Zabriskie Point

1970

Drama

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 74% · 33 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 74% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 18039 18K

california police brutality free love students' movement 1970s counter-culture

Plot summary

Anthropology student Daria, who's helping a property developer build a village in the Los Angeles desert, and dropout Mark, who's wanted by the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot, accidentally encounter each other in Death Valley and soon begin an unrestrained romance.

Director

Michelangelo Antonioni Photo
Michelangelo Antonioni

Top cast

Harrison Ford Photo
Harrison Ford as Arrested student
Wesley Lau Photo
Wesley Lau as Company Executive
Cec Linder Photo
Cec Linder as White-faired executive
Daria Halprin Photo
Daria Halprin as Daria
720p.BluRay
1.02 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 53 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by dung_rat 6 / 10

Has its merits but essentially bland

I must admit, it's been (around) 2 years since I last saw Zabriskie Point...For some reason it's never totally left my conscience yet generally for all the wrong reasons. While the cinematography is certainly impressive throughout I found that the whole ordeal just dragged, and dragged...and dragged, literally to the point of tedium. In the first instance then, Zabriskie Point is clearly suffering from pace, or lack of. The 'desert' or 'love' scene being a prime example of this - it's not art; it's not even vaguely artistic - but mundane and self indulgent. The gorgeous and sweltering locales of the desert are what's worth noting here; not two young protagonists who appear to share little, if no, connection.In that respect it would seem that most people's opinions of Zabriskie Point are either deeply 'for' it or very much 'against' it. Were the 60s really like this?! Zabriskie Point seems to linger on too many stereotypes and while films such as Easy Rider managed to successful capture the ambience of counter-culture 1960s America Zabriskie Point falls just a bit short. Antonioni certainly knows how to lay-on some thick anti-establishment slurs but it's just so blatantly obvious and very hard to believe. On the plus side, the documentary-esque footage at the start of the film does help to give off a very 'real' vibe and is duly convincing. The acting, or lack of, is apt to an extent but hardly noteworthy. This is the frustrating element - it just seems to try so hard and has now gained a small reputation of being somewhat of a 'cult classic' but it's not justified. For those who try to read what they want to read into a film for the sake of art or intellect; those who subsequently look for hidden meanings that aren't there - maybe try this. If I wanted to do that I'd happily watch El Topo - not that I would ever compare the two. Oh, did I mention Pink Floyd contributed to the soundtrack – perhaps one of the only serious redeeming qualities here. Thanks Dave and Roger.6/10
Reviewed by sth9883 7 / 10

exemplary, in a sense

Though this may not necessarily be a so-called "classic" film by today's standards, it's still worth seeing. The main reason why is because after experiencing this film, you get the feeling that you've also experienced the counter-cultural idealism of the 60's, no matter however good or bad.I happened to see this film in an English literature class at SUNY Geneseo, and though at first it appears to be just a meaningless composition of 60's icons, the film is far from being simply "thrown together".My point is that if you leave the film feeling unsatisfied and confused, the film has done it's job: it's conveyed a desolate view of the future that leaves you feeling unsure and angry. It was perhaps this same feeling that the film sought to explore in the youth it exemplified.As such, "Zabriskie Point" may not tell a very good (or interesting) story, and at the same time its characters may be one-sided and predictable. However, it also conveys so well this sort of clichéd, rebellious desire to get out of the existence which both Mark and Daria must share. Even the anti-establishment students are as inauthentic as the gov't they rebel against.
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