What's the worst car movie ever.

NickD said:

I'm prepared to get shelled for this, but American Graffitti. Car guys put this movie on such a pedestal, but it's just a bunch of teenagers that I don't care about or are given any reason to care about futzing around for an hour and 45 minutes. And then the street race that it spends the whole film building towards ends immediately when the '55 Chevy crashes out. I thought maybe I didn't get it because it was a generational thing, but my father said "I grew up in this era, and I don't get the hype." I don't really get the love for Two-Lane Blacktop either, but at least that one had some actual racing and car scenes. 

For car guys it's a cool movie because of the automotive scenery, but it's not a car movie, it's a coming of age movie. I saw it in 74(?) at the theatre with my parents, also from that era, and they loved it. My Dad, a serious car guy, said it had the right feel and was to him representative of the era. Maybe he was being nostalgic.

But it's no more a car movie than Bullit, or the Seven ups.

Two lane is unpopular because it's too realistic, and people, especially younger people, who grew up on a steady diet of fake Hollywood garbage don't like realistic.

And that's my thoughts on the subject 

My father took me to see Hooper in 1978, I was 11 at the time. That ruined most other car films for me. Car movies for me are all about the stunts. The more the better and CGI just doesn't cut it. I haven't watched any of the movies y'all have listed. 

In reply to Toyman! :

There is very, very little CGI in Fury Road. I think that's part of the reason we like it so much. A return to stuntmen and explosions.

"Screw the dialogue, lets crash some cars" -Hal Needham.

Appleseed said:

In reply to Toyman! :

There is very, very little CGI in Fury Road. I think that's part of the reason we like it so much. A return to stuntmen and explosions.

And at one point they gave the studio MORE money to blow E36 M3 up. 

ddavidv said:

I think the most painful car movie I've watched was "Drive Angry". Despite the Charger and a pre-insanity, very hawt Amber Heard that movie is truly a waste of time to even have running in the background while you're working in the garage. I don't think Nick Cage has made a good movie since "Raising Arizona".

 

They wrecked a lot of vintage musclecars for no particular reason. And then there was the girl who E36 M3 on Johnny Depp's bed. All that and Satan too.

Deserves at least a Roger Corman Award.

AMiataCalledSteve said:

The original Gone in 60 Seconds is almost unwatchable until you get to the car chase at the end. 90% of the story is just expository dialogue spoken by unseen characters while unrelated events play across the screen, punctuated by a quick car stealing scene, and then more weird narration. It's completely and utterly awful. Fortunately, the car chase is almost half the runtime of the whole movie, and it holds up as a great chase even now. Just not quite good enough to redeem the utter trash that is the rest of the movie.

Be sure to avoid The Junkman, then...  I haven't watched it in 40 years, but I seem to remember it had even less of a plot than Gone in 60 Seconds. Hal wrecked a LOT of cars in that one.

I remember Hooper. I watched it as a VHS rental.  I was lucky enough to have a video rental store within easy walking distance of our apartment complex.  I watched a lot of movies rented from there. This was before Blockbuster came to the area.  Mad Max, Road Warrior, Hooper, and so on... If the box had cars on the front cover, I'd rent it.

We should start a thread - worst Sly Stallone movies.   Start here  

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Lol. I was just thinking about that one.

In reply to ShawnG :

He has weights inside the truck do he can work outs as he drives - awful 

We could also make a sub-list of bad trucker movies that came out in the 70's and 80's.

No hating on Roger Corman, folks.  That man is a master of stretching every budget buck.  He's about as Grassroots as it gets.

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to ShawnG :

He has weights inside the truck do he can work outs as he drives - awful 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rdZVWeA7a-Q?rel=0

 

But he drives an Autocar. That makes up for all fouls.

Duke said:

No hating on Roger Corman, folks.  That man is a master of stretching every budget buck.  He's about as Grassroots as it gets.

 

So much entertainment from him during my childhood. 

I love the corny sci-fi stuff he made.

Driving Miss Daisy

Morgan Freeman driving 35 mph the entire time and not a single NA Miata factory wheel sighting. 

Duke said:

No hating on Roger Corman, folks.  That man is a master of stretching every budget buck.  He's about as Grassroots as it gets.

 

Hating corman is like hating Ed wood. You don't watch those movies because they're good. 

Mndsm said:

Duke said:

No hating on Roger Corman, folks.  That man is a master of stretching every budget buck.  He's about as Grassroots as it gets.

Hating corman is like hating Ed wood. You don't watch those movies because they're good. 

Except that a lot of times Corman's movies are good if you let them be.  Plus he gave a bunch of now-famous directors their start.

I don't really have anything to add on the topic of bad car movies that wouldn't be redundant.

Mndsm said:

Duke said:

No hating on Roger Corman, folks.  That man is a master of stretching every budget buck.  He's about as Grassroots as it gets.

 

Hating corman is like hating Ed wood. You don't watch those movies because they're good. 

Frankenstein Unbound is a classic.

Battle Beyond the Stars gave James Cameron his start in the business.

Duel.

In reply to Shadeux :

One of the best TV movies EVER made. Yeah, it's a TV movie.

Shadeux said:

Duel.

You're kidding, right?

I think you meant to post in the other thread.

In reply to Duke :

I already posted Duel.

Was "The Betsy" a car movie? 

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to ShawnG :

He has weights inside the truck do he can work outs as he drives - awful 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rdZVWeA7a-Q?rel=0

 

Arm wrestling flick is not a car movie.

Are there many arm wrestling movies?