My limit for any movie is when the physics of the universe they are in are defied. I can accept almost any premise but the laws that exist in whatever universe the movie takes place in must not be broken. If it's supposed to take place in our current universe (like the Fast&Furious movies) then cars must not perform stunts that are impossible in our current universe.
I prefer car spotting movies, I really enjoy the Nick Cage Gone in 60 seconds because it's fun to see the different cars passing through. Two of my favorite cars have brief cameos in the movie ('69 superbird and XJ220) and I just think it's cool that they got these rare cars or good mockups of them for a few seconds of screen time. Someone mentioned Dazed and Confused and it is sort of the same way, being a period movie it's fun just spotting the different cars. Car-Action movies I watch with the same lazy eye as any other action movie, admittedly I don't watch most of them in the theater I watch most of them at my desk at home while working on another project.
Airplane movies are just as awful.
The turbine engined Pilatus Porter making spluttering piston engine noises in Air America.
Every cabin depressurization scene ever. I keep trying to figure out how that much air got inside the plane in the first place. Somehow a small pressure differential between inside and outside manages to suck a full grown human through a hole the size of quarter.
In reply to dclafleur :
I watched Lone Wolf Mcquade again the other day and geeked out a bit when I noticed the FBI agent drove up in a Plymouth Trailduster. Also realizing that the plastic grill Ramcharger Mcquade drove was quite beat for only being a 2-3 year old truck at the time.
I only saw FnF 1 through 3, after that I haven't seen the rest. Was Tokyo Drift the last one that was about street racing? I thought two went off the deep end when it became more about that weird drug heist stuff. It was a head scratcher for me as I sat in the theater watching it.
Amongst people in my age group, late 20s to early 30s, I always feel like the odd one out that never cared for them as movies. I preferred Initial D (I stopped watching it when the end result was takumi always wins)
InitialD never appealed to me. First off, the character animation was just plain ugly. Contrast that with eX-driver and you see that it doesn't have to be. But every single race seemed to involve hooking a wheel in the ditch. No matter what the challenge, just hook that wheel in that stupid ditch and you win. Too bad, because there were obviously some car guys involved otherwise.
You guys want a fun car movie, get your hands on Taxi. Not the US remake, the French one by Luc Besson. It's ridiculous but that's part of what makes it work. It's a bit of a peek into late 90's Euro tuning as well. There are four of them and they get more and more ludicrous.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152930/
In reply to ProDarwin :
In regards to the harpooned Dom car: this screen shot kinda tells it all. How exactly does that 5000 hp get to the wheels? And I love the glued on exhaust tips.
Honestly Repo Man is one of my favorite car movies, but only because it heavily features vehicles as apart of it's story. Soundtrack is god-tier as well.
In reply to aw614 :
Agreed. Initial D for me just got too boring when there was just no real stakes involved- at least some of the manga that came afterwards tried to solve some of those issues, like when Over-Rev! had several chapters dedicated to the problems with a lightened flywheel.
I think the F&F movies followed the James Bond pattern, more and more unrealistic over time. Except the submersible Lotus, that was awesome. I still enjoy watching both franchises.
The one that really bothered me for some reason was the Italian Job remake. Minis can't do that, no matter what springs you put in them!
I didn't enjoy Bullitt, but the exhaust sounds were good.
Best madcap movie ever: The Great Race
loosecannon said:My limit for any movie is when the physics of the universe they are in are defied. I can accept almost any premise but the laws that exist in whatever universe the movie takes place in must not be broken. If it's supposed to take place in our current universe (like the Fast&Furious movies) then cars must not perform stunts that are impossible in our current universe.
I have a similar view.
This is one reason Ant Man drives me insane. Does his mass change when he shrinks or grows or not? Or is it adjustable and unrelated to volume? Its so inconsistent.
In reply to ProDarwin :
Yeah, much as I want to forgive Ant Man because it's a comic book movie, I just can't.
When Scott Lang is tiny, he punches like a champ because he still has his large-form mass... but Hank Pym can carry around an M-60 Patton as a keychain (or a building in a briefcase), because it's tiny.
