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Radical Visions discusses an important period in American film history: Films such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Midnight Cowboy, Nashville, and Taxi Driver challenged the narrative structure and style of the classical Hollywood paradigm, transformed its conventional genres, exploded traditional American myths, and foregrounded a consciousness of the cinematic process. Film students, scholars, and aficionados will gain insight into generic conventions and narrative style presented within the cultural attitudes of the time.

The book features a chronological movement through the period, not by auteur but by film, from Bonnie and Clyde to Taxi Driver. It includes in-depth analyses of 16 films, but discusses other films when relevant. It traces the thematic development of the films as the period progresses from an optimistic radicalism at the beginning, to doubt and shattered dreams, to paranoia and pessimism at the end. It summarizes contemporary reviews and reactions to the films as they came out and gauges the films' interactions with audiences and the society of the time. It also discusses European filmmakers' influences on the films of the period. The book supports and solidifies the view of a Hollywood renaissance during this period, and it more sharply defines and delineates the parameters and characteristics of the period than previous studies.