Tracks (1976)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Simply A Masterpiece

Expected more

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Transporting the corpse of a fallen comrade by train, a Vietnam War sergeant is haunted by battlefield memories with his anguish exasperated by none of the other passengers being interested in the war and looking down upon him for serving. Made only two years after end of the Vietnam War, 'Tracks' is one of the earliest films to deal with the disillusionment of soldiers fighting an unpopular war. Dennis Hopper is effective and the lead role and the way his ride gradually turns from friendly and joyous (with a love interest no less) to nightmarish (blurring the lines between fantasy and reality) nicely captures this disillusionment. Clocking in at around 90 minutes, the film sometimes feels on the long side since 90% of it is set on the train with mostly dialogue-heavy scenes, but there is lots to like in the natural-sounding conversations that occur between the passengers on topics as diverse as eating chicken skin to chess tactics. The double meaning of the title is especially awesome, with it left open as to whether it refers to train tracks or the World War II music tracks that Hopper keeps playing on his portable cassette player in a futile attempt to convince himself that his war is as honorable as World War II. Some have been critical of the film's ending and the post-train scenes are certainly nowhere near as intense as the train ones, but this is a compelling tale overall of coming home.

So bad it feels like it is a mini-series in length but little happens at all, endless shots of Hopper looking out the window but no real clues on anything except maybe that he has gone nuts, his mind is as blank as the script.The girl was a nice hippy chick but why would she find a burned out Vietnam vet attractive? maybe in the 70's women were docile creatures I dunno but it really seemed like the love interest was just thrown in there to not have the movie be a sausage fest.The last scene was unexpected, wow he's a psycho after all! but not entertaining. If you like Dennis Hopper you'll survive this movie but it is honestly horrid...

Much has been written about Dennis Hopper's off screen "adventures" during his exile from mainstream Hollywood in the 1970s, but the wild stories of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll overshadow the fact that when he WAS allowed in front of a camera he almost always gave brave, and emotionally open performances. The little seen 'Tracks' is a case in point. Hopper plays a soldier from Vietnam on a mission to escort the coffin of a fellow soldier back to the United States. He does this by traveling by train, hence the title. While on the journey he interacts with the other passengers, who include a mysterious hipster (Dean Stockwell), and a beautiful young college student (Taryn Power). He is smitten by the young girl, and wrestling with his shyness and uncertainty, attempts to develop a relationship with her. He is torn between his desire, his duty, the memories of the war, and of his childhood, and finds himself walking the line between sanity and madness. He must battle his demons and fight against hallucinations that plague him.'Tracks' features many fine, naturalistic performances from the supporting cast. The dialogue as a whole feels improvised, and Hopper particularly excels at this. Stockwell also impresses, and the few scenes between the two are fresh and memorable. 'Tracks' is a strong example of intelligent, uncliched 1970s film making, and should appeal to fans of Wenders 'The American Friend' (another strong Hopper role from this period), 'The King Of Marvin Gardens', 'Fingers', 'Scarecrow', 'The Last Detail', and other unfairly neglected character studies from this exciting era. This movie has been overlooked for too long! It's time to rescue it from obscurity.

This movie started out so wonderfully intriguing....and then fell apart so awfully hard. It was downright painful for me to watch this movie die...I had such hopes for it. All these characters riding on a train...all their lives intertwined for the short journey...people with Secrets...simultaneous conversations recorded so spontaneously I felt like I was eavesdropping. Scenes of sexual intimacy that made me feel like a voyeur...Dennis Hopper running through the train completely naked, making me turn my head away like a startled passenger... The more I think about it, the angrier I get...surely someone could have rewritten the last half of the script and turned this film into something much, much better. As it is, I just watch my favorite scenes from the first half of the movie over & over again....the conversations with Dean Stockwell are priceless. (And hey, isn't he wearing the same pair of tennis shoes in Paris, Texas?).