Good Car Movies

I'll add one, Deathrace 2000.

Do the Initial D movies count? I can't get enough the flashy music in that series.

I will go to my grave not understanding what people like about Vanishing Point. It's among the most pretentious, awful movies I've ever seen. The makers aimed for profound and shot a dead bullseye on stupid instead.

Yes, it sucked. But there was a lot of car chasing in it.

ReverendDexter wrote: Wow, this many posts and not a single person has mention Rendevouz?

I'll say the same thing about "2 Lane Blacktop" James Taylor as a drag racer hippie? Heck yeah.

Other ones that aren't specifically car movies but have a car as a focus point:

Fandango - Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson, Suzy Amis, Sam Robards. A group of UTexas buddies contemplate dodging the draft in 1971 on a post-graduation road trip. The scene with the Cadillac, the cable, and the train? Anyone who has seen the movie knows what I'm talking about.

Any of the Bourne movies usually has a good car chase.

The Island - it is non-stop action, and much of it includes chase scenes with cars, flying motorcycles, and there is a really neat yacht. The one disappointment is the cheap-ass Chevy SSR, but it has Scarlett Johansen in it so I will let it slide.

AND, one of my all-time favorites... DUEL. Dodge Dart versus an 18-wheeler tanker. Oh yeah.

The Chase isn't that kristy brinkley and charlie sheen, henry rollins is in it driving and he has no drivers liscense

Volksroddin wrote: Vanishing point(1971), best car chase movie ever!!!!

Way after To Live & Die in LA...

Surprised no one mentioned "From Dust to Glory." Not entirely cars, and it's kind of a documentary, but it's awesome. And Mario Andretti is in it.

Twin_Cam wrote: Surprised no one mentioned "From Dust to Glory." Not entirely cars, and it's kind of a documentary, but it's awesome. And Mario Andretti is in it.

I remember that one. Great documentary. They showed it on Speed a while back (I think it was Speed)

I used to watch Duel when I was little. Haven't seen it in years though

wherethefmi2000 wrote: The Chase isn't that kristy brinkley and charlie sheen, henry rollins is in it driving and he has no drivers liscense

Not Kristy, It was the actress that played Buffy in the vampire movie, Also had Flea and Anthony Kidas from the RHCP in the bronco.

gumball rally http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074597/ has cannonball run beat all over in my book.

how about the haliki (sp?) movies (guy who did the first gone in 60 seconds (NOT nick cage)) oh wait, noone said gone in 60 seconds, either version...

the first gone in 60 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071571/ is 45 min of horrible movie followed by 45min of awsome car chase. (THAT deserves best chase in my book)

the remake with nick cage wasnt too bad really.. actually, it was pretty damned awsome if you can overlook the jump farce.

The Junkman http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084184/ IIRC the record holder for most destroyed in a car chase. cars, boats, trailers, planes.... you name it, its crashed and blown up. MUST see, but not a great MOVIE movie, but worth seeing.

has anyone seen deadline auto theft http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085408/ aka gone in 60 seconds 2? can you tell me if its worth hunting for? (if the first was considered worth hunting for, lol)

Oh yeah and don't forget the impossible to find Condor Man

curtis73 wrote:

ReverendDexter wrote: Wow, this many posts and not a single person has mention Rendevouz?

I'll say the same thing about "2 Lane Blacktop" James Taylor as a drag racer hippie? Heck yeah.

Oh, good one!

Anyone else ever seen "Return to Macon County"? Don Johnson and Nick Nolte in a '57 Chevy: Return to Macon County

This topic comes up about once a year. As a car chase movie aficianado, I've seen just about every one there is and own maybe half of them. There really should be a few categories, as no one film is best at everything.

Best movie that happens to have car chases: I think Ronin probably takes this, but you could make a case for several others. I never get tired of this film, nor the first Bourne movie, but Ronin wins because it has multiple chases.

Best car chase sequence: original Gone In 60 Seconds. It wins on sheer screen time alone. The first 15 minutes of Mad Max comes second for me.

Best scary movie: Duel. Best watched late at night with all the lights off.

Best car chase you've probably never seen: Le Casse, or The Burglars.

Best movie that just happens to have a lot of cars and car action: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. '46 Ford convertible and a ex-military Dodge Power Wagon tow truck, not to mention some of the ugliest 1960s Mopars ever built getting deservedly wrecked.

Best racing movie: Grand Prix. As much as I'd like to vote LeMans for it's far-lesser boring side story content, GP is still better.

Best British humor: Original Italian Job. It's a funny movie, very well acted, and has tons of cars and a pretty good chase at the end.

Best Cannonball movie: Gumball Rally. Brock Yates hates it, but since his Cannonball Run movies suck, I feel no pity. The very-much-older version titled simply Cannonball is simply stupid.

Best comedy: Smokey & The Bandit. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but bust a gut every time I see the scene in the restaurant with Reynolds and Gleason.

Most overrated car chase movie: Vanishing Point. Ugh. Even a fast forward button on a VCR isn't enough to make it palatable.

Best all-round car chase movie, evah: Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. Acceptable story, good acting, spectacular driving, NO CGI, very little sound dubbing and a helicopter chase they'd never dare do today. Okay, it may come across a bit dated in some respects, but that's it's only real flaw.

