High speed chases, daring automotive stunts, and exotic cars are all staples of action movies. Audiences clearly love to watch cool vehicles in action, and they often express their affection for the genre by rating car movies highly. The average American driving experience is filled with mundane commutes and bumper-to-bumper traffic, but these films let audiences vicariously live out their most exciting automotive fantasies. (Here’s a list of the best car movies of all time.)
To compile a list of the most popular car movies according to fans, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a report published by Confused.com, an insurance comparison company that sometimes analyzes data around various lifestyle and entertainment topics. The site created a list of 50 of the most recognised car movies from online listicles and articles, then ranked them according to an average fan score computed from user scores on IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon, and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator.
The films on the list come from a range of genres and subgenres. Street crime is a common topic. “Drive” and “Baby Driver” follow talented getaway drivers embroiled in twisting criminal conspiracies. Auto racing is another focus, whether it’s sanctioned competition on a track as in “Rush” and “Ford v. Ferrari” or underground street racing, the basis of the Fast and Furious franchise. (Check out the most watched car chase scenes from action movies)
A few sci-fi films also make the list, featuring extremely modified vehicles – a time-traveling DeLorean in “Back to the Future;” cars and dune buggies customized for a dystopian desertscape in the Mad Max films.
Click here to see the 20 most popular car movies ever, according to fans
“Duel,” one of director Steven Spielberg’s earliest films, takes an out-of-the-box approach to a car-centric film. It follows a driver on a desert highway who finds himself terrorized by a mysterious figure in a semi truck. The thriller is extremely sparse on dialogue, opting to let the action tell the story.
A lot goes into bringing these films to life, including expert driving from talented stunt people and the destruction of numerous cars. Several of these films are on the list of movies that destroyed the most cars.
20. Fast Five (2011)
> Avg. audience score: 75/100
> Director: Justin Lin
> Main cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
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19. Vanishing Point (1971)
> Avg. audience score: 76/100
> Director: Richard C. Sarafian
> Main cast: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Charlotte Rampling
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17. The Blues Brothers (1980)
> Avg. audience score: 76/100
> Director: John Landis
> Main cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway
17. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
> Avg. audience score: 76/100
> Director: Francis Ford Coppola
> Main cast: Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau
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16. The Italian Job (1969)
> Avg. audience score: 77/100
> Director: Peter Collinson
> Main cast: Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill
15. Furious 7 (2015)
> Avg. audience score: 77/100
> Director: James Wan
> Main cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
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14. Easy Rider (1969)
> Avg. audience score: 79/100
> Director: Dennis Hopper
> Main cast: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson
13. Mad Max (1979)
> Avg. audience score: 80/100
> Director: George Miller
> Main cast: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne
12. Logan Lucky (2017)
> Avg. audience score: 81/100
> Director: Steven Soderbergh
> Main cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig
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11. Duel (1971)
> Avg. audience score: 82/100
> Director: Steven Spielberg
> Main cast: Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone
10. Baby Driver (2017)
> Avg. audience score: 84/100
> Director: Edgar Wright
> Main cast: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm
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7. American Graffiti (1973)
> Avg. audience score: 85/100
> Director: George Lucas
> Main cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat
7. Rush (2013)
> Avg. audience score: 85/100
> Director: Ron Howard
> Main cast: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde
7. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
> Avg. audience score: 85/100
> Director: George Miller
> Main cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston
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6. Drive (2011)
> Avg. audience score: 86/100
> Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
> Main cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
4. Bullit (1968)
> Avg. audience score: 86/100
> Director: Peter Yates
> Main cast: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn
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4. Grand Prix (1966)
> Avg. audience score: 86/100
> Director: John Frankenheimer
> Main cast: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand
3. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
> Avg. audience score: 87/100
> Director: James Mangold
> Main cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
> Avg. audience score: 89/100
> Director: George Miller
> Main cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
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1. Back To The Future (1985)
> Avg. audience score: 91/100
> Director: Robert Zemeckis
> Main cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
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