nastiayeleniuk
I probably watched this movie for the same reason everyone else did, because it was Lucasfilm's first movie.It just wasn't for me. I'm the wrong demographic for this movie. The humor in the movie just wasn't for me and the male characters acted so much like machos that I couldn't connect with them at all and they're kinds of douchebags. Except Terry, who I kinda liked and I liked most character developments. I know this movie was released in the 1970s and it takes place in the 1960s, but if a guy was hitting on me in such a rude way as some of the characters did I'd probably feel intimidated and run away. I don't like machos and I don't like them in movies either. It's a movie made for young men. Men might enjoy this movie more than I did, but it's just not for me. The female characters were relatable, especially Carol, even though I don't get why she stuck around with John for so long as he was so rude to her.There's a few really funny scenes in this movie, such as one scene that involves buying some high-percentage alcohol and a scene that involves a police car. They were really good comic relief.This is by no means a terrible movie like you think I make it sound. The cinematography is good for its time, the acting is great, especially Harrison Ford's, and the Beatles-like score was great. I noticed a flaw in the cinematography though. I don't know if this was intentional, but near the end we see a lot of cars driving on a road and the lights of the car Terry is driving are reflecting in the camera lens. And while I found the first act kind of unlikable the second act surprised me, I liked how the characters got themselves into trouble, it was entertaining. The third act was really good, the movie went in a direction I did not expect and I really liked the ending.
Marc Israel
Nostalgia as entertainment usually fails for me due to era glorification, character generalizing and plots that try too hard. American Graffitti pulled off the triple pleasure of all three of these angles by keeping it simple and true. Our ears were leading the way from car to car from vignette to vignette. The matching song to each story line was both careful and supportive to be authentic without being obvious. the start attractions as viewed decades later is not a fair compliment as in 1973, they were not household names, sans Ronny Howard. That being said, it was a blast of recognition of old friends, sound track of the time, cruising and being teens about the step into adulthood. George Lucas seems to have understood his movie from the beginning quite well and viewers can find solace is the extras that show every actor stating they want to do their best in case anyone ever saw this "low budget ($750,000" film. The results are due to the viewer interaction with their pasts on many wonderful levels.
FilmBuff1994
American Graffiti is a brutal movie with a poorly developed plot and a mediocre cast. The biggest issue is that there is simply no story whatsoever, we are just watching a gang of teenagers driving around in cars and listening to classic music for ninety minutes. As well at that, the cast are extremely lacking in chemistry, there is no sense that they are truly friends with one another and it really takes you out of the movie because of the fact that a convincing friendship is the most vital part of a film like this. It's poorly directed and edited, George Lucas made this because it was cheap and would give him money to create a more expensive production, which went on to be Star Wars, and a lack of passion in bringing this to life is highly evident. Poor cast, writing and short on laughs, American Graffiti is simply not worth the watch. A group of high school graduates spend their final night cruising the streets before they take off for college. Best Performance: Richard Dreyfuss Worst Performance: Ron Howard
mayem_5
Worst movie i've ever seen, i mean, i knew about G. Lucas's lack of skill but this is awful. I can only imagine how this man has come to be a movie director by poorly ripping off styles and being so clumsy with the camera. This time he delivers a slow, pretentious movie that goes nowhere. Within an almost two hour-long torture in which the characters are as flat as they could possible be, Lucas show us how mediocre film maker he is by not displaying any knowledge about cinematographic language at all, a still camera, boring shots and a soporific story that should have ended before the first 10 minutes. I managed to get to the end of it so i could have a valid opinion but it didn't worth it. Please don't watch it unless you have sleep problems.
AD
