The AMERICAN GRAFFITI thread

Possibly the greatest Lucas film -- simple story, outstanding cast, fantastic soundtrack, and (like SW) effected pop culture by revitalizing interest in the 50's -- where do you think we got Happy Days from!?!

Favorite scene is before the drag race, with Green Onion playing -- builds the tension masterfully.

 

Thats a good scene.

 

My favourite scene is when Curt is walking through an empty corridor in his old High School & he tries to open his old locker, it's such a simple scene that doesn't even contain dialogue -- but it sums up the movie.

I think we all go through that stage in life, when we've spent years attending this High School and then all of a sudden we'll never be returning to it -- it's a weird feeling.

 

For those that have AMC, American Graffiti was on yesterday afternoon. I only watched the scenes at the dance (possibly the most boring part of the movie).

While American Graffiti is inarguably a classic, I feel it's time to alter topics somewhat to More American Graffiti, the 1979 sequel.

I've only seen it once, a long time ago, and don't remember it being nearly as good.

Anyone else see it and have opinions?

 

Have any of you seen the franchise collections that have come out on DVD? One of them is the American Graffiti and More American Graffiti Drive-In Double Feature on one disk. American Graffiti comes with everything the original DVD did and the sequel is barebones like the one that recently came out. Here's a pic of the box art

The other ones I've seen are Conan: The Complete Quest and the Smokey And The Bandit Pursuit Pack. Cool stuff.

 

I've seen MAG several times, and own it on DVD. It's not as good as the original, of course, but John Milner's story is great, and so is Terry the Toad's. Debbie's story is not so good, but interesting-it's the one that used all the split-screen techniques. They did do a great job of capturing the look and spirit of the Fillmore, though. Steve and Laurie's story started off really bad, playing like a soap opera, but as it progressed to the part with the student protest, it picked up quite a bit, and had a great ending, when Laurie and the other girls on the bus sang the Supremes' Baby Love.

Both movies play better to people at least in their 30's or to people who appreciate history and the history of rock and roll.

 

That's true appleseed. For some teens, those movies may as well be from another planet. The music and setting is so foreign to today.

 

I remember seeing this for the first time something like 4 years ago and just being stunned by how different it is from anything else George has done. It has the ability to make feel really satisfied after having watched it and I wouldn't trade the it away for anything.

 

Hey, I recently finished watching the collector's edition of the "American Graffiti" DVD and would recommend not only the movie, but the "Making of" feature that's included on the DVD. The Making of feature has great interviews with Lucas, Copolla, and some of the stars as they are today (or, two years ago when the DVD came out). It gives insight on how hard the film was to make, and why the lighting in many scenes is so dark (intentionally so). It was also interesting to note that Lucas filmed this film in a "Documentary" style, so a lot of things that happened in the film weren't intentional (like Terry the Toad running into the trash can near Mel's Diner at the beginning of the film), but Lucas kept them in the movie anyway. What a masterpiece!

Regarding "More American Graffiti", I haven't seen this yet, but plan to as soon as I can find it for rent. I'm interested in seeing what happened to the characters in "American Graffiti", and the split-scene technique sounds interesting; this is something that a lot of movies/TV shows use today, but at the time MAG came out (1979), I don't think this had been done before, or at least not as much ("Annie Hall" is the one film I remember that used this for a good effect in one scene).
For what it's worth, I read somewhere that though George Lucas had very little to do with MAG, he did at one point help film/edit one of the Vietnam sequences.

 

I haven't seen More American Grafitti either, but I hear it's really bad.

 

It has it's moments. At times it's excellent.

 

I guess I should try to find it...

 

I enjoyed the heck out of More American Graffiti. Watched it last night for the first time since I was a kid. So, it was pretty much all new to me. I picked up that franchise collection DVD that I mentioned in my above post. I found it very interesting seeing the characters as adults with their very adult situations. Especially Terry the Toad in Vietnam. There's quite a few surprises there. The the split-scene technique actually worked quite well and wasn't over-done. Hugely underrated, IMO. Watch for Bob Falfa's cameo.

Who else out there has seen More American Graffiti or owns it?

 

I remember seeing this for the first time something like 4 years ago and just being stunned by how different it is from anything else George has done.

Yes, it can definitely be a surprise to those who only know George from Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

When people try to tell me George can't direct unless he has a huge special effects budget, or that he can't direct actors and do tender emotions, I just recommend they watch AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

 

I've only seen Amercian Graffiti once several years ago. I remember liking Terry the Toad's storyline the best. Never seen More American Graffiti so I really should consider buying that double feature DVD.

 

You should know that next year (2008) is American Graffiti's 35th anniversary.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if they release a 35th Anniversary Edition DVD.

 

That is the main reason I am waiting untill next year to get a copy of American Graffiti. Although I still have not seen it yet.

 

I just saw American Graffiti today, and I really like it. My favorite parts of the movie are the prank on the cop car and the drag race between Falfa and Milner.

 

In my opinion American Graffiti is the best movie ever made. I was on line and found the original script. it was like watching the movie for the first time again i would recommend any body who loves the movie to read the script. there are more stories to follow and john and carol's story is basically the same but with some extra dialoge etc.

 

The "prank on the cop car" scene is right out of a "Leave it to Beaver" episode.

 

Interestingly the prank on the cop car was apparantly something that truly happened back in Modesto when Lucas was young, although he has admitted it didn't have quite the same dramatic effect as in the movie.

 

has anyone read the american graffiti novel?

 

I love American Graffiti! I think I relate the most to Kurt. I...mean leaving home and all. I also have had an expiernce like the girl in the white T-Bird. I also have been in the akward postion where circumstance put me with nefarious company. The film is just SO relevant even to someone that had his just finished his teenage years ab out a month ago.

 

Yeah, that is so true.