I will buy into any rules you define for your universe. But you better follow them yourself, or I will make brutal fun of you.
Turbine said:The F&F movies are my guilty pleasures, but I legitimately love the first and Tokyo Drift in a “so bad they’re good” sense. Part of the enjoyment factor for me is being able to watch and call bullE36 M3 on things. I owe a lot of my childhood interest in cars to the first few F&F movies and games like Need for Speed: Underground 2 and Most Wanted.
Yes - I thought the first one was great in the unintentional comedy department, in a sort of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" for gearheads way.
ShawnG said:Airplane movies are just as awful.
The turbine engined Pilatus Porter making spluttering piston engine noises in Air America.
Along those lines - any motorcycle in any movie will have the sound track of either a Harley-Davidson or a dirt bike, with nothing in between.
I watch the F&F movies, and usually try to make it to opening night, more as a tradition than because I really like the movies.
If I am at the theater and paid all that money to get in, I'll stick it out, because movies are so expensive.
I didn't make it to see whatever the last F&F movie was (F8 I think) in the theater, so my wife bought it for me on Blu-Ray. I watched about half and was done.
IMO there hasn't been a truly good "car movie" in a really long time... I'm talking American Graffiti / Hollywood Knights / Vanishing Point kind of long time.
AnthonyGS said:There are only two good car movies and they tie for #1: LeMans and Grand Prix.
I'd agree with that, but there are also movies where the car action isn't the focus of the film but is nonetheless pretty satisfying. I rather liked Ronin in that regard.
I have a big screen home theatre and the only car movies that get periodic repeat showings are Rendezvous, Grand Prix, Le Mans, maybe Vanishing Point once in a blue moon. And the series on cars with Alain de Cadenet definitely.
I can also stomach The Italian Job, the Transporter movies, Rush, and if I can ask, does Fifth Element qualify for the 'car' scenes?
As a lover of Italian cars I think the original Italian job is the best car spotting movie. Sure the minis are the stars but the Alfa giulia cop cars! and the street scenes, heck they hide in a fiat dealership full of 850's.
Also put me on the list of folks annoyed with the grasp of physics in movies. My wife jokes that I watch superhero films just to get yell at them.
You guys must be fun at parties.
In reply to Appleseed :
We're the Star Wars fanboys of the automotive world.
Appleseed said:You guys must be fun at parties.
Who shows movies at parties??
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
"It won the academy award for greatest movie ever made."
Duke said:In reply to ProDarwin :
Yeah, much as I want to forgive Ant Man because it's a comic book movie, I just can't.
When Scott Lang is tiny, he punches like a champ because he still has his large-form mass... but Hank Pym can carry around an M-60 Patton as a keychain (or a building in a briefcase), because it's tiny.
I will buy into any rules you define for your universe. But you better follow them yourself, or I will make brutal fun of you.
I was too lazy to figure out what was wrong, thank you for that. Yeah, a tank would be impossible to lift off the desk according to the punching rules.
Of the movies mentioned in this thread, I've seen only one (Rush). It was pretty good. When the first F&F came out I was in my early 20's and remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked incredibly stupid. Next thing I knew, all my friends were telling me I needed to turbo my Prelude.
llysgennad said:I think the F&F movies followed the James Bond pattern, more and more unrealistic over time. Except the submersible Lotus, that was awesome. I still enjoy watching both franchises.
The one that really bothered me for some reason was the Italian Job remake. Minis can't do that, no matter what springs you put in them!
I didn't enjoy Bullitt, but the exhaust sounds were good.
Best madcap movie ever: The Great Race
Oh man, I stayed out of this til you mentioned The Great Race; that’s a fun one!
RacetruckRon said:Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Best documentary ever...
The kid in me loved watching the giant robot pick up a supertanker and club the monster in Pacific Rim even if the rational me knew it was impossible on so many levels.
Fear is the Key is pretty good. It's not a car movie, but it features a ~20 minute car chase with a '72 Ford Gran Torino. Having just bought a Torino, I can't believe it's possible to do such things in and to one.
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