Here Are The 15 Finest Racing Films Of All Time:
“Runaway Match” and “The Speed Kings” are often credited with being the first movies to show a car chase. Fatty Arbuckle was in charge of an exciting hotrod race, and as one new technology met another, all kinds of creative scenes were being shot.
Many great racing movies have been made, such as the popular Pixar series Cars, Drive, which stars Ryan Gosling in a dramatic but minor part, and Talladega Nights, which stars Will Ferrell and is still probably a top 5 pick among a group of guys chilling out.
I agree that some of these movies aren’t just about racing, but they do have racing scenes, which is all that counts.
The most popular racing movies have captivated viewers all over the world, appealing to both movie fans and race fans. They include dramas, action movies, comedies, and biopics.
Not only do these movies show how exciting high-speed chases can be, but they also look at themes like determination, emotion, and the strength of the human spirit within the face of great obstacles.
Need For Speed:
Inspired by a popular racing video game series, this fast-paced movie with Aaron Paul and Michael Keaton wasn’t able to break the “video game movie curse.” There is still a good amount of mindless fun to be had, no matter how long you’ve played the games or how well you know the phrase from “Top Gun.”
“Need for Speed” feels a lot such as a “Fast and the Furious” clone, as any racing movie from the 2010s would. However, it doesn’t quite match that franchise’s satisfying set pieces as well as wonderfully silly plots.
But it’s still an enjoyable film for fans of that series as well as action movies with cars in general. And Dominic Cooper has a great time as the movie’s over-the-top bad guy, so you should watch it all the way through.
It looks like “Need for Speed” was meant to be the first game in a possible series. It might have gotten better over the course of one or two more games, but this car crashed too soon to get a second chance.
Gone In 60 Seconds:
Gone in 60 Seconds came out before The Fast as well as the Furious. Even though critics didn’t love the Nicolas Cage-led action movie, it still did well at the box office, making $237 million upon a $90 million budget.
Phoenix Raines, a skilled car thief, has to come out of retirement to steal 50 cars within 24 hours to save his brother Kip after he messes up a car theft. It’s possible that the language is bad, but that happens in a lot of action movies. Still, the chase scenes are great.
Rush:
With “Rush,” Ron Howard, the director of “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13,” gives us another instant classic. The movie tells the story of F1 drivers Niki Lauda as well as James Hunt, from their time racing within lower-level leagues to their fierce feud in Formula 1.
This was one of the biggest battles in the history of sports, and it did a lot to get people interested in racing within the 1970s. When the 1976 Formula 1 season starts, this story really takes off.
At the start of the season, Lauda was the reigning winner, as well as Hunt was eager to take the title away from him. Although Lauda was in a terrible crash, he was able to get back to the track in just six weeks to finish the exciting race for the title.
Stroker Ace:
With roles in movies like “Smokey as well as the Bandit” as well as “The Cannonball Run” in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Burt Reynolds is often thought of as a driver. It’s possible that another Reynolds gem that deserves just as much love got lost in the fog of memory: In 1983, Hal Needham directed “Stroker Ace.”
“Ace” wasn’t a big hit with reviewers when it came out, but it’s become a cult favorite, especially among real race car drivers. In fact, NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie painted his car to honor the movie in 2021, 38 years after it came out.
“As a teenager within the 1980s, ‘Stroker Ace’ was always an all-time favorite of mine,” LaJoie stated of his love of the chicken-themed “Ace” style. “It’s pretty cool that Circle B Diecast has made a paint scheme to honor “Stroker Ace,” which is one of my all-time favorite movies.
This is a great chance to remember Hal Needham, Burt Reynolds, Jim Neighbors, Loni Anderson, as well as Bubba Smith, as well as Ned.
The group of stars from the early 1980s in “Ace” makes it a lot of fun. “Stroker Ace” is a fun movie to watch, but it might not be anyone’s initial, second, or even third favorite Burt Reynolds car movie.
Fast & Furious Franchise:
The best race movie and series ever In the year 2022, this series has changed a lot from its roots: an undercover cop who joined the group he was looking into.
These movies became what they are today thanks to Vin Diesel as well as Paul Walker. The Fast & Furious movies were huge hits at the box office. Who would have imagined that there would be 10 movies in this series? Yes, it really is amazing.
The stories get incredibly silly, and in Fast 9, Ludacris as well as Tyrese Gibson’s characters go to space at the end.
Hobbs & Shaw is a spin-off that came about after The Rock as well as Jason Statham were added. John Cena joined to be Dom’s brother who had been forgotten.
One thing this series always does really well is making fans gasp with its mind-blowing races. It’s truly out of this world, to use a metaphor.
Ford v Ferrari:
The movie Ford vs. Ferrari is based on the true story of the famous 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race, which saw one of the biggest upsets in the history of racing. You should see this movie even if Christian Bale as well as Matt Damon fail to sell you on it. The story is unbelievable.
Ferrari was about to go out of business, so they had to come up with a new way to sell their cars to be the best.
Ken Miles, a race car driver from Britain, was hired to help them build and run a Ford during the 24-hour endurance race that Ferrari had won for many years. Your attention will be held for the first twenty minutes of this perfect biopic, as each scene seems to move into the next.
