7 Road Trip Movies Every Traveler Needs To Watch
Driving on a truly exhilarating road is a once in a lifetime experience for some people. The adrenaline rush is definitely something any driver can crave for. Yet, anyone can enjoy the magic of dangerous roads and cars at any time by putting on these great movies and embracing the emotions. Films about long journeys on the open road have always made for vital cinema.
The Wages of Fear, 1953
This hugely influential French-Italian thriller combines thrilling mountain roads with dangerous cargo and a race against time. It follows a group of men who need to carry highly explosive nitroglycerine across the mountains to put out a fire at an oil well.
The trucks need to teeter across precipices and cross incredibly rough sections of road to reach their destination. Once they arrive, driving across a crater filled with oil provides them with one final challenge. The action is set in Central America. However, it was filmed in Camargue, in the South of France.
It was re-made in 1977 as the English language Sorcerer. This time, the most impressive scene involves the trucks crossing a precarious bridge across the the Papaloapan River in Mexico. It was a hugely costly scene to make, as the bridge was originally constructed in the Dominican Republic but had to be moved to Mexico due to a lack of rain.
Easy Rider, 1969
Directed by Dennis Hopper (he also starred), it’s said to be one of the most iconic road trips in cinematic history. The legendary image of Fonda and Hopper riding their motorcycles on their cross-country expedition is both an illuminating and terrifying look at America. On their freewheeling trip, they find an America that's split between the stuffy establishment and the younger generation that is starving for change. This low-budget road movie, in which two bikers ride across the USA, captured the essential spirit of sixties counterculture, the rejection of establishment values and the radical demand for freedom. With music by groups such as The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix, the film immediately became a hit, a cult movie that was to signal the conclusion, in aesthetic terms, of Hopper’s initial period as a photographer, as well as the end of an intense period that is crucial to understanding some of the key cultural issues of post-1950s America.
Duel, 1971
This was the first full-length movie directed by Steven Spielberg. It shows a businessman driving his Plymouth Valiant through the Mojave Desert, on his way home. He encounters a tank truck that pursues him relentlessly for the rest of the film.
Spielberg pointed out that the sparse dialogue and the fact that we never see the truck driver makes it seem as though the rivalry is between the vehicles rather than the drivers. It was filmed in California, in places such as Agua Dulce, Acton, and Canyon County.
You can see the Sierra Highway, while the climactic scene was shot at Mystery Mesa, which is off Vasquez Canyon Road. If you drive these roads, you can still see some of the movie’s iconic landmarks like the tunnel and the railroad crossing.
Christine, 1983
In this case, it is the car rather than the road that is the danger. This film is based on a Stephen King book and shows what happens when a vehicle with a mind of its own gets jealous. Christine is a 1958 Vintage Fury that kills several people as the movie develops.
Sadly, there is a lack of scenic roads here, as most of the action takes places in the dimly-lit, claustrophobic city streets of Los Angeles. Christine made $21 million at American box offices and is still considered a classic thriller.
Thelma & Louise, 1991
This iconic movie directed by Ridley Scott keeps on getting better and better and better with each passing year. The film was a rarity, a “buddy” adventure movie starring two women, played by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, full of laughs, heart, and plenty of action, too. The Academy Award-winning film is about two friends who find themselves embarking on an epic road trip across the US in a 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible.
The Transporter, 2002
Jason Statham plays an expert driver who will take any package anywhere with no questions asked. It is an over-the-top, all-action film with some exciting driving moments added to fighting and lots of explosions.
Car chases take place in Nice and Paris, as the main character weaves in and out of traffic to show his driving prowess. We also see him skydiving onto a convoy of trucks on the D9 highway outside of Marseille.
This film led to a spin-off TV series. The first episode is called Trojan Horsepower and features the hero transporting an advanced fuel management prototype from Nice to Paris.
Mad Max: Fury Road: 2015
The title of this movie suggests that we will see lots of on-road action, and it doesn’t disappoint. The most exciting sequence is the long car battle in the desert. This sees Max and Furiosa take on cult leader Immortan Joe and his gang. The bleak, desert setting and the futuristic vehicles make this movie take on a life of its own.
If you want to drive in the same places as these characters, you need to go to the Namib Desert in Africa. Most impressively, none of the driving scenes were done using CGI, as they used fully-functional vehicles and an array of cameras.