Vanishing Point (1971)

[Robroy]

Surely I’m not the only one on the board enjoying a good old car chase movie?
I happened to see an old favourite of such the other night, “Vanishing Point” from 1971.
In my opinion one of the best of its kind, besides it’s the only movie I’ve seen so far with a totally naked good looking blonde riding a motorcycle :Brow: . It also got some good photos from the American country side early 70’s.
Below is a link to the trailer. I’m sure the entire movie can be downloaded somewhere on the Internet, or you can order it on DVD/VHS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q71M88B12WA

[Robroy]

Here’s another favourite, Seven-Ups!

The bad guys are driving a full size early 70’s :laugh: something, think it’s a Pontiac of some kind..but I’m really sure.
Anyway, its great stuff so enjoy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg4QtYizPKM

[Robroy]

…and finally The Driver from 1978 with Ryan Ó Neil. Average movie but with a grand car chase in the beginning which is what you can see via the link below. Nice v8 roar….:D.The computer doesn’t really do these clips justice though…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzkrcuLryso&feature=related

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Two other great car chase, the best one ever is from the Steve McQueen movie Bullit and another great one is from the movie Live and Die in LA. Not to be forgotten is another great one, Gone in 60 Seconds, the original version not the re-make by Nicholas Cage.

[Robroy]

Hm..I haven’t seen “Live and Die in LA” or the original version of “Gone in 60 Seconds”
Sounds like I have something to look forward to :)

[Bob Alberini]

Let's not forget Gene Hackman's great car chase (driving a 71 LeMans 4 door hardtop if my memory is correct) in French Connection.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Hm..I haven’t seen “Live and Die in LA” or the original version of “Gone in 60 Seconds”
Sounds like I have something to look forward to :)

www.amazon.com/Gone-60-Seconds-H-B-Halicki/dp/B000A3XYHI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1198450377&sr=1-4

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071571/

Kind of a weak plot but the car action is wild! All thru out the movie is one huge car chase with cars from the early 70's! Don't forget get the original 1974 version worth every cent!

[Robroy]

Let's not forget Gene Hackman's great car chase (driving a 71 LeMans 4 door hardtop if my memory is correct) in French Connection.
So true Bob, I never got to that one yesterday but it should definitely be on the greatest list. I actually have it on DVD.
It’s a great movie based on a true story, they never caught Frog #1 in reality either.

Thanks for the links Rick!

[Robroy]

Found some interesting info on Youtube regarding the driver (bad guy) in Seven-Ups;

The gentleman who drove the Dodge Charger in Bullit and the Pontiac Boniville in The Seven-UPS was a famous Hollywood Stuntman name Bill Hickman who also not only played the role of a corrupt cop in The French Connection, but did the stunt driving choreography inside the Pontiac Grand-Ville, the car chase Gene Hackman was famous for. Hickman was a professional race car driver who raced with James Dean......

[centurion 455 ragtop]

The amazing part of those car chases, Vanishing Point, Bullit, French Connection, 7 Ups, they were all done in real time car speeds! No computer animation or sitting in a fixed vehicle with back ground moving or blue screen technology.

Thats when chase scenes were chase scenes, with real men as real drivers driving at real speeds! LOVE IT!!

And not to be forgotten, Peter Fonda stars in "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry" a 1974 movie that had a poor plot but the car chases and old 60's & 70's cars made this another cult car chase classic. This one too was real time car speed.
http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Mary-Crazy-Larry-Supercharger/dp/B0007WQGR2

I have a home made video cassette (gotta find it now) it has just the car chase scenes from Bullit, Live & Die in LA, 7 Ups and French Connection. Got the video movies of Vanishing point (original movie), Gone in 60 Seconds (original movie). I think now that you guys brought this topic up I got to get the Dirty Mary Crazy Larry video.

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Here is a tid bit of trivia. A while back on one of these TV documentaries about action movies, they mentioned the car chase scene from Bullit, showing clips. They said that Steve McQueen did most of the actual driving and the scene where the motocycle almost hit them and the driver crashed sliding on the ground. Well they said that scene was not planned. The street had been close for that segment and the motocycle driver got past the road closed area and drove right into the car chase scene almost getting hit, he didn't get hurt. The Director loved it and they kept the scene in the film, adding more to it to complete the fall.

[MichelHaak]

On the Bullit car chase, one of the cars even drives over a camera and Mqcueen is missing is corner and need to put it in reverse (where the back wheels are rotation weird)... Love it.:xyxthumbs:

[73 CONVERT RON]

hey .... watch the movie USED CAR'S with Curt Russell and Jack Warden and it has a few other good actors in it ... there is also 1973 convert thru out the movie it's funny as hell you will like it .... i give it a 8+ :-)

[Robroy]

There was actually a 73 Centurion in that movie according to this thread

http://www.buickcenturion.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247

http://www.imcdb.org/movie_81698-Used-Cars.html

Haven’t seen it myself though, feels like a "must see movie" :D

[73 CONVERT RON]

Trust Me Once You See The Movie Used Car's You Will Want To Own It ;-) .... It's On Ebay For Around Five Bucks ... YOU WILL LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Trust Me Once You See The Movie Used Car's You Will Want To Own It ;-) .... It's On Ebay For Around Five Bucks ... YOU WILL LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF

Thats cool:xyxthumbs:

Check it out....ohh OUCH!

[MichelHaak]

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

[MichelHaak]

By the way, is this a centurion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0hQuf0287g

[Bob Alberini]

Hey Rick,
That looks like it could be a twin to my car. It sure looks like a Charcoal Mist 72 "C" 4 door hardtop to me.

[dewbers]

I've seen a few of these, but not all of them. Vanishing Point will be 1st on the list. Then Seven UPS? Good stuff!
And you're right Ron... Used Cars is a pretty funny flick! Thanks for starting this Per!

[The German]

From a friend I got this link to a site where you can find all cars which have been part of movies; I loaded the link to the movies where Buick Centurions were used - you will find titles, years and a rating for these movies :
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Buick_model-Centurion.html

Hope that´s of interest for you all - even during the holiday seasion !

[BTW : Click on the pics to get more information and more pictures (sometimes) !]

[Smartin]

I enjoyed reading all the comments to the cars pictured. It seems that "philr" is the only one who can see what the cars really are:D

[The German]

... ... It seems that "philr" is the only one who can see what the cars really are:D

Yes, may be he is a canadian cars specialist. He seems to be very interested in cars b/c he gave his short comments to several cars - not only regarding the Centurions.