The Sugarland Express

Starring:Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton, Gregory Walcott, Steve Kanaly, Louise Latham, Harrison Zanuck, A.L. Camp, Jessie Lee Fulton, Dean Smith, Ted Grossman, Bill Thurman, Kenneth Hudgins, Buster Daniels, James N. Harrell, Frank Steggall, Roger Ernest, Guich Koock, Merrill Connally
Director: Steven Spielberg
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Steven Spielberg's first feature film was, in fact, a small-scale commercial flop--but good enough to earn him a shot at making his name directing Jaws. Goldie Hawn and William Atherton play a young couple who, after some bad breaks and mistakes, have their child taken away by the state of Texas. So they take the law into their own hands and take off to retrieve him, on the run from the police--lots and lots of police--all the while turning themselves into a cause célèbre. Strong filmmaking overcomes a melodramatic script; it's fledgling Spielberg, which is better than full-blown Arthur Hiller or Joel Schumacher any day. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Oldie but a Goldie.......2007-04-29

Goldie Hawn was often so giddy and spaced out in her earliest roles that it bordered on "just too silly", but she is sweet, almost luminous in this role. It's a chase movie, but it's really not as much a chase as a controlled odessey across Texas in a long gone time. All major characters perform their tasks well and Ben Johnson has to be the most convincing Chief of Texas State Troopers ever. Not a deep movie, but great fun to watch. And Goldie and Atherton evoke real pathos with their plight. An excellent beginning for one who would become one of our most esteemed directors.

A Good Movie!........2005-10-16

I first saw The Sugarland Express when I was eight years old and I liked this movie and I enjoyed the chase scenes and the acting from the entire cast was good especially Goldie Hawn and I highly recommend this movie!

Good Movie!.......2005-10-16

I first saw The Sugarland Express when I was 8 years old and I liked this movie and I enjoyed the chase scenes and the acting from the entire cast was good especially Goldie Hawn and I highly recommend this movie!

not the best.......2005-09-05

I love Goldie Hawn but this movie was certainly not her best.

Spielberg's 1st Real Movie........2005-02-02

Between the fame Spielberg garnered from the success of the tv film DUEL and that first movie blockbuster of all time called JAWS, Spielberg directed another movie. This film was THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS and was his real theatrical debut.

The movie is based on actual real-life events. It tells about the adventures of a woman named Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) and her husband, Clovis Michael Poplin (William Atherton) and there attempt to take back their baby from the foster parents who adopted the child while they were both in jail. Lou Jean has had a difficult life and is attempting to start anew, but the State of Texas won't allow her to have her baby back. In an act of focused anger and despair, Lou Jean convinces Clovis to break out of jail and together the duo begin a race across Texas to get back their child. Long before their was O.J. Simpson, there was Lou Jean Poplin and on their journey just about every policeman in the state of Texas and many other nearby states join the "chase" which ends up being probably the longest parade in America history.

THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was not only Spielberg's feature film debut, but it was also the film that turned Goldie Hawn's career around from that of purely comic to one of dramatic as well. The film displays the begins of the "Spielbergian charm"--the modern equivalent of a Frank Capra picture. However, unlike many of Spielberg's other movies, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS doesn't have the happiest of endings (though some relief is given in the closing comments over the screen). The movie is over 30 years-old, but holds up well. The story is moving, yet not all very sentimental.

Many believe that THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was a flop in theatres. This is not true. The original film earned over $8 million (US) in it's original release which at the time made the movie a modest success. It wasn't until a year later with the release of JAWS that the first $100 million movie would be distributed, setting a new standard of success in Hollywood.

Some other notes of interest: THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was the first movie to feature a tracking shot (front seat to back) and a 360-degree pan with dialogue from within a car. Also, Spielberg bought the shot-up 1973 Dodge Polara, Texas Department
of Public Safety car at the end of filming. Rumor has it that it's still in his garage to this day.

Overall, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is a moving film. The talent that Spielberg later perfected in later movies is evident throughout the movie. Watching this film, it makes me wonder why it took so long for the Hollywood establishment to take Spielberg serious as a director. Besides it's footnote in movie history, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is a movie worth watching on it's own merit and might just bring a tear to your eye.

***11 Action Movies Set*** Exiled, Playback, Stingray, College Kickboxers, Lethal Justice, Scent of Vengeance, the Sleepwalker, Booze & Bullets, Beyond Recognition, Toast with the Gods, [Bonus Dvd] Goldie Hawn in the Sugarland Express

Average customer rating:

***11 Action Movies Set*** Exiled, Playback, Stingray, College Kickboxers, Lethal Justice, Scent of Vengeance, the Sleepwalker, Booze & Bullets, Beyond Recognition, Toast with the Gods, [Bonus Dvd] Goldie Hawn in the Sugarland Express

Manufacturer: BRENTWOOD
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

11 FULL LENGTH MOVIES SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE: INTERACTIVE MENUS & SCENE ACCESS Exiled (1990) / College Kickboxers (1991) / Lethal Justice (1991) / Scent Of Vengeance (1996) / The Sleepwalker (2002) / Booze & Bullets (2003) / Beyond Recognition (2003) / Toast With The Gods (1995) / Playback (1988) / Stingray (1978) ***BONUS DVD*** GOLDIE HAWN in THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

American Tigers

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Pootie Tang (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story

Musikladen - Best Of 1970-1983 - Vol.14