat out “Days of Thunder”, but it did. I was kind of glad this did win. Since I saw this movie in the paper, I have been really looking forward to it. Though the description was very vague, mention of cars and the 60’s had me all riled up. But the biggest surprise is easily the fact that George Lucas directed, and wrote this movie, so it can’t be that bad, right?!

The story of this movie is rather bland, basically a few friends spend the last night together as two of them are leaving for college the next morning. The last night consists of cruising the local strip and having an adventure. The dweeb tries to get lucky while borrowing his friend’s car; said friend tries to patch things up with his high school sweet heart. The scholar is having a hard time deciding to stay or go to college, whilst chasing down his dream girl. The local badass street racer is forced to babysit while being chased down by a mysterious challenger (P.S it's Harrison Ford) for a race. All in all, a typical night in the 60’s, well I wouldn’t know I'm just guessing.

My unicorn, pretty lassy in a Ford T-Bird

This movie had way too many flaws to be liked. The story was bland, a non-existent plot made it ever so boring. The fight scene was abysmal, the few races they do were lackluster, and lastly the love birds were annoying. And even with all these flaws, I can’t get around the fact I enjoyed the movie. I mean sure it was long, and yes there were a lot that wasn’t needed to make the final cut. But I look back and just wish I was alive during the 60’s to do all that fun stuff.

Maybe it is because I am a bit of a car nut, and seeing all those fine classic cars drive by was euphoric for me. Big blocks roaring down the streets, small blocks purring by and even the ladies could differ from a 392 Hemi from a 409 Chevy. I know men and even my best friend couldn’t tell the difference from a two stroke to a four. So yes I am biased for liking this movie for the complete car culture this movie delivers. But not only that, the movie just give you this atmosphere and I really felt like I was in the 60’s. It was fun to imagine how life would be like before the 70’s gas crisis, when it only cost a few bucks to fill up a tank.

Sadly the biggest problem with this movie is that it can be very forgettable, it feels really generic at times. And with nothing really significant happening, this does not help at all. Though the iconic scene when the cop pulls out not knowing the rear axle is chained to a pole was great to see. I’ve always wanted to know where that was from. And lastly, the most awkward part of this movie was the last scene where they do a follow up. It feels real out of place and one of them moved to Canada, why on Earth would you want to do that anyways?

Good vs Evil. Two mean looking cars.

To end off, this movie seemed to be placed in a poll it shouldn’t be in with. The poll was a racing themed, or at least that is what I thought. There was barely any racing, and it was boring at that. With the lack of story and not so exciting cast, most people won’t find this to be all that good. Though if you are like me, and enjoy the car culture of the 60’s with the groovy tunes. You will thoroughly enjoy this trip, because it isn’t about the destination but the ride.

Just a side note, this movie reminds me of the old classic DOS game I use to play when I was a kid called "Street Rod 2". Pr