With the recent release of the F1 movie, we figured it was a good time to reflect on our favorite movies about racing. Any form of competition is ripe for the big screen, and both two- and four-wheeled motorsports—with their colorful personalities, awe-inspiring feats of engineering, and life-or-death stakes—have yielded more movies than we can count. Some of them are wildly inaccurate, of course, and others are bad in a charming way. (A few famous Pixar ones even have talking cars.) We gravitate to movies that inspired us, many of which are based on real-life events, and ones that made us laugh. Of course, there are a few exceptions—you’ll have to read on to find out.
When you’re done, give us your vote in the comments below.
Dana Brown’s film documenting the Baja 1000 totally changed my perspective on racing. The hour-and-a-half film featured those helicopter follow videos of motorcycles and trophy trucks skipping across the tan Mexican desert that just captivated my young brain. I had never ridden a motorcycle before watching yet could still picture myself holding the throttle wide open running along the beach like Mike “Mouse” McCoy on his Honda XR650R. That storyline is probably part of why I bought an XR650R years later and still own XRs and dream of desert racing today. — Kyle Smith
There will never be another movie like Le Mans. It’s the antithesis of a stereotypical Hollywood car-action flick, it’s rife with real racing footage (plus stunt work that proved to be just as dangerous), and the plot is thin but universal enough to overlay almost any thematic message you want onto the hypnotic, kaleidoscopic cinematography. Le Mans is an art movie that used Porsche 917s as camera cars; what else needs to be said? — Alex Sobran
I have a personal connection to The Art of Racing in the Rain, an appreciation of Heart Like a Wheel, and respect for Le Mans, Grand Prix, On Any Sunday, and the period piece Two-Lane Blacktop, but the stupid/favorite motorsports movie I keep coming back to is 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which seems to air somewhere most every weekend. NASCAR was ripe for a send-up, and this comedy, thanks to stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, and the script by Ferrell and director Adam McKay, dissects its past and present and makes it, at least once in a while, downright hilarious. Once you’ve seen the whole thing, it’s a very easy film to just drop in on, watch for 15 minutes, and then move on. And I still do. — Steven Cole Smith
Sorry, folks, but I can’t get into films based on motorsport. If I want motorsport, I want to see it in person (or on live TV). It’s too easy to fib or stretch the truth with dramatic license on the silver screen, and that really grinds my gears. If I am watching a movie about racing, it better be cute and charming like The Love Bug. — Sajeev Mehta
The Lindsey Lohan version, I’m assuming? — Andrew Newton
IS THERE ANY OTHER?? — Sajeev Mehta
In my early days of Formula 1 fandom, I started to kick around the internet for important stories from F1’s past. When I came across the harrowing tale of Niki Lauda’s crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix, it sort of naturally led me over to the 2013 film Rush.
Is it a little over-dramatized? Probably. But I don’t think that many folks are going to care. In fact, I remember thinking that this film spanned the gap between die-hard fans and first-timers — it seemed like a flick that would get pretty much everyone a little more interested in Formula 1, even if that interest would be temporary. I still hold it in high regard as a captivating film, if something that maybe lacks the pure motorsports panache of some of the other movies on this list. — Nathan Petroelje
I have a hard time watching racing movies. Yes, I am capable of suspending disbelief, but there’s only so many “oh, now he’s gonna floor it…” moments or extra shifts or CGI-generated physics messes that one person can take, at least if the movie has any pretense of being serious. There’s not much substitute for real visuals, which is why Senna, the 2010 documentary, does it for me. It’s generally a very good account of the Brazilian’s story, and the archival footage they assembled for it is absolutely riveting. — Eddy Eckart
I’m putting Days of Thunder in pole position, even though it’s a pretty terrible, cliché-strewn movie: The two rivals who want to win so bad they’ll race on track, in rental cars, and even in wheelchairs at the hospital. The standard cinematic “just change up a gear to overtake” mechanic and Tom Cruise facing his demons to win the day. In other words, your standard racing film formula. Nonetheless it’s an entertaining enough way to spend a couple of hours, and that’s what cinema is all about. If the rumoured sequel does happen, I’ll be in pole position to watch that as well. — Nik Berg
Days of Thunder is my fav. Pound for pound, it’s the best racing movie out there, but let me suggest two more obscure cuts at the top of my list:
• Six Pack — Country musician Kenny Rogers plays Brewster Baker, a down-and-out racer who has his car stolen by a gang of orphan children. Turns out the kids were working for corrupt sheriff “Big John,” who sends Brewster to jail. Then, the kids help the driver break out of jail, and he reluctantly takes them under his wing as his misfit race team.
• The Last American Hero — Loosely based on the Tom Wolfe biography of Junior Johnson, which shares a similar name, Jeff Bridges plays Junior Jackson. Part biopic, part ’70s silver screen B-movie, Last American Hero is one of the coolest-looking racing movies, with plenty of gritty grassroots circle track footage. — Cameron Neveu
There are bad movies, and there are deliciously bad movies. Much like cheeseburgers, I guess. For years I only knew the Fast and Furious franchise as Mission: Impossible, but with Vin Diesel instead of Tom Cruise, and exotic cars that I recognized only from Instagram. At one point in my first year after college, I figured I should brush up on my American car culture. I grew up watching Mystery Science Theater 3000, so I figured I’d have just as much fun with a bad movie — I heard they were bad — as a good one. Wow, was I surprised. None of them even felt like movies until I got to Tokyo Drift, which was bad-funny, in the best possible way. (That accent!) The wildly customized cars sold me, even as the plot fell apart around them. I would like Han’s FD very much, thank you — you can buy it here, and ship it to Detroit.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to buy a Costco-sized pack of Nerds Gummy Clusters, and a bottle of something strong, and bribe my husband to watch the movie with me. He has no idea what he’s in for … — Grace Jarvis
Two brothers must team up with Cab Calloway to raise money to keep the orphanage where they were raised from being shuttered while evading Nazis, an jilted RPG-wielding ex-girlfriend, a country music band, and law enforcement from what appears to be the majority of Chicago and its suburbs. It’s a tale as old as time. Not only is it a racing film, as the duo makes a hasty exit from a concert venue to deliver a tax check in time, but the Blues Brothers is also the best musical ever put on film. — Brandan Gillogly
I loved Rush, and Senna was really good. LeMans is certainly the seminal McQueen racing flick. But sorry, Grand Prix is still the best of all, in my book.
Yes, agree. How can you not include Grand Prix? Ford vs Ferrari is way better than some of these mentioned as well. And let’s not forget Two Lane Blacktop and vanishing point.
Gran Turismo is another good motorsports movie and yes it’s based off a true story which makes a video game based film even better
And F1 is easily movie of the year Kosinski has delivered once again I’m definitely going to go for seconds
