if monte hellman legendary early 70 road movie masterpiece two lane blacktop have be do more like a stark and strip down and fiercely taut and straightforward brooding mood piece embellish upon by that distinctly meannlean and roughn notough and very raw and ragged macho australian mentality and top off with a generous sprinkling of dour and despairing and no hope whatsoever end of the road punk nihilism and it would undoubtedly be much similar to this jarringly bleak and atmospheric knockout . nice guy factory worker mike ( an appealingly scruffy terry serio ) run afoul of sneer and shade wear fascist car race champ fox ( a perfectly hateful richard moir ) when he steal fox fetch model girlfriend julie ( the lovely deborah conway ) away from him . mike and fox begin compete in increasingly lethal race in which the stake become high and high with each successive bout and finally culminate in an especially pulse pound all or nothing race with only one true winner allow . mike and assist by his worried and but loyal italian mechanic pal tony ( a splendidly smooth turn by vangelis mourikis ) and tutor by blind and supremely hip 50 style greaser rebel ( marvelously essay with maximum coolness by max cullen ) and willingly put his life on the line for the sake of his reputation and the affection of his old lady and the money and and and most importantly and for the chance to topple the haughty fox from his gloating and glower thrown . direct with utmost gravity and intensity by john clark and write to laconically right on perfection by barry tomblim and with a shivery and flesh crawling synthesizer score by peter crosbie and spare and unadorned cinematography by david gribble and this authentically gnarly early 80 item present the concept of race car a not only a funky alternate lifestyle and but also an all consuming obsession and reason for living ( it the sole thing most of the film character be really passionate about ) with a remarkably astute and unblinking eye . complete with a harrow downbeat end and unsparingly grim central message about the bitter price one pay for be top dog and this riveting depiction of a dead end existence rate a an extraordinary cinematic achievement .