It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry The Toad (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date .. Read more
| Starring | Charles Martin Smith, Mackenzie Phillips, Candy Clark, Harrison Ford |
|---|---|
| Director | George Lucas |
| Genres | Comedy |
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It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry The Toad (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding.~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
| Starring | Charles Martin Smith, Mackenzie Phillips, Candy Clark, Harrison Ford, Bo Hopkins, Suzanne Somers, Wolfman Jack, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Le Mat, Cindy Williams, Charles Ma |
|---|---|
| Director | George Lucas |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 47 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 47 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Collections | American Film Institute's top 100 |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Dubbed | German, French, Spanish, Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | Production year: 1973 To Rent: DVD: not available Blu-ray: Not available for rental To Buy: DVD: 11 Aug 2003 Blu-ray: 25 Jul 2011 |
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Friendship, Music, Cars and Much Much More
This superb early film from Lucas has a raw quality to it that his later big budget films would lose. The performances from a young ensemble cast capture that ... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
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Too long
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide
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American Classic
I love this movie. A loving evocation of time and place. A good natured coming of age movie and teenager-hood. My daughters and wife weren't so keen. ... read more »
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Bit tedious
Sorry George Lucas - you are a living legend but this movie i did not like very much. Richard Dreyfus is amusing, kept wanting to punch Ron Howard and spotting ... read more »
In Cars and Cars 2 automobiles are the stars of the show. But they're not the first four-wheelers to command the spotlight. Here is our rundown of the most c(h)arismatic cars and the movies where they made their mark… Tom Charity tom.charity@lovefilm.com When the Car is the Star 1. Goldfinger (1964) The Aston Martin DB5 became James Bond's ride of choice in 1964 and stayed that way for three decades give or take the odd Lotus Esprit. M’s modifications included bulletproof glass,... Read more
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