slightlymad22 Following Duel, movies heavily featuring cars were what Spielberg seemed to be offered, as he was set to direct Burt Reynolds in the action film White Lightning. He worked on it for a few months before quitting to take on this movie. "The one thing that I almost made was White Lightning the Burt Reynolds picture," Spielberg said "I spent two-and-a-half months on the film, met Burt once, found most of the locations and began to cast the movie, until I realized it wasn't something that I wanted to do for a first film. I didn't want to start my career as a hard-hat, journeyman director. I wanted to do something that was a little more personal." Reynolds was hurt by him quitting saying " He wanted out and it really hurt me, I felt like he just didn't want to work with me, and that was the reason. And he didn't."Shot in perfect continuity (for financial reasons) The majority of this movie is filmed in a car. But there was no rear view projection or shoot it and then have the actors lip-sync later. Spielberg's timing was just right Panavision inc had recently developed and the Paraflex, the first totally noiseless camera, compact enough to be handheld or shoulder rested. Virtually the entire movie was shot in sync dialogue with only 10 lines a looped later. The Sugerland Expressis one of the first fiims to be shot in this then revolutionary style, though shortly, all filmmaking would follow suit.This movie shows that Goldie Hawn could have been a fine dramatic actress had her career gone in that direction. Hawn's plan, slightly mad as it is, in fact does have an inner logic. I expected her infedelity (She prostitutes herself to a male neighbour for $65) to become a bigger issue. But it's surprisingly dropped pretty quickly. There is no villain in this movie. Captain Tanner certainly isn't one. I also like a tender scene involving a Wile E. Coyote cartoon which was probably my favourite scene in the movie. This film marked the beginning of Spielberg's friendship with John Williams and we get a Spielberg trademark (images seen in a side mirror) This is one of the few Steven Spielberg films that ends on a downbeat note. And boy what a downbeat note it is!! Sugerland Express grossed $7.5 million (against a 3 million dollar budget) at the domestic box office.

Scott LeBrun One could see that budding young director Steven Spielberg was going places when he broke into films with this based-on-fact action drama. It stars Goldie Hawn as Lou Jean Poplin, a young lady who helps her husband Clovis (veteran character actor William Atherton, "Ghost Busters", "Die Hard") escape from prison. Since neither of them are squeaky clean people, their son Langston has ended up being adopted. Lou Jean is hellbent on getting the boy back, and stops at nothing to make her way to Sugarland. Along the way, they'll be tailed by an experienced lawman (Ben Johnson, solid as a rock as always) and will take a Texas state trooper (the very good Michael Sacks) hostage.Masterfully shot in Panavision by the great Vilmos Zsigmond, and given a lovely, often harmonica based score by John Williams, "The Sugarland Express" does deliver engaging entertainment. Even if Lou Jean and Clovis aren't particularly certain about how they'll go about their mission, you can't deny their passion, and can at least understand their cause. After some time on the road, they earn the sympathies of a number of Texans, and become celebrities. They may be somewhat shady people, but they don't mistreat Officer Slide (Sacks). We also see Captain Tanner (Johnson) become sympathetic to them, but he still has a job to do and will have a tough decision to make.Vivid location shooting adds further appeal, as well as some truly intense shootouts, an explosion or two, and a lot of extremely well orchestrated vehicular stunts supervised by Carey Loftin (who worked with Spielberg on 'Duel'). "The Sugarland Express" has some very action packed bits, and doesn't take many breathers, but it does flesh out these characters adequately.The cast all does respectable work. Hawn, Johnson, Sacks, and Atherton are capably supported by familiar faces like Gregory Walcott, Steve Kanaly, and Louise Latham, and Texas based character players such as Jessie Lee Fulton, Bill Thurman, and James N. Harrell. Langston is played by the adorable offspring of producer Richard D. Zanuck.While this marked a solid outing for Spielberg, he truly hit the stratosphere with his follow-up film "Jaws".Eight out of 10.

dougdoepke Good thing Ben Johnson's in the movie, otherwise Texas might permanently split from Hollywood. Here Johnson plays Capt. Tanner of the Texas Highway Patrol, the one sensible anchor in an otherwise zany movie. Seems Lou Jean (Hawn) wants her baby back after she's been judged unfit. So she inveigles husband Clovis (Atherton) to break prison and get their baby back. Trouble is the kid lives with foster parents a hundred miles across Texas. But what the heck, it'll be a fun trip. On the way the fugitives kidnap Officer Slide (Sacks) holding him hostage while every avenging patrol car in the state follows. It's almost like an LA freeway on a really bad day. Naturally, a parade of Hollywood's favorite car crashes ensue.It's a good goofy turn from Hawn whose blonde 20-year old resembles an aggressive 10-year old. She's got no idea what she's gotten the half-baked couple into, even when the line of patrolmen trailing them stretches to Oklahoma. Giggling in the backseat, she figures things are bound to turn out okay, even as hubby threatens to shoot Officer Slide. Memorable highlights include two gun-happy good-ol-boys massacring a car lot, and Lou Jean getting a portable john so she can pee in private. Also, there's a Stockholm Syndrome to the kidnapped Slide when he comes to almost identify with the fugitive couple. But then loopy innocence provides the twosome with a likable side. Though underplayed, don't miss the movie's tragic undercurrent. It's skillfully lurking despite the humorous overlay.Anyway, the zany production's a one-of-a-kind, and really put Spielberg on the movie-making map. Still, I doubt if it's on Texas's Must See list. But it is on mine.

vegfemnat Notable for being the first theatrical release of Steven Spielberg "The Sugarland Express" definitely displays the early signs of a maverick filmmaker who would go on to entertain millions around the world and wow movie buffs with his technical prowess. In keeping with his style of creating events that take on a grand scale, this is a story of two fugitives hijacking a police car while holding the police officer hostage, that goes onto become a major phenomenon of massive fanfare and pompousness with even 200 cars following them at a time. And for the director this means setting up grand shots of outstanding complexity which are an exercise in crowd control. And Spielberg pulls them off with outstanding realism and fluidity while creating shots of striking blocking complexities. And talking of shots the movie boasts of an innumerable amount of extraordinary shots including a 360 degree pan inside a moving car which also happens to be the first ever (imagine the car attack scene of Children of Men but of lesser complexity).Other notable things worth mentioning are Goldie Hawn's comic scenes as the naive desperate mother Lou Jean Sparrow Poplin and John Williams' score.A must see for Spielberg fans along with his TV movie "Duel" to understand the birth of this unique voice and chart his growth as a director who goes onto become an industry in itself with a career spanning over four decades.