Convoy is not just a movie about truckers! It is so much more.
The film starts with an altercation between some truckers and a dirty cop. As it progresses more and more truckers join the original bunch of truckers with a sense of camaraderie. The way their convoy was feared by the government and the state shows how the government fears average people stand for their rights. The film is full of allegories. But some might argue that all the allegories presented in this movie are shallow ones. Well, in that case I would like to say that all the allegories were pretty effective and I felt empathetic.
For those who felt the allegories were shallow I would like to add that Peckinpah's original rough cut for this was 220 minutes whereas the version we all saw was about 110 minutes. That tells something! The studio was trying to ride on the success of previous year's release "Smokey and the Bandit"- which might explain why the first half of Convoy was only consists of chase and action scenes which was very unlike of Peckinpah. But the 2nd half of the film shined brightly, it brought all the allegories into play. I wonder how great would be the Peckinpah original 220 minutes cut! I don't know if we ever get to see that version, but I pray we do!
The film starts with an altercation between some truckers and a dirty cop. As it progresses more and more truckers join the original bunch of truckers with a sense of camaraderie. The way their convoy was feared by the government and the state shows how the government fears average people stand for their rights. The film is full of allegories. But some might argue that all the allegories presented in this movie are shallow ones. Well, in that case I would like to say that all the allegories were pretty effective and I felt empathetic.
For those who felt the allegories were shallow I would like to add that Peckinpah's original rough cut for this was 220 minutes whereas the version we all saw was about 110 minutes. That tells something! The studio was trying to ride on the success of previous year's release "Smokey and the Bandit"- which might explain why the first half of Convoy was only consists of chase and action scenes which was very unlike of Peckinpah. But the 2nd half of the film shined brightly, it brought all the allegories into play. I wonder how great would be the Peckinpah original 220 minutes cut! I don't know if we ever get to see that version, but I pray we do!