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''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. ''Esquire'' magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April 1971 issue, but the film was not a commercial success. The film has since become a counterculture-era cult classic. Brock Yates, organizer of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (better known as the Cannonball Run) cites ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' as one source of inspiration for the creation of the race, and commented on it in his ''Car and Driver'' column announcing the first Cannonball.〔(The Los Angeles Times )〕〔(The Los Angeles Times )〕 ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is notable as a time capsule film of U.S. Route 66 during the pre-Interstate Highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue. As such, it has become popular with fans of Route 66. ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as ''Vanishing Point'', ''Easy Rider'', and ''Electra Glide in Blue''. In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.".〔King, Susan. ("National Film Registry selects 25 films for preservation " ) ''The Los Angeles Times'' (December 19, 2012)〕 ==Plot== The premise involves two street racers (played by Taylor and Wilson) who live on the road in their highly modified, grey-primered, brutal 1955 Chevrolet 150 two-door sedan drag car and drift from town to town, making their income by challenging local residents to impromptu drag races. The movie follows them driving east on Route 66 from Needles, California. They pick up a female hitchhiker in Flagstaff, Arizona (played by Bird), although it is more accurate to say that she picks them up by simply getting into their car. In New Mexico, they encounter another car driver (played by Oates, driving a 1970 Pontiac GTO). An atmosphere of hostility develops between the two parties. Although Oates is not an overt street racer, and, in fact, seems to know little about cars, a cross-country race to Washington, D.C. is suggested. Taylor proposes that the prize should be "for pinks," or legal ownership of the loser's car. Characters are never identified by name in the movie; instead they are named "The Driver," "The Mechanic," "GTO," and "The Girl". The movie follows the group east through small towns in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee, but no character makes it to Washington, D.C. during the film. After sleeping with the Mechanic (and being desired by the Driver) during the journey, the Girl disappoints them by abruptly leaving with GTO while they compete at a racetrack in Memphis. The Driver pursues them intently, finding them at a diner where the Girl has just rejected GTO's idea to visit Chicago. The Driver proposes going to Columbus, Ohio to get parts, but the Girl rejects him. She hops on the back of a stranger's motorcycle, dropping her bag in the parking lot. The three men abruptly depart from the diner in their respective cars. The insecure driver of the GTO, who tries to impress various hitchhikers he picks up along the way (including an importuning homosexual hitchhiker played by Harry Dean Stanton) with made-up stories about himself and the GTO, then stops for two soldiers on leave. He brags to his latest passengers that he won the new car while skillfully driving a home-built '55 Chevy, emphasizing the circular nature of the film. The film ends during a drag race at an airstrip in East Tennessee. As the Driver speeds down the runway, the sound drops out and the film snags and melts under the heat of the projection bulb; the outcome of the race is not seen. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Two-Lane Blacktop」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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