F1 promises to have some of the best racing sequences in movie history. With the movie coming to theaters soon, now seems like the perfect time to look back at the history of racing movies. While racing is not the most popular sport in a movie, there have been a handful of classics made over the years.
We’ve compiled the seven best and ranked them for your pleasure. Check out our list below:
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Honorable Mention: Grand Prix didn’t quite get onto this list because of some pretty rough plotting. What’s undoubtedly true, though, is that the movie was hugely innovative in its depiction of racing, and worth mentioning for that alone.
You can watch Grand Prix on Hulu.
7. Cars (2006)
Cars is, quite frankly, one of the worst Pixar movies. But to be fair, most Pixar movies are quite good, which means that Cars is near the bottom of a list of great movies.
The film follows Lightning McQueen, a hotshot race car who finds himself stuck in the small, podunk town of Radiator Springs and slowly comes to love its gentle charm. The idea of talking cars certainly makes your head spin. However, the movie is a nice story of a young car who learns to appreciate the world around him a little more.
You can watch Cars on Disney+.
6. Days of Thunder (1990)
Although it’s not the most beloved film from either its star or its director, Days of Thunder is nonetheless a pretty gripping action movie, at least in moments. Like Top Gun, the film is as much about the footage of race cars as it is about anything else.
It stars Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, a race car driver who forms a bond with a former rival after both suffer injuries in an accident. When Cole returns to the track, he decides to race his former rival’s car, setting up a showdown that proves to be every bit as thrilling as you might expect from a Tony Scott movie.
You can watch Days of Thunder on Pluto TV.
5. Senna (2010)
This documentary tells the story of Aryton Senna, a three-time Formula One champion from Brazil who died when he was just 34 years old. The film has no talking heads and relies instead entirely on a combination of publicly available archival footage and home video footage from his family.
The film’s primary focus is on Senna’s rivalry with Alain Prost. Like any documentary about a high-level athlete, Senna explains what drives a person to live this kind of life, knowing that death is waiting around every turn.
You can watch Senna on Netflix.
4. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
2006 was a good year for movies about NASCAR. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a highly satirical look at the world of professional driving and follows Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR superstar who loses it all after he faces steep competition from a French racer who has come from Formula One.
As he works to rebuild his success and win back his lifelong friend, Ricky does ridiculous and stupid things. The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is deeply silly and wonderfully hilarious, featuring some of Will Ferrell’s best work.
You can watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby on Tubi.
3. Speed Racer (2008)
Speed Racer is a movie that was reviled upon its release, but now feels trenchant, timely, and like something of a masterpiece. An adaptation of a Japanese anime of the same name, Speed Racer follows a boy born into a family of race car drivers who discovers that a major corporate sponsor rigs the races.
Determined to beat them at their own game, he enters a deadly race that killed his brother. Speed Racer is filled with the CG of its era, but nonetheless, the movie feels like it has the kind of singular vision that is lacking from so many films of its budget level.
You can watch Speed Racer on Amazon Prime Video.
2. Rush (2013)
Many of the best racing movies are about rivalries, and Rush is no exception. The film tells the story of the rivalry between two Formula One drivers, one a British playboy (Chris Hemsworth) and the other an Austrian perfectionist (Daniel Brühl). Although the racing in the film is riveting, the movie’s real point is just how insane these two men are. Their rivalry pushes both of them to extremes as they go to any length to win, even if it comes at great personal cost. Rush is, fundamentally, a movie about the insane drive these men have and what it leads them to do.
You can watch Rush on Amazon Prime Video.
1. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Ford v Ferrari tells the true story of two men who teamed up to give Ford a chance to compete against Ferrari at the 24-hour race at Le Mans. The film depicts how difficult it can be to achieve something with corporate overlords watching your every move.
Anchored by two brilliant central performances from Christian Bale and Matt Damon, Ford v. Ferrari follows these men as they try to execute their vision, even as they come to understand that the race itself will push both of them past their limit.
You can watch Ford v. Ferrari on Amazon Prime Video.
