American Graffiti Review

George Lucas' second directorial effort - and his first big hit - was set in 1962 on the night before the graduating class of that year split up. An instant classic perfectly attuned to the mood of early 70s baby boomers who'd just woken up after Vietnam, Watergate and the hippie era. Besides setting Georgie and producer Coppola on the road to moguldom, this launched the acting careers of Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Candy Clark, Charlie Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Joe Spano, Paul Le Mat and Kathleen Quinlan, all of whom interact as cruising teens on the strip in Modesto, California, and take their first steps into the turbulent 60s. A funny-serious movie with gorgeous cars and colours and an amazing feel for the artefacts of an instantly vanished era.