Vanishing Point is a 1971 movie directed by Richard Sarafian. The movie’s high speed chase scenes, driving stunts and constant soundtrack are likely influences on Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Vanishing Point tells the story of Kowalski, a car delivery driver, who is attempting to drive a car from Colorado to San Francisco in less than 24 hours. Kowalski is pursued by police during a three-state chase. Along the way, we receive glimpses of Kowalski’s former life as both a policeman and car racer and also learn of his past relationships. Vanishing Point also features a radio DJ, Super Soul, who serves as both the narrator and a sort of spiritual advisor.
The driving, chase scenes and stunt work – along with the 1971 Dodge Challenger – were big Tarantino influences on Death Proof . Tarantino pays direct homage to Vanishing Point as Zoe Bell plays Ship’s Mast across an identical car’s hood and Stuntman Mike wears the same watch as Kowalski. Tarantino also replicates Vanishing Point’s high/low chase scenes and he captured the car’s powerful sounds.
After viewing Vanishing Point, I’m convinced Tarantino took all the cool parts he could find.
What’s left behind is a weird blend of ideas that don’t really fit.
Vanishing Point as a 1970’s car chase movie is pretty bad ass – until you pay attention to everything else that’s not the car. There’s a simple and cool plot that ultimately gets convoluted. Kowalski has to deliver a car from Colorado to San Francisco over a weekend. However, Kowalski likes speed – both in the mechanical sense and the drug – and bets his drug dealer that he can make the trip in what is essentially a half day. If we stop there and don’t ask questions, the movie is much more enjoyable.
However, Kowalski doesn’t say much. And he’s not big on emotion. He’s really not that interesting other than being a great driver. But watching him drive for 90 minutes would probably get boring – so we learn of his backstory in bursts of flashback. Kowalski was at various times a dirt bike racer, demolition derby driver and cop. We later learn that he was a Vietnam veteran and was involved with a hippie girl who died from drowning.
Yet, even after learning of his backstory, Kowalski is still painfully boring.
Normally, it wouldn’t matter if the main character of a car chase movie is uninteresting. However, the main subplot and ending to Vanishing Point insist that we both know and care about Kowalski. Otherwise, Kowalski barreling into a roadblock at 100 mph doesn’t make a lot of sense.