Road movies

[Trevor]

Any faves (Thelma and Louise, Vanishing Point, Easy Rider, The Road, etc.

The first South African 'road movie' was the 1971 feature Die Banneling [The Exile] which later became a war romance of all things.

Based on the Springbok Radio serial and the later so-called ‘photo story’ novel – the latter brand of magazines were, like radio dramas, enormously popular in apartheid South Africa which had no access to television – by Willie Van Rensburg, this drama, translated as “The Exile” deals with a doctor who has served time in prison for his apparent hand in his wife’s death and then returns to his home town where he is treated like an outcast as the people there still blame him for his wife’s death.
The only people who do not treat him this way are his parents who have been caring for his son while the doctor has been incarcerated. Determining that the community considers him an outcast and desperate to provide for his son, he joins a Congo mercenary unit as a medic during the then topical war.
His son takes it upon himself to follow his father all the way from Pretoria – amazing how clean and orderly the city looked and was then, so far removed from the filth strewn, run down, fifth world, rat infested s**t heap it is now – to the Congo and has many adventures along the way, including befriending a hobo who accompanies him to the Congo and ends up becoming the cook for the mercenaries. The son finds his father, the father finds his calling as a medic, finds love in the midst of conflict and in a tear-jerking finale, both bid farewell to the boy’s friendly protector whose destiny to be a wanderer calls stronger to him than making a permanent home for himself and with the final frame of this movie, South Africa’s first movie in the so-called “road movie” genre is born. With Francois Van Heyningnen, Dirkie Van Den Bergh, Don Leonard, June Neethling and Willie Van Rensburg.

[zombie no.one]

road movie

noun

A film in which much of the action takes place during a journey, especially one involving overland travel.

I guess by this definition one of my fav 70s movies TRIP WITH THE TEACHER counts... not sure it really fulfills the definition most would have of 'road movie' though.

ditto SPEED.

to me 'road movie' implies some kind of literal journey which is mirrored by the characters' own personal, figurative journey (at least to some extent)... maybe I'm over-analysing

[bob]

Until the End of the World - Criterion Collection

[Alex]

Trevor, does this one count?

https://youtu.be/WhhONtKnao0?si=YMOWWxTafaHnXpYn

[RCMerchant]

TWO LANE BLCKTOP (1971), VANISHING POINT (1971), DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY (1974) are pretty cool.

[chainsaw midget]

My favorite is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  It's some of Steve Martin and John Candy's best work.

[Trevor]

Trevor, does this one count?

https://youtu.be/WhhONtKnao0?si=YMOWWxTafaHnXpYn

I haven't smiled at all today until I saw that. 

Yes, it does qualify. 

[Trevor]

TWO LANE BLCKTOP (1971), VANISHING POINT (1971), DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY (1974) are pretty cool.

I always liked the ending of Vanishing Point where Barry Newman sees the sun in the space between the two front end loaders and thinks he can still make it.

[claws]

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)



Something Wild (1986)

[Trevor]

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)



Something Wild (1986)

 

[RCMerchant]

RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975)- I saw this at the Strand Theater back in the day!

[bob]

[claws]

Duel (1971)



The Hitcher (1986)

[RCMerchant]

DUEL (1971), which I believe is one of Spielberg's first films, is great.

[Trevor]

RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975)- I saw this at the Strand Theater back in the day!

Our censor board banned that: bunch of schmucks.