Greatest car movie of all time?

Too many to list

Original Gone in 60 sec
New Gone in 60 sec
Faster p u s s ycat
Gumball Rally
Cannonball Run
Death Race 2000
1st Fast & the Furious

 

Best car chase movie - Ronin

 

Le Mans with Steve McQueen all time classic. Gotta agree with Night Life's list they are some of the best.

 

TWO LANE BLACKTOP

 

Cannonball Run

 

Herbie Goes Bananas!

 

Somewhat off the beaten path...

American Graffiti - classic movie, too
Bullitt - especially if you like green VWs
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - one car leaves you and the garage... smitten
Goldfinger - what a fully loaded Aston looks like
Mad Max- The Road Warrior - you know you not only want one of those cars as weapons, but are mentally designing one of your own...
Repo Man - TV Party

 

For me, if you're talking about racing, it was Grand Prix.

I saw it as a kid and I was hooked on the prancing horse every since. The story is a bit too soapy and the drivers are cartoonish characters of real drivers. But the cars, having the real F-1 drivers in many scenes (a great subtle cameo by Fangio), the sounds of the real motors, and the editing that has been copied ever since, make it a classic.

And, best of all, not a computer special effect in sight (unlike today's over done dribble). Even the period Grand Prix was made -- just before the wing and corporate sponsor ship stickers-- make it a great time capsule of that golden age of 60's racing. Hey, Jean Paul Belmondo drives an Alfa Duetto spider to Monza with his girlfriend. How cool is that? It's hard to imagine it ever being remade again.

Ok, it does have one of the corniest lines ever. The Japanese team owner yelling "gas reaking!". But, I can overlook that and the dopey love scenes.

There is no question that Le Mans is the best movie about the reality of racing and what's in a racers head. And, the final battle right up to the climax is extremely well done. But, Grand Prix really is the Ben Hur of racing movies to me.

In case no one has ever seen it, Kirk Douglas made a pretty good movie in 1955 called "the Racers". It's another great period movie about GP racing of that era.

If you have to ask about the best, the worst must be that piece of junk with Stallone a while back. That was just plain UNWATCHABLE.
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No contest. Hands down LeMans with Steve McQueen.

 

i've gotta go with both the original and the new(er) gone in 60 seconds, the mix of cars is great, even if the story line (at least in the new one) isn't so great.

 

I have to agree with Grand Prix.

I watched it a while ago on TCM when they did interviews with James Garner and a few other people involved with the film and they discussed the way it was made and how it was shot.

The fact that James Garner was literally racing a legit F1 car around the streets of Monaco right before the actual race happened just seriously blows my mind.

It is awesome because the cinematography is amazing, and the fact that a movie like that could NEVER be made today. Not only could no actor actually be capable of doing what they did, no film company would even bother to attempt it.

 

10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000+

I am also gonna add Speed Zone to that list.

 

There was a F1 movie in the mid to late 70s called, if I remember correctly, "One by One". It was shot on 70mm because that was required for Academy consideration. In the late '70s the Ferrari Owner's Club in LA had a private showing at Todd AO studios with the makers of the film there.

Anyone from the FOC, except me, remember being there? We had a decent crowd, as I recall. I am pretty sure Larry Crane attended. Ed Niles, were you there?

Jeff

 

If we are actually talking about the greatest "racing" movie of all time, then you have to give it about a 50/50 tie between Grand Prix and LeMans. I guess it depends on which venue you like the best; both are superb in the non-CGI racing shots. Maybe this will never be done again on such a scale.

If we really just mean "car", (and the car itself is as much the star as the actors), two come to my mind from the forgotten zone - the original Vanishing Point, and the strange getaway chase film The Last Run (with the Lancia roadster). Of course, there are about a thousand other examples that could come to mind - Thunder Road with Bob Mitchum and the real-life hillbillys as one example...

I somehow do not think the upcoming Speed Racer attempt is going to make the short list.

Trixie - calling the Mark V!!!

 

I would also go with Grand Prix or LeMans, but always must mention Gumball Rally. If you totally ignore the plot, there are some of the best car sights and sounds ever. The Daytona blowing through New York with sounds bouncing off of the buildings will send a shiver up you spine. And then it gave us one of the best, if not the best, all time car movie quotable line delivered by a young Raoul Julia as Franco, in a ridiculously thick Italian accent :
"And now the first rule of Italian driving (tearing off mirror) - what's a behind me is not important"

Another one that I like is at the first of the movie:
"Ladies and Gentleman, a toast -- to Internal Combustion, and wind in the face..."
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Both incarnations of "The Italian Job" were quite fun (and completely different)... the opening of the original with the orange Miura and the curvy mountain roads can fuel those nostalgic dreams...

 

Oop! Forgot Rendezvous by Claude Lalouche. Now out on DVD. Remember people get bookleg duplicatons of the film. I guess it was finally determined to actually be a 275GTB and according to the promo material on the DVD the rumor is that JP Beltoise may have done the driving.

Forget this meaningless crap about plots. How about shifting into 5th at redline blowing through red lights on the Champs d'Elyse.

It may be a short film but if you really like the cars as you claim you must see this.

Jeff

 

The Transporter was cool...

 

My urban legend sources (the dreaded ZR-1 net) tell me that this was filmed from a rack hung off the front of a Mercedes 6.3 Sedan, and the V-12 sounds were grafted in after the fact.

Cannot prove much one way or the other, but I have seen photos of the Merc and the camera gear somewhere.

 

Grand Prix or Le Mans for me

 

I have to give a prop to the new(ish) QT movie Death Proof

It's a pure flashback to the sexploitation car movies of the 70s, and it features an 18 minute car chase scene between a 70 Challenger and a 69 Charger. No CG at all, every stunt was a real car hitting (or missing) another car.

Slow to set up the finale, and not for the weak of stomach, but still good fun.

 

If it is true the sound editing needed to get an Academey award. Not so sure I buy into the urban myth deal here.

Have you watched the other tracks with assorted stories on the DVD?

Jeff

 

Ferrari Daytona, 365 GTC4, Dino 246, Lancia Stratos, Lancia Fulvia, DeTomaso Pantera, Fiat Dino, Lamborghini Miura, Lamborghini 400 GT, Lotus Europa, Lotus Elan, Porsche 911, BMW 3.0CSi, and even a Renault Alpine can all be seen in one movie: Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo, which, by the way, stars a Lancia Scorpion!

 

Jeff, I have only seen the film itself once, on an internet link. What I do remember was a thread that got going in the old ZR-1 email network that showed some still photos of the camera car. It got pretty nasty, on what kind of car it was, etc. I think there was a thread here on this subject as well, a little more polite (as befits us FChatters). Maybe I will take a little time to look...

And, I do not think it is fair to call it "faked", even if some or all of the film was made from a camera car...they DID really drive it through the streets of Paris, and that is good enough for me. As we all know, a lot of the footage in both Grand Prix and Le Mans was done from camera car rigs...

I would assume that the Police would crack down on such a thing as this pretty hard and fast nowadays, especially after the Princess Diana accident.