Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

gab-14712 Seeing the reviews for American Graffiti from the old-timers make me want to relive my childhood and teenage life all over again. There are memories created that will never die but it makes you long for those memories. Of course, I'm not an old man and my childhood culture isn't the same culture set in this film. This is the generation of my parents and they know about this culture even better than I do, but the message is the same. It's all about remembering the times you had when growing up. The year this film took place is 1963, and boy was everything so different when compared to today. Everyone back then listened to the radio, cruised amongst the highways looking for women to pick up, hung out at the local drive-in restaurant, and so forth. People either went to college or just found a local job and set out cruising. Gosh life was so simple back then! This film authenticity was created with the driving force of director and screenwriter's George Luca's attempt to show what it's like to grow up in such a world. The film took awhile to come into fruition because studios felt scared of this film and the lackluster results of 1971's THX 1138, but it was worth it because Lucas brought his childhood back to life and made me dream about living this kind of life. Lucas, after the instant success of this film, became a household name.The film has a variety of characters with interconnected stories. Everyone has their own story, but each character fits into the whole scheme of things. It was a very hard task to pull off, but Lucas did a great job in getting me to care for these characters. There are the two best buddies, Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) who have gotten into a wonderful college, but on the night before they leave for school, Curt has second thoughts about college. He decides to spend his night pursuing a woman he heard about on the radio who drives a white T-Bird. Steve spends the night trying to make up with his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) after he tells her they should see other people while he is at school. Meanwhile, there are two other friends who have their own adventures. John (Paul Le Mat) is forced to drive around a little girl, Carol (Mackenize Phillips) as he seeks out a hot rod racer Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) to race. And the nerdy Terry (Charles Martin Smith) borrows Steve's car but gets in trouble when he picks up a girl.I loved the casting choices Lucas made. There are no big names (for 1973), and some of these names would go on to have spectacular careers and this film gave birth to the careers of future Oscar-winners. This is Harrison Ford's first film role as he was studying a career in carpentry at the time. Ford would later make a big name for himself in Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Richard Dreyfuss used this film to shed his identity as a child actor and he does it very well. This role may have gotten him his famed role in Jaws. Little people remember that Ron Howard used to be an actor before he became a very famous director, but this movie shows that he knew how to act. Paul Le Mat was great as guy who tries to show off how tough he is, but he cannot because he has a strong heart. I loved his character's interactions with the 12-year-old Carol who was a very funny character herself. Maybe that is what softened his heart. But I liked how Lucas made his characters representations of his younger self. For example, the Terry character is a resemblance of Lucas his freshman year in high school where he came across as nerdy and had terrible luck with girls.This film was made on such a cheap budget, that a musical score could not be produced. However, Lucas used his artistic license to gather a great collection of old rock'n'roll to use on the film. He used great music from the likes of the Rolling Stones and Bill Haley and the Comets. That made me appreciate the film more because of its use of music. The music also gave flavor to its authenticity because this is the kind of music people listened to back in this time period. The use of Wolfman Jack (a very famed L.A DJ) showed how much he and radio meant to the people of this era.American Graffiti is a very good film that shows how life was like for teenagers in the early 60's just when rock music was coming to dominate the airwaves. My dad saw this film when it was released and he says it is one of his favorite movies and it's an accurate representation of an era that has disappeared except for everlasting memories. Thanks to a energetic soundtrack and believable characters, I was able to understand each character. That being said, sometimes it feels like this film is too experimental. I'm not all too big on experimental films, but luckily Lucas found away to turn this into a very good film. Not my favorite film with growing-of-age films, but it's still worth a watch. Especially to see early acting from the likes of Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss.My Grade: B+

RMS1949 The film itself was pretty bland. While it was suppose to be just a slice of life about teenagers getting ready to go off into their college days, the actors all seemed more like people who were in their mid 20's.. And when I check the birth days of many of the stars in it, I was right,, many in their mid 20's ,, hell, Harrison Ford was 30 when this was made. Just seemed weird. Best thing about it was the cars and of course the music. A potpourri of great late 50's and early 60's hits. Maybe it was novel at the time it came out, today it just looks cheesy, miscast and worst of all, boring..

joel14481-2 The real star of this movie are the cars. It's like watching the Woodward Dream Cruise in Oakland County, Michigan. The hot rods are great but so are the stock 50's and 60's from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. When I was in high school, we would cruise Woodward every Friday and Saturday night. Going from drive-in to drive-in looking at the cars and the girls. i was a passenger until my older brother went in the army in 1961 end entrusted his 1955 Ford Victoria to me. It looked much better than it ran. Stock engine meant that I never raced. But I was able to peel out with the best of them. Watching this film really gives me vivid memories of my own teenage years.We were in such a hurry to grow up but didn't really want to accept any responsibility. It was all about having fun. The costar is the music. It's a really great selection of early rock and roll. Great cars and great music. What more could you ask for?

Vinicius Andrade George Lucas is mostly known for presenting to the world Star Wars, but surely American Graffiti is another successful and memorable film made by him. The story isn't the most profound but this doesn't matter because it so funny and delightful to watch. It's wonderful see a movie, having such an 50's/60's atmosphere present in it. You certainly dive into the 60's as a result of the good job in picturing the essence of this particular time, for the way how were their hairstyles, their clothing even how they used to dance. However what really caught my attention were the cars and the soundtrack. The classic cars had charm, which most of the cars nowadays lack, and their design made each model unique and fascinating. The soundtrack is so catchy and enjoyable that in some moments you really want to have experienced or be in that film, due to the immersion that was created in some scenes.