I really wanted to love Two-Lane Blacktop, but I found it kind of slow and boring. I have read that it’s a movie that improves greatly with repeated viewings, so I’m not going to give up on it. I did enjoy Warren Oats. I love it when he plays that type of character. I seem to remember him playing the same guy in a western.
Wonderful movie, essential if baseball speaks as any kind of metaphor to you–but I say no, not a road movie. It has a road trip in the middle of it, but the thematic journey of the film is larger than that; much of the impact of the physical trip comes after it’s over.
I’m kind of partial to The Road. Best “Road Movie” of all time. It proves that road trips can still be fun even after civilization has been destroyed and humans have resorted to eating each other.
Well, if we’re going down that, er, road, we’d better include Mad Max and Mad Max II: The Road Warrior, then.
Meanwhile, I’ll throw in for consideration:
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
Silver Streak (1976) (Hey, a railroad’s a road)
The Big Bus (1976)
Midnight Run (1988)
Rat Race (2001) (a sort of uncredited remake of It’s a Mad, Mad…World)
Warren Oates should have got an Oscar for that role. The movie is pretty sparse with not a lot of people in the background, but it was an earlier time where there wasn’t as much traffic on the back roads so maybe it was more realistic.
The acting of the main characters, James Taylor (the singer) and Dennis Wilson (of the Beach Boys) was just terrible. It gives the movie a kind of home-made feel.
Don’t miss a young Harry Dean Stanton as a gay hitchhiker, billed as H.D. Stanton.
This is one of my favorite movies, I might have mentioned that before.
“Sure did see you. Sure did talk to you.”
Scarecrow is a fairly obscure 1973 picaresque/buddy/road flick.
I didn’t enjoy it as much as expected, mainly because the characters are a bit dim.
from Scarecrow (1973) - Trivia - IMDb
“Before shooting, Gene Hackman and Al Pacino both dressed as hobos and hitchhiked through California to get into their characters.”
Sounds like an interesting story premise right there.
In his above post, El_Kabong mentions Midnight Run–loads of fun. A buddy/odd couple/chase/road/sting movie. Probably has a few unneeded car chases, but the chemistry between DeNiro and Grodin is great.
I’d put an old Harry Dean Stanton in another, Paris, Texas.
Thelma and Louise
Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.
Road Trip, a gross-out comedy with Tom Green, was way better than I was expecting it to be.
“Those aren’t pillows!” :eek:
What about the original The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer?
I don’t think you can do better than the original ‘Road Movie’…It Happened One Night.
Tip: Whenever you think Renee Zellweger is in a movie, but she isnt, then it’s probably Joey Lauren Adams.
Dumb and Dumber.
Second this and Midnight Run
Wow, someone’s actually seen Interstate 60. I like it.
Not strictly a road movie, but Wristcutters: A Love Story spends a good portion of its time on the road with a Eugene Hutz epxy.
What, no Road Warrior yet? And don’t get me started on Mad Max.
A shitload of crappy 70s and 80s films: Smokey and the Bandit I and II and I don’t know how many more; Convoy, etc.
Then there’s a ton of action films that are basically super long chase scenes; the first two Terminators come to mind.
Go Bert!! I loved the cure he drank for prostate problems - that part cracked me up…
Duel Rocked!
How do you talk road movies without mentioning that 60s hotrod movie with the gullwing that had a guy with long blond hair?
Should probably add -
the first Road Trip movie that I can remember watching, and an all time classic is “Good Bye Pork Pie”