Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

jadavix "The Sugarland Express" is a decent chase movie about the world's most harmless prison escapees and the policeman they're forced to take as a hostage, becoming famous in the process.It's pretty slight, but Spielberg's direction shines through, a whiz kid even at this early stage in his career. It is slick and unobtrusive while still being inventive and masterful.Goldie Hawn is also a stand out. She would have stolen the show from the other two lacklustre performers anyway, so I'm glad Spielberg had the sense to focus the movie on her and not on one of the dullards like Hal Ashby did in The Last Detail.Ben Johnson is, as always, fantastic as the crusty old police officer who leads the chase.The movie does drag a little, though, ironically for a movie about a chase. It's not really Smokey and the Bandit - the runaways lead the police right at the front like a funeral procession.

SnoopyStyle Lou Jean Sparrow Poplin (Goldie Hawn) tells her imprisoned husband Clovis (William Atherton) that their child has been taken by Child Welfare to Sugarland. She plans to breaks him out of minimum security with four months to go. They get into a chase and kidnaps Officer Maxwell Slide (Michael Sacks). Captain Tanner (Ben Johnson) takes charge of the chase.Right from the start with the old couple, the movie is a fun ride. It needs some more jokes but it's quirky car chase movie. They certainly use a lot of cars. Goldie Hawn is a bag full of fun crazy. I prefer somebody funnier to be Clovis or Maxwell. It does have a gritty real-life edge to it which Spielberg doesn't do anymore. The ending is a downer but that's kind of interesting too.

CinemaClown Steven Spielberg's theatrical feature film debut is a smartly crafted, expertly composed & skilfully executed adventure drama that clearly exhibits the legendary director's penchant for turning an on-screen moment into a larger-than-life event without ever going over the top and is also significant for marking the commencement of one of cinema's greatest collaborations.Based on a true story, The Sugarland Express tells the story of a young woman who successfully breaks her husband out of prison to help her assist retrieving her child, about to be placed in the care of foster parents. Things soon take a turn for the unexpected when they're left with no choice but to take a patrolman hostage & are pursued by the police throughout their journey.Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film wonderfully introduces many of his trademarks & themes that would continue to recur in his later works and is a solid work that has enough style & substance to keep the viewers engaged for the most part. Camera-work is dynamic, makes excellent angle choices & remains consistent throughout while editing steadily paces its narrative.Coming to the acting department, the cast comprises of Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton & Michael Sacks amongst which it's Hawn who chips in with the most impressive performance. Marking his first collaboration with Spielberg, John William provides a score that beautifully reflects the film's tone with tracks that are adventurous, light-hearted & at the same moment, slightly poignant.On an overall scale, The Sugarland Express is one of Spielberg's highly underrated flicks & although far from a masterpiece, it's still a quality work of passionate filmmaking that's admirable for a number of things. Full of crowd-pleasing elements, presenting the then-young filmmaker refining his craft & an indication of greater things to come, The Sugarland Express is a must for Spielberg's fans as well as critics.

Robert J. Maxwell Spielberg has constructed and shot his first feature film with skill. The camera seems to be exactly where it should be in every shot. The editing is done with skill, and Vilmos Zsigmond's photography vividly evokes a bare and wintry day in southern Texas. The musical score is a kind of whimsical folksy harmonica solo smacking of a Christmas carol. It was written by John Williams, he of the bum bum bum bum shark theme from "Jaws". His scores are usually orchestrated, fully and fulsomely, but you'd never know it from this spare tune. The director got a fine screenplay out of Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins. Most of these good folks sound dumber than they are. And the performers really get into the characters. Sometimes they ARE the characters.Here's an example that always cracks me up. Ben Johnson is a captain in the Texas Highway Patrol (or whatever) and has brought Goldie Hawn's wrinkled old father down to talk to his daughter over the police radio, urging her to surrender. Johnson has just given the old timer instructions on how to use the microphone in the police car. Hawn's father listens intently. Then we expect him to say something like, "Gimme the mike." Instead, in his cracked and weathered voice, he repeats Johnson's instructions word by word: "Press -- this -- button -- and speak -- in a NORMAL tone of voice." It's as if he's trying to memorize all of the instructions for getting the most out of Windows 8. And Johnson plays the scene straight and convincingly, showing a total respect for the man, being sure to call him "Sir", probably as Johnson would in real life. The father is played by George Hagy, who never made another appearance on any screen and who was probably picked out on the spot from the crowd of extras.The story is simple. Goldie Hawn talks her prisoner husband, William Atherton, into escaping from pre-release, planning to kidnap their baby and flee to Mexico. The police soon catch on and the pair take a highway patrol officer, Michael Sacks, hostage and ride off to the baby's home in Sugar Land, followed by a string of police cars a mile long. There are numerous comic incidents, and a few scenes involving gun shots and action. I hope the stunt men were paid well for the scene in which the news van flips over into a puddle. In some ways, the movie follows a trajectory illustrated by "Bonny and Clyde." As the scenes of action progress, they get more serious until they turn tragic. The couple are also lauded and helped by the ordinary folks of the towns they drive through. Spielberg has kept an eye on the size and response of the audience. It's not an art film. Hawn's and Atherton's first escape vehicle is an old clunker that steams and bangs at its full speed of twenty miles an hour, but when the escapees spin around to elude the police, the sound of the engine changes from a loud knock-knock-knock to that of a Formula V Maserati. And, for my taste, too much time is given to cute Baby Langston, a habit Spielberg has rarely been able to shake. In ninety percent of respectable movies, all children should be stomped. Their appearances tend to cheapen the film, except in W. C. Fields' movies.Goldie Hawn is sexy and delivers a fine performance as the mercurial screecher with the IQ of a head of broccoli. Whose breath blew out the light within this brain? Atherton, with his vacant face, is okay as the submissive husband. Once in a while, a pale beam of reality shines through his antics, but generally his character prompts one to ask whose was the hand that slanted back this brow? As the police officer who is their hostage, Michael Sacks is earnest and although he gets to like his captors and play games with them, he at least is in touch with the outer world. Ben Johnson is simple but reliable, and I miss the guy.