Friday, April 17, 2009

Where did all the great car movies go?



Being both a movie buff and a car nut I find it hard to believe that with everything that can be done in movies today no one has been able to produce a true car lovers film. The most recent release of Fast and Furious just reinforces this thought. How much of this movie are the actors actually driving the cars? Better yet, how much are these cars driven at all?

Now, I haven't seen F and F, and probably won't, however, I did see the original and thought it was decent for what it was supposed to be...an action movie with some cool effects...but it left me wanting more. More engine rumbles, more rubber burning, and most importantly, real cars doing cool shit on real streets.

There have been some pretty cool movies that have done those 3 things. Most are from the sixties and seventies. My favorite of all time is "Gumball Rally". I can watch it over and over. Classic moment when they tear through a 1976 New York City. This movie along with "Cannonball!" were the predecessors to movies like "Cannonball Run" and "Smokey and the Bandit".

Everyone has their favorites, and I am not telling you which are best, just which you should seek out.

I can watch these over and over again with the volume turned up:

Bullit: No list is complete without this one.
Vanishing Point: Just all out driving, nothing else.
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974): Special effects??? What are special special effects?
Gone in Sixty Seconds: Take out the bridge jump scene and you have a pretty damn good movie.
American Graffiti: I can look at those cars all day long.
French Connection: A '71 Pontiac LeMans vs the NYC subway? Come on.

Notables:

Ronin
Days of Thunder
The Bourne films



Posted by File Under C at 1:22 AM
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