Five great car movies that aren’t from the Fast and the Furious
Published on Apr 10, 2022 at 6:47 AM (UTC+4)
by Danny Korecki
Last updated on Jan 02, 2023 at 12:07 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
You might like the series or you may hate it, but back in 2001 The Fast and the Furious set the blueprint for what revheads could expect at the box office.
Spanning two decades, the series has had nine films. And there are two more on the way.
But there has been a stack of other fun car films which often sit in the shadow of the Fast and the Furious and don’t get the love they deserve.
Here’s some to check out.
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Gone in 60 Seconds
Gone in 60 Seconds stars Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie in a fun flick that’s well-loved in pop culture, not just by car enthusiasts.
Cage plays a reformed thief who, with a crew of friends, has to steal 50 cars in one night.
It’s a heist to save the life of Cage’s character’s brothers.
The film is filled with cars that more than likely graced your bedroom wall.
And featured one of the most famous movie cars of all time – Eleanor. The Shelby GT500.
Need for Speed
Back in 2014, the cards were stacked in favour of the film Need for Speed’s.
It featured Aaron Paul hot off the heels of his star-turning role in Breaking Bad.
And the tragic death of Fast and Furious star Paul Walker meant Fast 7 was postponed, meaning Need for Speed did not have to go up against the massive franchise.
Need for Speed features Paul playing a driver entering a partnership with a shady ex-professional driver/businessman played by Dominic Cooper.
The film didn’t take off in the same way as the Fast and Furious series did, but it’s entertaining in its own way. A sequel was immediately mentioned after release, but after a near-decade, those plans will unlikely happen.
Drive
The formula is simple. Ryan Gosling plays a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver.
While being wrapped up in a life of crime, his eye catches his neighbour, played by Carey Mulligan and her son.
It all goes downhill from there.
Rush
You don’t have to be a race fan to appreciate the movie Rush. The film is based on the James Hunt and Niki Lauda Formula 1 rivalry in the 1970s.
Directed by Ron Howard, Chris Hemsworth plays the role of flashy driver Hunt, while Daniel Bruhl plays the more calculating Lauda.
The film does take some artistic liberties with the real-life relationship between Hunt and Lauda as they actually grew to be friends in real life whereas in the movie they are portrayed as bitter enemies.
It features Hunt’s real-life marriage with actress Suzy Miller, Miller’s affair with actor Richard Burton and subsequent divorce, as well as Lauda’s horrific 1976 Nürburgring crash – where he was severely burned.
Overdrive
This is one car movie you probably have not even heard of. The biggest names we can woo you with are Scott Eastwood and Ana De Armas.
Everyone else you likely are not going to know – with the exception of two henchmen who you might recognise from the Bond film Casino Royale.
Eastwood plays one half of a brother pair who must steal an expensive one-of-one Ferrari from a bad guy or he will lose his life. De Armas plays his girlfriend who joins the heist.
The movie is not the best car movie ever, so if you accept that you can enjoy it just for what it is – a good time.
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Danny Korecki is an author specializing in new vehicles, car culture, and racing. Danny had a short stint in the video game industry and worked for a Fortune 500 financial company as an analyst, but his true passion is cars. You can find Danny’s work featured in CNBC, MSN, Autotrader, Super Street Magazine, TREAD Magazine, DriveTribe, The Drive, Right Foot Down, and Jalopnik. He can be found dailying a BMW E92 M3.