Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

sol- 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.

gobzine 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...

Hollywoodcanteen1945 I was slightly perplexed that most of the other people who commented on this classic Dennis Hopper film either didn't understand the ending, or thought the ending was stupid. It's very clear to me.This whole film is nothing more than a symbolic train ride to hell. The 1940s World War II-era soundtrack is a backdrop for a "popular" war. A war where the entire nation banded together to serve and defend their country. Dennis Hopper's character is a baby-boomer brought up with the backdrop of World War II, a war of honor. His "war" is the complete opposite; shunned and protested. He keeps constantly playing the old time music to help him reinforce his beliefs that his service in Viet-Nam was the good and decent thing to do. The people on the train are symbols of our nation; wrapped up in every their everyday lives, totally unconcerned or pre-occupied with the war which was so far away. The ending is a brutal statement that the only way the public could come to grips with the experiences with the combat veterans was to bring the horrors of the war back home. Tracks is an out-standing, yet controversial, and highly symbolic view on the horrors of the Viet-Nam War. Seems to me that this movie couldn't be re-made today; only updating it to the war in Iraq. How sad that some 30 years later, Tracks is still not an out-dated film about the horrors of war, and the public's indifference to the suffering of the soldiers fighting over there.

Jill-68 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?).