Most car chases either suffer from undercranked film (Road Warrior) or ridiculous CGI use (Bad Boys II). I think the era of the truly great car chase movie has passed.

Note: you can find just about every car chase sequence ever filmed on YouTube if you're willing to search long enough. Avoid the boring storylines and idiotic plots. You can see the chase from Le Casse there, along with The Seven Ups and dozens more you've never even heard of simply by searching "movie car chase".

No one mentioned the transporter...the first one, not the retarded sequal with the barrel roll at full speed where the bomb gets pulled off by the dangling hook at the end of the crane and lands on all 4 with no damage at all. And also Crank...driving though a mall = fun! Jason Stathem movies are full of bad acting and fun driving. And I dont recall anyone mentioning Borne series...Original Mini outpacing European cops through downtown cities and such. Very good stuff...unrealistic, but fun none the less.

Not really on the same topic, but for funniest car scene is the scene in Loaded Weapon where Emilio Estevez and Samuel L. Jackson are riding in the squad car, and Emilio looks in the rear view and sees ninjas in the back seat. He says "I think we're being followed. Hold on, I'll try and shake 'em". he then goes crazy tail out through an intersection and weaves through some cars. then he looks in the back again and the ninjas are gone....hilarious!!!

Tied for that is the begining of super troopers where they pull a bunch of kids over who are getting high in the car. too much in that scene to describe, but equally as hilarious. Side note: that scene ends with a great chase between a caprice and a miata. Pure cinematic gold!

Blues Brothers.

It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?

I have to add another vote for that really short one called Rendezvous when they attached a camera to the front of a Ferrari? and drove it full out around the streets of Paris at 6 AM.It was filmed in 1970 and lasted just 9 spectacular minutes.The driver (thought to be an unnamed F1 driver) ran many many red lights, passed a lot of other traffic and dodged a few pedestrians with the only sound being the roar of the engine revs and squealing of tires.

I know Bullitt isn't really a car movie, but my favorite part is when the bad guys in the Charger start the chase with McQueen by deliberately buckling their seat belts before nailing the gas and smoking the tires.

the new death race is almost as cool....terrible acting, terrible plot, not scientifically accurate, but still entertaining as hell!

curtis73 wrote: AND, one of my all-time favorites... DUEL. Dodge Dart versus an 18-wheeler tanker. Oh yeah.

[cough] Valiant [/cough]

I do love Ronin but the last time I watched it I noticed they used the "car gets hit and then explodes" schtick just a little too much. Still wicked cool though.

My sister got me Bullitt on DVD for Christmas. Awesomesauce.

I also have to throw in a nod for both the original and new Italian Jobs. I still don't believe a Mini could carry that much gold though.

J

I went online spurred on by this thread, spent about $100 and now own about 15 of these movies in DVD.....sweet. I recommend this for any of you after some male alone time.

Have I said it before eBay rocks

I noticed that most of the good ones are pretty old (Vanishing Point, Bullitt, Winning, LeMans, and Grand Prix are either approaching 40 or past it).

I had this idea for a movie...see, there's this car magazine in, oh, what the hell, Florida; and every year they could have this contest where you have to build a car for a certain amount of money, y'know; and you have to take it down to Florida and, lessee, drag race and autocross it and let it be judged in a concours. You could follow 9 or ten teams from all over the place and the merry mixups that occur when...

Or you have this series of races across the country where you race really cheap cars and the officials impose really bizzarre penalties for minor infractions...

Or just one called Miata where ...oh, never mind...

Art imitating life......?

In reply to Tommy Suddard: "Yes, it sucked. But there was a lot of car chasing in it."

And a naked girl on a mini bike.

Obviously Vanishing Point, as I own the Challenger used in the Audioslave and Edmund's "Vanishing Point" videos.

I concur with "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry"-"my top end is unlimited"-nuff said.

Bullitt, of course. Max B, did the car prep, a legend if there ever was one.

Gumball Rally-real Ferrari Daytona and Cobra, plus Raul Julia's famous line as he rips the rear view mirror off the Ferrari, "What's behind us doesn't matter", or something to that effect. Plus, the trophies and car art in the conference room were provided by yours truly!

Rendezvous, while still a favorite, has lost a bit of the luster once I found out it wasn't a Ferrari that had a camera strapped to it. The sound was dubbed in later-damn!

original "Italian Job", good movie and fantastic cars. Still cringe when the Lambo meets it's end.

Didn't notice anyone mention another entertaining stinker-Dennis Hopper racing that old 'Vette on Mulholland drive. I think one of it's title was "King of the Mountain".

forzav12 wrote: Rendezvous, while still a favorite, has lost a bit of the luster once I found out it wasn't a Ferrari that had a camera strapped to it. The sound was dubbed in later-damn! original "Italian Job", good movie and fantastic cars. Still cringe when the Lambo meets it's end.

Have to add a note here: the camera car in C'etait une Rendezvous was a genuinely cool car: a Mercedes 450SEL 6.9, one of which was also featured in Ronin as a tribute to that movie. And the "Lambo" that gets wrecked in The Italian Job was basically some sheet metal on a dolly. If you look closely you can see right through where the engine is supposed to be.

J