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Racing movies are such a special kind of film. They can be action packed, comedic, dramatic, romantic, suspenseful; but all of them will make you drive your car differently than you normally would after leaving a theater.
There are a wide array of racing films, from the acclaimed Pixar franchise Cars, to the dramatic, minimal speaking role of Ryan Gosling in Drive, or Will Ferrell‘s comedic masterpiece of Talladega Nights, which is still probably a top five quoted by a group of guys hanging out. Yes, some of these films don’t entirely center around racing, but there are at least racing sequences in them, which is all that matters.
‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ (2000)
Before The Fast and The Furious there was Gone in 60 Seconds. The Nic Cage led action movie didn’t receive great reviews from critics, but it was still able to be successful at the box office, making $237 million on a $90 million budget.
After his brother Kip messes up a car theft, master car thief Memphis Raines (Nic Cage) must come out of retirement to steal 50 cars in 24 hours to save his brother. The dialogue may be cheesy, but that’s with a lot of action movies. The chase scenes are still awesome here.
‘Speed Racer’ (2008)
Speed Racer is a racing movie based on the anime of the same name, and it is not for everyone. It’s probably the uniquest out of every movie on this list because it is a live-action version of an anime. It is very, very colorful, and even though the CGI may not hold up that well, it’s still one of the better anime live-action adaptations to date.
The Racer family: Speed (Emile Hirsch), Pops (John Goodman), and the complicated brother Racer X (Matthew Fox) all give good performances. The action is great, and the score by Michael Giacchino is elite. Speed Racer, over the past decade, has gained a sizable cult following despite its underperformance at the box office.
‘Le Mans’ (1971)
This will not be the last racing movie on this list that revolves around the 24 hours of Le Mans race. The 1971 film of the same name is hailed as one of the most realistic portrayals of racing in a movie to date. Steve McQueen plays Michael Delaney, who is a top-notch Le Mans driver.
The movie has some romance budding between Delaney and his rivals widow, Lisa (Elga Andersen), but it is mostly praised for its driving sequences, and also featured real footage from the 1970 Le Mans race that took place a year prior to the movies release.
‘Cars’ Franchise (2006-2017)
One of Pixar’s many successful franchises, Cars takes place in a world of anthropomorphic cars. Following Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) as he gets lost in the town of Radiator Springs, befriending the locals and learning there is more to life than just racing.
The success of the first movie spawned a sequel, which by all accounts was considerably less good, scoring only a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, unheard of for a Pixar movie. However, the franchise did get a third movie 11 years after the original, and it is arguably the best of the three.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)
One wouldn’t immediately think of Mad Max: Fury Road when discussing racing movies, but there are rigged up cars and chase sequences that involve driving, so it fits the bill. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Max (Tom Hardy) is captured by the warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He teams up with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) as they try to escape the warlord in a chase across the wasteland.
Director George Miller came up with the idea for Fury Road in 1987, but the movie was in production hell for quite some time, due to the September 11 attacks and controversy with Mel Gibson, which led Miller to recast the role, eventually landing on Tom Hardy. Luckily for fans, the film was made, and by all accounts was better than the original.
‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ (2006)
Perhaps Will Ferrell’s most iconic film (it was his largest opening weekend box office at that point), it documents the hilarious rise and fall of the titular character, Ricky Bobby, as well as his complex relationship with his father (Gary Cole) and his best friend Cal (John C. Reilly). Directed by Adam McKay and written by McKay and Ferrell, the movie was praised for its use of satire and gags.
Ricky Bobby became one of Ferrell’s most iconic characters for his outlandish, supremely narcissistic and cocky attitude. He was so quotable, from “If you ain’t first, you’re last,” (which was technically his fathers quote) to his drawn out prayers to baby Jesus; everyone knows to chew Big Red because of him.
‘Baby Driver’ (2017)
Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a getaway driver in Atlanta for a heist crew led by Doc (Kevin Spacey). Baby suffers from tinnitus, and uses his iPod to sooth it, specifically when he is driving the getaway car. The movie does a tremendous job blending what is the soundtrack and what Baby is listening to.
As all action/heist movies go, Baby falls in love with a girl, Deb (Lily James), a waitress, and wants to leave his life of crime behind. “One last job” ensues, and eventually everything goes awry and Baby must figure out how he and Deb are going to escape. The movie sounds simple, but it is very well written, directed, and the performances are exceptional.
‘Drive’ (2011)
Ryan Gosling‘s best movie is ironically one where he only had 116 lines of dialogue. Gosling stars as a character known only as “The Driver” who is a stuntman, mechanic, and criminal-for-hire getaway driver in LA. After falling for his new neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), Driver offers to be the getaway driver for a pawn shop heist involving Irene’s newly-released-from-prison husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac).
Things go wrong, and money that is owed to Albanian mobsters puts Driver and Irene directly in their crossfire. Things continue to unravel and create a more complex plot, all the while Gosling puts on a serious and great performance, using mostly body language. The story is good, the action is great, and Goslings performance is one of his most memorable.
‘Fast and Furious’ Franchise (2001-Present)
The pinnacle racing movie and franchise. In 2022, this franchise is a far cry from what it started out as, an undercover cop turned member of the crew he was investigating, film. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker built this franchise to what it is today: an absolute box-office juggernaut.
Who would have thought this franchise would get to 10 movies? It truly is incredible. The plots getting exceedingly ridiculous, with Fast 9 culminating in a trip to space for Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson‘s characters (an idea which seemingly started out as a joke). The introductions of The Rock and Jason Stathem spawned a spin-off, Hobbes and Shaw. And John Cena joined as Dom’s forgotten brother. Who knows where the final film will go?
‘Ford v Ferrari’ (2019)
The second racing movie that revolves around Le Mans, it follows Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as they attempt to make a car for Ford Motor Co. that can race and go up against Ferrari in the 1966 24 hours of Le Mans race.
The incentive to build a race car that can win Le Mans came after Ferrari, which was bankrupt, used Ford as leverage for a deal with Fiat, so Enzo Ferrari can maintain control over the cars and the racing group. Shelby and Miles eventually built a car, and although Miles doesn’t get the Le Mans win, Ford would go on to win Le Mans in ’67, ’68, and ’69.
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