Some talk on car movies.

[Greg Myers]

To quote Anthony Helmick from the "Revell Greased Lightning  '48 Ford 'Vert " thread :

  "How many "Car Movies" get it right though?  None that I can think of... Inaccurate and inconsistent, but they sure make alot of money which means only one thing the Car related stuff doesn't mean that much to movie goers. "

I can think of a few "Car movies" that I'd like to think got it right. I know most Car movies miss the mark by a long shot, but there  are a few that get quite close to the mark.

Let me start with just a few that I think get it close, American Graffiti, Hollywood Knights, and Two Lane Black top.

Just a minute now, let me get this flame suit zipped up. 

[RAT-T]

NOT SURE IF EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT IN THIS MOVIE, BUT I LIKE HOT ROD FROM '79

[Jantrix]

I don't think you are off the mark at all. I think to those that remember the era, American Graffiti is the gold standard. At least my dad thinks so. My dad also enjoyed Hot Rod (1979) and Heart Like a Wheel.

[Richard Bartrop]

From what I recall, 'World's Fastest Indian" got it pretty close.

[wku88]

Grand Prix with Jim Garner captured the European racing scene of the 60's pretty well. And Lemans with McQueen was mostly real race footage, so there's that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Movies routinely make all manner of technical mistakes, no matter what the subject or genre. And it's getting worse. Some of the utterances I've heard about cars, aviation and science are so stupid, one really has to wonder how ignorant the producers think the audience is to have failed to hire a guy for a few hundred bucks to get the tech stuff right.

One of my favorites from every film era is constantly referring to "automatics" (handguns with a slide and a removable clip) as "revolvers" and vise versa.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Every time I see a film that's supposed to be in the '60s or '50s it's a sure bet the cars will have time travel stuff. Coker radials, those black windshield wiper blades, and it goes on and on. 

Yesterday I was watching "The shape of water" and the bad guy gets in a Cadillac dealer, back in 1962, and all cars have radial tires. One had a bad case of bondo. 

[Dave Van]

Last American Hero had some time shifts to speed things up....but the car stuff was pretty accurate. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

I'm not sure what you mean by "get it right", but one of my all time favorite "car" movies was "Tucker".

 

Steve

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by StevenGuthmiller

[Greg Myers]

[Rob Hall]

For racing-themed movies, my favorites are Grand Prix, Winning, Le Mans and Rush.  For movies with great car chases, some favorites of mine are Bullitt, Duel, Vanishing Point, French Connection, Seven Ups, To Live and Die in LA, Ronin, Transporter.   

 

 

[89AKurt]

My all-time favorite is still Gumball Rally.  Who wouldn't like to drive as fast as possible all the way across the country?  It has a Ferrari Daytona with the sweetest exhaust note echoing off NYC's canyons, with arc nemesis Shelby Cobra.  You have a cast of different crazy characters to add variety.  But the best part for me, is the locations, starts in NYC, then jumps to Arizona, namely my town of Prescott was used for some scenes.

That's why the Cannonball Run movies were a hit.  And of course Ken Block used the same LA concrete canyons as was used in the final scenes.

This would make a cool diorama.

 

[TomZ]

"The Little Drummer Girl" that was on AMC last week had a 1960 Chevy in a 1957 flashback.

[Daddyfink]

First off, Movies like Grease are not "Car Movies" So one must be careful by what they consider a car movie. Some movies have lots of cars, i.e. "Dazed and Confused", but that is not a car movie and the cars are merely props to give it some feel for the era being represented. 

Second, something that would be a "Car Movie", i.e. Cannonball Run, are usually made with current vehicles to represent that period of time. Only in historical situations, like Tucker, does close enough really count and some attempt is made a getting it right. 

The lamentations in the Grease thread about it the movie not being correct on the vehicles is not far off, but then again, it is not a really a car movie, it is a Musical about Teenagers, set in the 50's, and to the casual movie goer, it looks right. Mission accomplished for the movie makers. And for the accuracy types, it is a travesty! 

So those are my thoughts, you mileage may vary. 

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, TomZ said:

"The Little Drummer Girl" that was on AMC last week had a 1960 Chevy in a 1957 flashback.

One of the most off year-wise I can recall was a scene in the movie 'The Debt'...was a scene supposed to be at a US airbase in W. Germany, 1966.  Two sedans pull up to a plane that just landed..one is a '66 Impala sedan...the other...an early 80s Olds 88 sedan. 

[Dave Van]

I like 'The Lively Set' too.......not many goofs.....

[RancheroSteve]

3 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

 And of course Ken Block used the same LA concrete canyons as was used in the final scenes.

Watch what you're calling a "concrete canyon" - that's the Los Angeles River!

(With the now demolished 6th Street Bridge in the background).

Edited November 28, 2018 by RancheroSteve

[Eshaver]

Even in the movie , The Deuce of Spades , the characters speak of Gilmore oil in a present tense . I reminded faith Granger who produced and Directed the picture that Mobil had absorbed the entire company three years prior to the scene . She then promised me that the sequel would have the correct Oil company brands as I have written extensively on this subject .

[JollySipper]

25 minutes ago, RancheroSteve said:

Watch what you're calling a "concrete canyon" - that's the Los Angeles River!

(With the now demolished 6th Street Bridge in the background).

Is that the same runoff that Nicholas Cage outruns the helicopter in in the "Gone in 60 Seconds" movie?

[High octane]

7 hours ago, wku88 said:

Grand Prix with Jim Garner captured the European racing scene of the 60's pretty well. And Lemans with McQueen was mostly real race footage, so there's that.

The movie Grand Prix inspired me to drive from Chicago to Watkins Glen, New York to see the Grand Prix of the United States back in 1967. It was a memorable trip and I even got to talk to Dan Gurney also.

[1972coronet]

Though not specifically a car-movie , Dazed and Confused (1993) had it right --- not only vehicle-wise , but just in-general ; just historically-accurate all the way .

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) has a goof : the owner of the 1971 Road Runner refers to its " 383 Hemi " . That's bad considering that the car was not only 2 years old , but that its engine callouts read "383" .

The 1950's and 1960's have got to be thee most inaccurately-represented in films . Funny how everyone in the 50's drove 50's vehicles ; funny how everyone in the 60's wore far out clothing (including some cross-pollination of early 70's garb ! ) .

[CapSat 6]

8 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) has a goof : the owner of the 1971 Road Runner refers to its " 383 Hemi " . That's bad considering that the car was not only 2 years old , but that its engine callouts read "383" .

It doesn't take some crummy dialogue in a movie to hear stuff like this: I have heard things like this in real life, at car shows and cruises!

[Mike999]

11 hours ago, JollySipper said:

Is that the same runoff that Nicholas Cage outruns the helicopter in in the "Gone in 60 Seconds" movie?

It sure is.  Whenever you see a movie chase through a "concrete canyon," you're probably seeing the L.A. river channel.  Back in 1954, some pests moved into its storm drains and had to be routed out by The Thing From Another World/Sheriff Matt Dillon (squad car shown to stay on-topic).

 

[Greg Myers]

[Greg Myers]

"Them" ?