Racing movies that don't suck too much.
by profbrane | created - 18 Nov 2019 | updated - 19 Nov 2019 | PublicWhen Hollywood makes movies about auto racing they usually miss the mark by a generous amount. Not sure why that is. Is it the cars that explode into flames after the slightest contact? Or maybe it's the drivers who don't seem to understand that the throttle actually goes all the way to the floor. But, there are a few that aren't too bad. That's what this list is about.
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1. Rush (I) (2013)
R | 123 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara
Votes: 513,477 | Gross: $26.95M
Movie about the 1976 Formula One World Championship by Ron Howard. He picked a good story for a movie. Playboy James Hunt battles serious minded Niki Lauda. I remember that season. It had a lot of drama including a near death experience for one of the protagonists. The actors look remarkably like the real life people they portray.
2. Le Mans (1971)
G | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two car racing champions, an American and a German, face off on the world's hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France.
Directors: Lee H. Katzin, John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen, Ronald Leigh-Hunt
Votes: 11,861 | Gross: $0.71M
Steve McQueen's homage to auto racing. The story of McQueen's character returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race after an accident he was involved in that took the life of another driver. A little hokey in places but generally pretty realistic and it does include a lot of real footage from the 1970 race.
3. Grand Prix (1966)
Approved | 176 min | Drama, Sport
American Grand Prix driver Pete Aron is fired by his Jordan-BRM racing team after a crash at Monaco that injures his British teammate, Scott Stoddard.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Toshirô Mifune
Votes: 10,494 | Gross: $20.85M
The standard by which all other racing movies are judged for many years. James Garner plays a down on his luck racing driver who comes back to become World Champion. Believable story and characters as well of cool footage from the era.
4. To Please a Lady (1950)
Passed | 91 min | Action, Romance, Sport
A former war hero and midget car racer meets his match in a feisty reporter who blames his reckless tactics for an accidental racing death.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Will Geer
Votes: 1,137
5. Heart Like a Wheel (1983)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Diane Delano, Ellen Geer
Votes: 1,582 | Gross: $0.27M
I don't really think of this as a racing movie. It is a movie about a racer and it's a good movie so I include it. The story matches what I had heard about Shirley Muldowney's career so I guess it's pretty accurate. I think people who aren't racing fans would enjoy this one.
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