Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This well-acted chase movie was a box office flop when it was first released and is now most significant for being the first feature film that Steven Spielberg directed. Its story, which Spielberg also co-wrote with Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, features enough car chases and stunts to illustrate that his ability to choreograph action sequences was already well developed at this early stage of his career, as was his skill at creating shots that are beautifully composed and visually impressive.Based on a real-life incident that took place in 1969, "The Sugarland Express" is an account of what happened when a young married couple, who had both spent time in prison, decided to embark on a long trip across Texas with the intention of kidnapping their child from its new foster parents.Having recently been released from a prison sentence she'd served for shoplifting, Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) visits her husband Clovis (William Atherton) at the minimum security prison where he has only four months of his one-year sentence to serve and insists that he should break out immediately (with her assistance) so that they can head to Sugarland, Texas to take back possession of their son who the welfare people had fostered out to a middle-aged couple. Clovis initially resists the plan but gradually gives in to Lou Jean's forcefulness and they simply walk out of the establishment together before travelling away from the place, courtesy of an elderly couple who travel along the highway at about half the speed limit before getting pulled over by a highway patrolman.When Patrolman Maxwell Slide (Michael Sacks) talks to the elderly couple outside of their vehicle, Lou Jean becomes convinced that he's actually pursuing them and so the young couple drive off at high speed and are soon followed by Slide. The chase ends when Lou Jean crashes the car she's driving and the couple then surprise the patrolman by taking him hostage and hijacking his vehicle. From this point on, the two fugitives and Slide continue their long journey to Sugarland during which they're pursued by an ever-growing number of police and media vehicles that follow them at a very slow speed. Police Captain Harlin Tanner (Ben Johnson) is put in charge of the whole operation and becomes determined to avoid any harm coming to Patrolman Slide or the misguided couple who he regards as being simply foolish and naïve rather than dangerous criminals.During their journey, an unlikely friendship develops between Slide and his captors and they're also met by crowds of well-wishers as they pass through various towns on their route. Lou Jean, who always acts on instinct without ever thinking about the repercussions of her actions, clearly has no idea of how much trouble they're in and foolishly expects that when she and Clovis are re-united with their baby, that they'll all be able to live together, as a family, and be happy ever after. The fact that the media attention has made them into celebrities and they get lots of public support only reinforces her delusional thinking and strengthens her determination even further. All the chaos and activity that characterised their journey suddenly ands' however, when they get to Sugarland and the police convoy comes to a halt some distance before they reach their baby's current home.This movie is brightened up by its action sequences, some moments of droll humour and an amusing example of Stockholm syndrome but otherwise its pace is too slow, and there is none of the exhilaration that would normally be found in a road movie or the excitement that a chase movie would usually provide. This is because the fugitives are only out of sight of the authorities for the first few miles of their journey and the remainder of the pursuit is played out in slow motion with the police even staying back at a respectful distance when the fugitives have to stop to refuel their vehicle.Goldie Hawn is brilliant as the loud and not-very-bright, Lou Jean and William Atherton is marvellous as her obedient husband who's prepared to do anything she wants even though he doesn't share her belief that everything will turn out fine. The remaining members of the cast also provide consistently solid performances with Ben Johnson and Michael Sacks standing out in their important roles.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film. Fellow fans of Steven Spielberg advised me to see "Sugarland Express," so I bought the DVD. I'm glad I did it as it is one of Spielberg's best. He should have made films more along the lines of "Duel," "Jaws" and the above film. Being based upon a true story is a Feather in the films cap. The two main characters - played by Goldie Hawn and William Atherton - are very sympathetic in spite of their circumstances. She is planning to find their baby boy so they can be re-united. He is a convict serving a light sentence. They both help his breaking out of jail and after taking a police officer hostage, they lead the police of Texas on a state wide chase. The wife and her convict husband race against time so they can find their son. This has thoughtful moments and it isn't a hard- hitting film. There is some violence but it's fairly mild and minimal. The pace is good and the tension is sustained throughout. Ben Johnson does well as one of the senior police officers who leads the Dragnet. He is a tough man but he isn't totally lacking in compassion. The direction is some of the best from Steven Spielberg.

Although The Sugarland Express has been compared to Thelma And Louise most often, there was a film that came out the following year from Stephen Spielberg's first big screen classic that it most resembles in my mind.Goldie Hawn's Lou Jean might not have all that much in common with Al Pacino's Eugene in Dog Day Afternoon except for two things. Neither are the sharpest knife in the drawer and both concoct a really whacked out scheme that gets them in way over their heads.Unlike Pacino who put a little thought into his bank robbery plan, on a visit to a minimum security prison to her husband William Atherton who has only weeks to go on his sentence, she persuades him to bust out to kidnap their baby who foster parents are looking to adopt. The parents are in Sugarland which is West Texas near the Rio Grande.They actually bust out quite easily. But then during a routine traffic stop they misread signals and take rookie state policeman Michael Sacks a hostage.Just like Dog Day Afternoon anyone with a working brain knows that this crazy thing is doomed, but the adrenaline rush for Hawn and Atherton is out of control. The two become popular cult figures one way or another. Hawn, Atherton, and Sack are fine in their roles. Kudos also go to Ben Johnson for his role as the man in charge of the hunt, the chase, and the hostage negotiation.Stephen Spielberg started his big screen career with a winner.

"The Sugarland Express" is a decent chase movie about the world's most harmless prison escapees and the policeman they're forced to take as a hostage, becoming famous in the process.It's pretty slight, but Spielberg's direction shines through, a whiz kid even at this early stage in his career. It is slick and unobtrusive while still being inventive and masterful.Goldie Hawn is also a stand out. She would have stolen the show from the other two lacklustre performers anyway, so I'm glad Spielberg had the sense to focus the movie on her and not on one of the dullards like Hal Ashby did in The Last Detail.Ben Johnson is, as always, fantastic as the crusty old police officer who leads the chase.The movie does drag a little, though, ironically for a movie about a chase. It's not really Smokey and the Bandit - the runaways lead the police right at the front like a funeral procession.