There are two trailers floating around. There may have been more, I don't know. Both are edited quite differently. One has Yellow Titles, the other has white. One refers to the car as a "Dodge Challenger" the other, simply as "Challenger". Both however mention it's supercharged. I often wonder though, if that were just street speak for "Hopped up", because by 1970, "hopped-up" referred to something else. Although, in the movie itself, Kowalski mentions: "It's hopped-up to do 160".

Trailers: Vanishing Point "Short" Trailer Vanishing Point "Long" Trailer



BDW: You're probably referencing the paper thin plot. Unfortunately, at the time 20th Century Fox was going through a bit of a shake-up. The new Head of the company did not like the whole counter-culture deal, nor the drug use or the anti-vietnam ideals being portrayed in this film. Some have even said the new CEO simply did not like Dick Sarafian. Long story short, the production of the film was CUT by over three weeks and anywhere from 1 to 3 million dollars. Several scenes that were supposed to be filmed were cut; some of which I speculate were Kowalski's flashbacks to Vietnam and or more portrayals of him having PTSD. In one interview, Mr. Newman mentioned one scene he recalls being cut was that as soon as he crossed into Nevada, he stops to have a cigarette. Well, this scene would devolve into Kowalksi breaking down into a fit and having the scene transition back to his time in Vietnam to when he gets wounded. These wounds are later referred to in another flashback with his girlfriend Vera.

Speaking of that scene, I believe some dialogue was either cut or not recorded. Vera mentions his scars and how she loves them, but how he hates them. Kowalski replies: "I don't hate them, I just hate what they mean." Vera asks: "What do they mean?" to which Kowalski does not respond. Eventually Vera continues with her "Only if we make war against war..." quote. I believe Kowalski's response mentioned his Vietnam time or a scene that wasn't filmed. So they had to do a dirty edit to cover that.

I believe these trims and edits DO exist. On the back of the Japanese Video disc, there are two pictures. One of Kowalski breaking up a fight between two kids on bikes and his friend Jake, and another photo of a very 5-o'clock shadowed Kowalski which I think was something from either the end of the movie or the bit at the beginning which refers to the end. Not 100% sure.

Other actors from the film mention filming scenes that weren't in the film. Some sources say Cleavon Little filmed his scenes in less than 3 days, while an interview with Cleavon says he was on set for at least a week.

Regardless, we've all learned that a LOT of the plot was left on the cutting room floor. Much like Two Lane Blacktop; much of the story was lost just to maintain a cohesive story that wasn't 3 or 4 hours long.