With the release of Mad Max: Fury Road this week, Dominic Corry counts down the ten coolest movie cars.
One of the many things that can be said about the superlatively awesome new blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road (now in theatres!) is that it definitely features a whole bunch of cool-ass cars.
Having set the bar for this sort of thing with the previous Mad Max films, writer/director George Miller outdoes himself emphatically, going full Hot Wheels and then some for the bevy of insane vehicles in the new film. They play a large role in lending the blockbuster its unique flavour and are at the centre of almost every cool moment.
To celebrate the release of this glorious achievement in the field of the vehicular arts, I am going to cite what I consider to be the ten coolest cars in movie history.
They aren't necessarily the biggest or the sleekest or the fastest movie cars, but they are the coolest. Not as cool as the cars in Max Max: Fury Road mind you, but still pretty darn cool.
10. The pink Trans Am from Shaker Run (1985)
I'm not above kicking things off with a token Kiwi entry, and as it's been a while since I watched Battletruck, I'm going with 'Shaker', the stunt car from Shaker Run, a hilarious New Zealand attempt at making a '80s action movie. Who says pink cars can't be cool?
9. The EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle from Stripes (1981)
Okay so it's technically not a car, but this transforming campervan captivated my youthful self so intensely that I was distracted away from the otherwise top-priority scenes of mild nudity in this Bill Murray comedy classic. The EM-50 always seemed to me like a real-life take on a M.A.S.K. vehicle.
8. Benny the Cab from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Amongst the numerous delights in the reverential animation/live action hybrid is this anthropomorphised Volkswagen beetle-inspired taxi with the persona of a gruff old timey New York cabbie. The action scene that Benny is at the centre of is one of the film's most dazzling set-pieces.
7. The Bluesmobile from The Blues Brothers (1980)
Dan Aykroyd and John belushi are the original stars of the hit movie The Blues Brothers.
It's probably the least-impressive looking car on this list, but it's definitely the most durable. Director John Landis makes the beat-up old Dodge police car the third most important character in this film which features some of the nuttiest chase scenes ever. Landis technique is so effective that when the car finally collapses before the climactic gig, it's a truly heart-breaking moment.
6. The Presidential State Car from Idiocracy (2006)
In Mike Judge's modern cult classic, most of the technology utilised by the stupid citizens of the future is emblematic of their hedonistic approach to society, and there's no better example than the crazy motorbike/car hybrid driven by President Camacho (Terry Crews).
5. The submersible Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
What's that you say? An Aston what? When you move beyond the blind reverence many Bond fans have for the Connery years, there's only one clear choice for the 007's coolest car, and it's the white Lotus Esprit from Roger Moore's finest outing. It can go on land AND water. No Aston Martin could ever do that, ejector seat or not.
4. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Photo / MGM
Film nerd writ-large Peter Jackson currently owns the prop vehicle used in the production of this family favourite, and there's a great moment in the special features on the Blu-ray of The Hobbit when he brings the car into work during the shooting of the film. None of the younger crew members seem to care at all, but a bevy of middle-aged men all gather around excitedly. It reminded me how much I loved this car.
The Batmobile from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman. Photo / Warner Brothers
The Christopher Nolan Batmobile may have brought the aesthetic into the twenty-first century, but there can be no overstating the impact of the first Batmobile from the Michael Keaton films. It was a rocket-propelled extension of the film's iconic production design aesthetic which blew open the visual possibilities for movie vehicles.
2. The Interceptor from Max Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Max's iconic black beast is resurrected for Fury Road after sitting out Beyond Thunderdome. Although it doesn't have a particularly central role to play, its presence in the new film functioned as a pertinent reminder of just how cool this car was and continues to be.
1. The Delorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future (1985)
The Delorean from the 1993 film Back To The Future.
There could really be only one - a brushed stainless steel vision of time-travelling possibilities that runs on nuclear power and has gull wing doors. This entry and indeed most of this list in fact betray the undeniable truth that it is the car in movies we see when we are young that have the most impact. The coolness of a car is never more apparent than when you are eight-years-old. Unless you're watching Mad Max: Fury Road.
• Agree? Disagree? What are your favourite movie cars? Comment below!