The Cannonball Run:
Although “Smokey and the Bandit” got better reviews than “The Cannonball Run,” this movie is still hard to beat for racing fans or, honestly, anyone who just likes seeing players who look such as they’re having fun. It was directed by Reynolds’ friend as well as longtime stuntman Hal Needham.
Reynolds and his friend Dom DeLuise are in the movie, along with Dean Martin, Jackie Chan, Farrah Fawcett, Sammy Davis Jr., as well as Roger Moore, who makes fun of James Bond in the middle of his run as the character.
There are times when this screwball comedy regarding a cross-country race makes you feel like you’ve been asked to the best early-1980s party ever.
“Cannonball Run” came in third place for home gross in 1981, which shows the success the movie was alongside moviegoers. There would be more fun in a 1984 version, but it would be terrible in almost every other way.
Thunderbolt:
Thunderbolt is about a sports car mechanic named Chan Foh To (Jackie Chan) who helps the cops in his spare time by checking out cars that have been improperly changed.
One day, his sister is taken away, and a nasty street racer he once put in jail messes up his business. So, he has to beat the man in order to set her free.
Early during his American career, Jackie Chan was linked to race movies like “The Cannonball Run,” but it would be a while before he starred in a movie that was truly his own.
So, Thunderbolt has all the things you’d expect from a normal Chan movie: crazy bad guys, complicated action scenes, and Chan’s signature stunts that defy gravity. It also has some great racing scenes.
Senna:
There’s a chance that Aryton Senna is the best race car driver ever, but we may never know. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Senna wowed F1 fans and won driver’s titles like it was nothing.
It took Senna 162 races to win 41 and finish on the podium 80 times. He was only 34 years old when he died in one of the scariest crashes that ever occurred upon an F1 track. The video tells a scary story about Senna’s life.
Days Of Thunder:
This movie came out four years after Tony Scott launched Tom Cruise a star, so it’s likely that it was sold as “Top Gun with cars.” Style over substance was once more the norm, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Every race movie doesn’t have to be completely new to be fun, and “Days of Thunder” is one of those movies.
Cruise is at the top of his game in the action-packed movie, which also stars Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid, Michael Rooker, as well as a young John C. Reilly. Cruise acts a hotshot race car driver who wants to rule NASCAR and doesn’t care if he makes other drivers mad.
Car drivers and announcers who were big names within racing at the time will make appearances that racing fans will love. No doubt, “Days of Thunder” was a very typical race movie from its time. And what a time it was!
Speed Racer:
The movie Speed Racer is based on the cartoon with the same name. Some people might not like it. There isn’t another movie like this on this list. It’s a live-action version of a cartoon.
This cartoon live-action movie is one of the best ones we’ve seen so far, even though the CGI might not hold up too well. It’s very bright.
Speed, Pops, and Racer X, the difficult brother, all do good work as the Racer family. The action was great, as well as Michael Giacchino’s music is top-notch. Over the past ten years, Speed Racer has earned a large cult following, even though it didn’t do well at the box office.
Talladega Nights:
The comedy Talladega Nights was one of those rare movies that comes along once every ten years or so and changes the whole genre. The great comedy from 2006 by Will Ferrel and Adam McKay is about Ricky Bobby, who has been meant to run within NASCAR since he was born.
There are so many great and quote-worthy parts of this movie that it is unfair to pick just one. If Christopher Nolan says it’s an excellent movie, it is a good movie.
Michel Vaillant:
The 2003 movie “Michel Vaillant” is one of a kind because it is based on a set of French racing comic books from the late 1950s.
Even now, the books are still around in different forms. In France, they were turned into both a live-action as well as an animated series. The animated series came to the U.S. in the early 1990s through a relationship with Mattel and was renamed “Heroes on Hot Wheels.”
But the movie is the most ambitious employ of the “Michel Vaillant” IP so far. The movie wasn’t liked by reviewers or fans in its home country of France, and it was considered a failure even though it had a strong marketing effort. However, if you can find it, it’s worth a watch.
“Michael Vaillant” has never been officially released outside of France. This stylish, fast-paced racing movie has characters that are different from those in most American-made racing stories, and it should be seen in the United States.
The Last American Hero:
Junior Johnson was a real NASCAR driver who became famous in the sport. The Last American Hero is about him. The movie shows Johnson’s life in a realistic and gritty way, from his early years as a moonshiner within the rural South to his rise to fame within stock car racing.
The Last American Hero isn’t like most sports movies. Racing isn’t the only thing this movie is about; it’s also about Junior Johnson’s relationships and the moral problems he faces along the way.
The movie also takes viewers into the world of stock car racing as well as captures the essence of the American spirit alongside its great acting, believable Southern setting, and memorable soundtrack. It is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with audiences, both those who love the sport and those who want to see an interesting human story.
Seabiscuit:
“Seabiscuit” is an American sports drama movie from 2003 that was based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling non-fiction book of the same name. The movie tells the true story of Seabiscuit, a racehorse that was too small and underrated but became a sign of hope and strength during the Great Depression in the United States.
The movie “Seabiscuit” got great reviews for its interesting story, believable setting, and excellent acting from the lead players. The movie does a good job of capturing the spirit of a time period while also honoring the strength of the human spirit as well as the unbreakable bond between people and animals.
