CAR FILMS DRIVER
It should come as no surprise that writer-director Walter Hill envisioned Steve McQueen for the lead role in his second film, a story about a stoic getaway driver outsmarting not only the authorities but his double-crossing accomplices. Taylor and Wilson make compelling sphinx-like leads for audience members to project their thoughts and feelings onto, as the repeated cycle of their transient, competitive lifestyle reiterates just how fast you can get there when your destination is nowhere in particular. Starring musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (the latter of the Beach Boys) as, respectively, Driver and Mechanic, Hellman’s film follows the two automobile enthusiasts as they indulge their drifter’s lifestyle across the country while fixing up their 1955 Chevrolet 150, occasionally waging money on races, jockeying with GTO (the great Warren Oates), and reflecting on an existence that doesn’t mean much outside of the quarter-mile of track between the start and finish lines. Both languished on the margins of the release schedule only to much later earn the accolades they deserved. That this film and Vanishing Point arrived in the same year was a godsend for gearheads and moviegoers everywhere, even if neither film made much of an impression at the time at the box office.
CAR FILMS DRIVERS
As the same time, Frankenheimer’s depiction of the racing teams was so convincing and thoughtful that he utilized unprecedented access to create an experience that put the audience in the drivers seat not just physically, but emotionally.
What’s remarkable about the film today is how well the melodrama works against the racing footage Garner is equal to the task of providing viewers with a driver to cheer who isn’t himself sure how he feels about the risks he’s taking, and it lends the whole film a thrilling but decidedly more contemplative tone. Building on the premise of an all-star, international cast a la war films or other dramas from the era, Frankenheimer assembled an ensemble featuring stars from America ( James Garner), France ( Yves Montand), Italy ( Antonio Sabato) and Japan ( Toshiro Mifune) to adequately populate a showcase for world-class drivers from across the globe.
John Frankenheimer claims two spots on this list, starting with this operatic story set against the backdrop of Formula 1 racing and featuring some of the most intimate and unique racing footage audience had seen until then. Nevertheless, the choices listed below highlight more than a century of cars on screen, some for the ones that appear on screen and some for what people do when they sit in the driver’s seat, but all celebrating the marriage of movies and motor vehicles. Advancing technology-and increasingly fearless drivers-rendered early trailblazers obsolete with stunts that thrill the pulse and eclipse expectations. Cars engineered for one scene or sequence evolved into the singular reason to watch that movie, years or even decades later.
Not just individual films but entire franchises revolve around the cars and trucks characters pilot - in races, in chases, pursuits and escapes, as prizes to be won and locations where drama unfolds. Or, if nothing else, movies taught us to appreciate and even fetishize their design and power as a prop or plot device, audiences learned to associate specific vehicles with both tangible and metaphorical goals to attain, representing freedom or opportunity just as much as beauty, wealth or status.Īs a result, choosing the best or even quintessential Car Movies is a challenging task. Moreover, movies have repeatedly showcased the possibilities of what man can do in cars - first, to build and perfect them, and later, to push them to unimaginable feats of speed, strength and endurance. Perhaps that’s why vehicles and movies feel so intrinsically linked:Ĭars are a conveyance for the body, movies are one for the imagination.
CAR FILMS MOVIE
The automobile has provided a backbone for modern life almost as long as movie theatres gave drivers a destination.