Are these the five best car movies of all time?

Generally speaking, car movies have been garbage over the years. They rarely live up to the hype and often alienate all but the most enthusiastic and auto-savvy movie-goers.

But there are many gems out there and although we could have just finished this story by listing the Fast and Furious anthology, we've dug a little deeper to bring you the definitive top five car movies of all time!

If you disagree with any of these picks, feel free to bash your keyboard in disgust and then leave a vitriolic comment below.

Arguably one of Ryan Goslings best roles – because mercy be, he doesn't talk much – Drive is essentially a love story that delves into the intense, ultra-violent life and times of a criminal getaway driver. The opening chase scene of the movie is just incredible, kicking off with an armed robbery that builds into a police pursuit that has the sort of nuance and care rarely seen in Hollywood. Director Nicolas Winding Refn did a great job.

Gosling tries to leave his law-breaking past and become a NASCAR driver with a little help from Breaking Bad's Mr White (Bryan Cranston) and while car buffs will love the automotive theme, there's compelling drama and emotion woven in that will appeal to a broader audience. Chuck in a ripping sound track and excellent cinematography that paints Los Angeles' beauty and repulsiveness in equal measure, and you're looking at the best car movie ever made. Go watch it.

Easily the best Mad Max movie ever made, chiefly because Mel Gibson isn't in it, Mad Max: Fury Road takes viewers into a post-apocalyptic world that revolves around fuel, water and drugs. So yeah, pretty much the same as today!

In all seriousness, George Miller's reborn Mad Max film has massive boots to fill and it's quite a shock that he delivered such a well-paced fantasy film that sees some of the best custom cars ever created become twisted metal.

As the film's protagonists, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron do a wonderful job bashing each other and while there's a story in there somewhere, it's secondary to the epic car chase scenes that involve intricately choreographed fleets of deadly machines attacking one another in the desert. Best watched with an epic sound system.

As previously mentioned, we could have just populated this list with all the Fast and Furious movies and be done with it. Where's my pay cheque, mate? The F&F movies can't match the nuanced pacing of Drive or the dystopian desert opera that is Mad Max: Fury Road, but they are so over-the-top and so wild and so silly (and so popular!!) they have ended up becoming a guilty pleasure – even to high-brow critics and Financial Review aficionados such as yours truly.

While the Fast and Furious franchise is up to number nine now – which has been delayed due to COVID-19 – Furious 7 has some epic set pieces, especially the 'Cars don’t fly!' scene that involves a high-rise hotel, a supercar, a grenade launcher and lots of slow-motion vignettes of Vin Diesel's incredible visage.

But Fast and Furious 7 is on this list because of the emotional wallop it delivers following Paul Walkers tragic death, which occurred in a Porsche Carrera GT supercar. Beyond the unbelievable stunts, the corny scripting and all-American awesomeness, this movie pulls the heart-strings when Brian (Paul Walker) talks to his wife for the last time. If you don't break down and cry at this moment, you're a robot.

Set in 1963, this movie surprised a lot of people with its excellent script, gorgeous race scenes and believable acting. Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in this David vs Goliath battle that sees Henry Ford Junior and Lee Iacocca task Carrol Shelby (Damon) and his test driver, Ken Miles (Bale), to research, design, develop and build a car to dethrone the unbeatable Ferrari at the world's most famous race, Le Mans 24 Hours.

Apparently Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise were originally cast in the starring roles, but it would've indubitably devolved into a Days of Thunder redux if that was the case, with Pitt smooching Cruise at the end.

Anyway, Ford vs Ferrari was nominated for four Academy Awards and in this rare instance, the bozos at the Academy seemingly got something right.

It's quite improbable that YouTube is still charging $4.99 for viewers to watch this movie, because it's quite possibly one of the slowest-paced car movies ever made. It's only saving grace is an incredible car chase scene – one of the most memorable in movie history.

The film's protagonist, detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is tasked with protecting a gangster for the two days before his court testimony.

But the movie's pivotal scene which sees Bullitt's 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback chased by two assassins in a Dodge Charger across San Francisco, is what most people are waiting for and even to this day it doesn't disappoint. I mean it's no Vin Diesel jumping a car between skyscrapers, but it's still compelling.

The old timers out there will have a hissy-fit if we don't include The Italian Job, Le Mans, Duel and Christine. For the record, these movies are very watchable in their own right, if not for their time capsule visuals, then for their innovation for making car movies unique and memorable.

More modern car movies that just missed the cut include Ronin, Rush and the animated feature film franchise Cars. Owen Wilson is an underrated genius.

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