Saturday, May 25, 2013

Weekend Weigh-in: What is Your Favorite Car Movie of All Time?

This weekend, we all live our lives a quarter mile at a time.

With Fast & Furious Six (but really just Furious Six) in theaters, let's talk about the best car movies. I know nothing about cars (just ask my car), but there are some car movies I love. So what's your favorite?

34 comments:

  1. The Cannonball Run, because Adrienne Barbeau. Honorable mention to Death Proof, because Zoe Bell. Also, while it's not a car movie, the chase scene in To Live And Die In LA is fantastic, and it's not even the best thing about that movie.

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  2. Easily, the top two have to be Bullit and/or American Graffiti. Both are great movies, and both feature cool cars and/or car chases.

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  3. Smokey And The Bandit.

    *Laughs like Burt Reynolds*

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  4. Should we make a distinction between a "car movie" and "car moments?" Bullitt has, without question, one of the greatest car chases ever - but I wouldn't consider it a "car movie." A car movie has automobiles as the primary focus. In that respect, I would say American Graffiti, because its characters live, breath, and die by their cars. Toad's reaction when he learns that Steve will let him take care of his car when he is away at college speaks volumes about how much automobiles mean to these young people.

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    1. I had the same question as I wrote Bullitt, to be honest. I don't know whether the inclusion of a great car chase scene classifies a movie as a "car movie." If that is the case, then The French Connection and The Blues Brothers can probably be considered "car movies," and I don't know that they are.

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    2. Here's a question though, what else does Bullitt have going for it? Without that chase scene, it's a 'just okay' detective movie. Maybe it's a little better than The Seven Ups, but it's not as good as The French Connection or Dirty Harry.

      I've seen it four times, and can't remember much of anything outside of the car chase. That being the case, could we maybe count Bullitt?

      The Blues Brothers and The French Connection have other things going for it, there are scenes that are memorable beyond the car chases.

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  5. As a good movie (with proper story/character/dialogue) based around cars, either Smokey and The Bandit or American Graffiti.

    For fun movies with lots of car action I would say Cannon Ball Run, The Transporter or possibly The Italian Job.

    Bullitt only works as a car movie for that once chase scene, and then it's not a car movie anymore. That same thing applies to the Bourne movies.

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  6. Christine.
    TV Movie: Duel
    Bullitt-like car movie: Halloween (Michael spends about half the movie driving around and one of the kills is in a car)

    :-)

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  7. Replies
    1. That answer seemed too obvious. I took the question as: outside of the Fast and Furious franchise, what are other good car movies?

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    2. Don't be afraid of the obvious John Murphy :-) Honestly, I like Fast Five the most. Death Proof a close second. I know something like Death Proof or Drive for example are better overall movies but if I had a choice to watch one of those three I would choose Fast Five.

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  8. For individual movie I would have to agree with Kathy, Duel is awesome. Fast Five is a lot of fun Patrick but best car movie of all time? I actually think the car chase from Ronin might be the best one I have ever seen myself.

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    1. I want to add Ronin to my list please! I can't believe I forgot to put that on the list.

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    3. But the question was favorite, not best. My favorite is Fast Five. I dunno.

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  10. I'd say Cars 2..... I'm just kidding, that movie blows.

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    1. Yeah, they didn't even have the song Life is a Highway in Cars 2. And life IS a highway so Cars 2 has no fucking idea what it's talking about. I'm going to find my crayons and a spiral notebook and remake Cars 2.

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    2. Find a way to kill off Larry the Cable Guy's character in the first four minutes and I'll send you a 64 crayon set with built in sharpener...

      Figure out how to kill Larry the Cable Guy too and I'll make it the 150-count Telescoping Crayon Tower (it has glitter crayons!)...

      ;-)

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  11. For pure non-CGI real car action, Steve McQueen's Les Mans (1971).

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  12. No one wants to admit to Cronenberg's Crash, then?

    :p

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    1. I'd sooner cop to liking "Fast Company" than "Crash," but that's just me. ;-)

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  13. My favorite car movies (not movies with notorious car chase/crashes, big difference):

    GRAND PRIX (1966): John Frankenheimer directs the hell out of the racing sequences (which served him well when he did "Ronin" 32 years later) but it's the depiction of the lifestyle and characters of the F1 racing world that give the race scenes an edge of seeing something melodramatic.

    TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971): Monte Hellman's existentialist film about male characters who live for their car-inspired lifestyle (with names like 'GTO,' 'Driver' and 'Mechanic') is the "2001: A Space Odyssey" of car movies, with all the good and bad that comparison entails.

    USED CARS (1980): No one car model stands out, but the cutthroat war between used car salesmen is a highlight of both Bob Zemeckis' and Kurt Russell's resumes.

    CHRISTINE (1982): The bitch is back, and she's pissed! Carpenter's most underrated flick.

    That's it really. Like Patrick I'm not a car guy either, and scenes with great car chases ("Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The French Connection," "Bullit," "The Matrix Reloaded," "The Blues Brothers," etc.) are a dime a dozen. And the only reason "The Love Bug" isn't in my list it's because I haven't seen it in decades.

    My NEW-TO-ME MOVIES for the last few days (it's been a while):

    5/21/13: Sargent Bilko: the early years. Alfred E. Green's TOP BANANA (1954) on TCM-HD.

    5/22/13:
    'I think I exist.' Jean-Luc Godard's A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961) on DVD.

    5/23/13:
    For the car porn-loving kid in all of us. H.B. Halicki's GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974) on Blu-ray.

    5/24/13:
    Because even neorealist directors need a vacation. Vittorio De Sica's TWO WOMEN (1960) on TCM-HD.

    5/25/13:
    'In the circle... the circle of shit!' Steve McQueen's HUNGER (2008) on Sundance Channel.

    5/26/13:
    "Lady Tanaka" is not having a very nice life. Mikio Naruse's MOTHER (1952) on TCM.

    5/27/13:
    Because apparently only Japanese directors in the 60's could pull off anamorphic B&W epics. František Vlácil’s MARKETA LAZAROVA (1967) in 35mm at Anthology Film Archives.

    5/28/13:
    Rich French fucks, and the stuff they pull off to get their kicks. Claude Autant-Lara's A PIG ACROSS PARIS (1956) at Film Forum.

    CLICK HERE FOR REVIEWS

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  14. I think Tucker: A Man and His Dream deserves a mention.

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  15. Good call! The "Tucker Torpedo" was sadly smothered in its crib.

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  16. "Le Mans," a movie that only true car racing fans can enjoy! No real plot, more dialogue from the race announcer than the star of the film, and zero character development, but ground-breaking cinematography, no CGI, unmatched realism in terms of special effects, and the coolest assortment of REAL cars ever to hit the big screen!

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  17. Christine. I love John Carpenter!

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