The Sugarland Express

Director: Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg

Overview

"Steven Spielberg's feature-film debut, The Sugarland Express, makes its way for the first time to DVD in a questionably thin package from Universal. The film comes with an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen image and a Dolby Digital 2.0 sound option that compliment it nicely, though it could be said that the studio could have done better with both. With a lone trailer as its only extra, the disc feels like a throwaway release -- especially considering the time and effort put into the Duel: Special Edition DVD released the same day. At the very least, the film is now available and in more than decent enough shape, though, given the status of the director, one would expect more than just this."

Product Details

Release Date:	08/17/2004
UPC:	0025192558122
Original Release:	1974
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:50:00
Sales rank:	22,825

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Goldie Hawn	Lou Jean Poplin
William Atherton	Clovis Poplin
Michael Sacks	Maxwell Slide
Ben Johnson	kapitan Tanner
Gregory Walcott	Mashburn
Steve Kanaly	Jessup
Louise Latham	pani Looby
Harrison Zanuck	Baby Langston
A.L. Camp	Mr. Nocker
Jessie Lee Fulton	Mrs. Nocker
Dean Smith	Russ Berry
Ted Grossman	Dietz
Bill Thurman	Hunter
Ken Hudgins	Standby
Buster Danials	Drunk
James N. Harrell	Mark Fenno,Mark Fenno
Frank Steggall	Logan Waters
Roger Ernest	Hot Jock No. 1
Guich Koock	Hot Jock No. 2
Merrill Connally	Looby
Gene Rader	Gas Jockey
Gordon Hurst	Hubie Nocker
George Hagy	Sparrow
Big John Hamilton	Big John
Kenneth Crone	Deputy
Peter Michael Curry	Judge
Charles Conaway	Attorney
Robert Golden	Mechanic
Ruby Robbins	Mechanic,Mechanic
Charlie Dobbs	Cop
Gene Lively	Reporter
John L. Quinlan III	Bailiff
William Scott	Station Man
Ralph E. Horwedel	Dispatcher
Edwin 'Frog' Isbell	Jelly Bowl
Michael Santiago	Gas Station Attendant
Kenneth Hudgins	Standby
John Williams	Composer

Technical Credits

Hal Barwood

Matthew Robbins

Steven Spielberg	Director
Hal Barwood	Screenwriter
Matthew Robbins	Screenwriter
David Brown	Producer
Richard D. Zanuck	Producer
Frank Brendel	Special Effects
Carey Loftin	Stunts
John R. Carter	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
William Griffith	Sound Effects
Robert L. Hoyt	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

More influential than even the director's fans are willing to give it credit, Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature exhibits many of the traits that would later become his signatures: a majestic sense of scope; a fleet-footed sense of technique with even the most mundane action sequences; a childlike, naïve sense of wonder; and, yes, an occasionally cloying sentimentality. The Sugarland Express merges the men-in-cars dynamics of Spielberg's breakthrough TV movie Duel with a ripped-from-the-headlines tale of two holy fools (played impressively but with just a little too much gusto by Goldie Hawn and William Atherton) who will stop at nothing to get their child back. Although the story verges on the melodramatic, what saves the film is Spielberg's sense of space, place, and mood. He's so completely tuned in with his characters' hopes and fears that he's able to convey their every feeling through the visuals, which -- as shot by master cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond -- are a mix of documentary-style observational shots, sweeping vistas, and absurdist car chases. With the notable exception of the film's de rigueur, early-'70s unhappy ending, many of Sugarland's story arcs, character quirks, and even camera placements can be traced through every subsequent Spielberg feature, from something as epic as Raiders of the Lost Ark to -- most obviously -- his 2002 fraud-on-the-run hit Catch Me if You Can.