Growing up around cars birthed a love in me that continues today. I am also HUGE fan of movies. I truly enjoy being able to hang out in a dark theater or the living room and watch the stories unfold. Now more than ever, there is so much content available for our viewing pleasure and so many platforms on which to watch. Sifting through all the noise can be difficult. With too many choices, it can feel hard to find a good movie or show to watch, especially if you are wanting something starring an automobile. We all know Days of Thunder, The Fast and the Furious, Smokey and the Bandit, Gone in 60 Seconds and Ford v Ferrari but what else is out there for the car lover? I thought I would wade into the deep end for all of us and find a few others worth your time. Let’s start here:
Love the Beast starring Eric Bana. You can watch it on YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, Apple TV, Amazon and fuboTv. It is a Madman Film, originally distributed by Netflix. Released in 2009, it is a documentary exploring Bana’s love affair with his first car, a 1974 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop. Bana purchases it when he is just 15-years old for $1,100 and has since been obsessed. It was recommended to me by Jeff Allen (MSNBC’s The Car Chasers) a few years ago and I love it! It is a passionate movie about falling in love with a car, driving the hell out of it and then finally restoring it to its former glory. The movie features a couple other car guys you might recognize: Jay Leno and Jeremy Clarkson.
This is one you DO NOT want to miss even if you must pay to play. Link to official trailer.
Driven starring Sylvester Stallone. You can watch it on YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, Apple TV, and Amazon. It is a Franchise Pictures film distributed by Warner Brothers. Released in 2001. The movie also stars Burt Reynolds and Kip Pardue. The basic storyline centers around a rookie driver and his efforts to win the CART Fedex Championship Series. Stallone wanted this movie to feature Formula One but apparently team owners weren’t as willing to break the veil of secrecy as they are today. The Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019-current) on Netflix has finally allowed the world behind the scenes including most notably Brad Pitt who is starring in an upcoming, still untitled F1 action drama. You may scoff at Stallone as a race car driver, but the movie is entertaining. I particularly love the scenes racing city streets. Plus, it was an alternative to The Fast and the Furious (2001) which did not at the time excite me. Being from Indiana and loving the IndyCar Series, it made an impression.
You may choose to skip it, but you will regret it because it is just fun. Link to official trailer.
The Gentleman Driver stars a bunch of people you have never heard of but do not let that stop you. You can watch it on YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, Apple TV, Peacock, Tubi, Crackle and Amazon. It was released in 2018 and originally distributed by Netflix. The documentary features and follows four businessmen that moonlight as high-level race car drivers. If you have been a part of the collector car industry for a bit, you will recognize our very own, Bruce Knox, who appears at the beginning of the film. It is an intriguing and compelling story. For years, while driving in traffic, I have sung my kids a song that goes, “I want to be a race car driver. Call me Tiffany Andretti”. These men have the means and the balls to make it so and I, for one was glued to my television. The initial lines of the trailer states: “You can buy a baseball team. You can buy an NFL franchise, but can you go out and quarterback it on Sunday? Of course, you can’t. It would be ridiculous. Well in this form of motor racing, you can do EXACTLY that.”
Another DO NOT miss, and it is free on most of the streaming services. Link to official trailer.
Let us know the movies starring cars that you love. If we like your recommendation, you might get a mention. To be continued…
Motorageous. 