The seven best scenes from road-based movies

Beginning in the ’80s and laying the foundations for films like American Pie, Road Trip, Superbad and The Hangover, goofball cinema played with the absurdity of everyday life and turned ridiculous, unlikely events into a commonplace experience for its hapless characters.

These characters, often everyday folk doing mundane acts that turned into grand misfortunes, were played by a rotating cast of household names like John Candy, Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, David Spade and Steve Martin, along with others from an amorphous scene that included National Lampoon magazine and the ascending stars of infamous comedy show Saturday Night Live.

Here’s a look at some choice clips from when goofball met road movie – when stupidity led to hilarity.

When Clark Griswold goes to the car dealer to pick up the car he ordered and the salesman brings out a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, he is not impressed. In the end, though, the car becomes synonymous with National Lampoon movies. The car salesman is played by Eugene Levy, a familiar face to watchers of ’80s American comedies and a regular around the National Lampoon franchise, which began as a seminal satire and parody magazine. It just so happens that John Hughes, director of the Lampoon films, based the franchise on his story ‘Vacation ’58’, which was originally published in the National Lampoon magazine.

Another John Hughes–directed film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a classic of its time. Continuing the marvellous motif, the story follows Neal Page (Steve Martin) on his journey home for Thanksgiving. When his original transport plan is thwarted by unforeseeable circumstances, he finds himself lumped in with Del Griffith (John Candy), a talkative, annoying and incredibly accident-prone salesman.

The original 1981 Cannonball Run featured a star-studded cast of ’80s icons, including Burt Reynolds, John Candy and, in this scene below, members of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack: Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. What were they doing in a goofball movie about an illegal car race across America?

The Cannonball Run films are based on a real-life, unofficial, unsanctioned car race from New York City to California. Part time-trial, part race, part celebration and part protest, the run was conceived by writer and racer Brock Yates and editor Steve Smith, and – despite being reckless and illegal – was largely celebrated. The clip below is from Speed Zone, the third in a series of goofball comedies about the famous (not exactly legal) race, where the arrogant ‘cool dude’ Leo (Eugene Levy) gets shown up by rival Charlie (John Candy).

The big adventure of plucky simpleton Pee-wee Herman is something of a cult classic. Tim Burton’s full-length feature debut follows Pee-wee on a cross-country jaunt to recover his stolen red bicycle. Along the way he finds himself in trouble but always lands on his feet – like in this scene, where he hitches a ride with an escaped con.

There isn’t much more to say about this one – it’s an oft-replayed classic. The movie launched Mike Myers (and Tia Carrere, who played Cassandra) into the mainstream, but less so Dana Carvey (Garth). While it arrived on cinema screens in 1992, Wayne’s World had its debut as a skit on Saturday Night Live in February of 1989 – and the Wayne character existed long before then.

Tommy Boy stars Chris Farley and a young David Spade – although David could be old here; he seems to have eternal youth. Tommy, played by Farley, is heir to an auto-parts factory and is battling to save the business from greedy relatives and the circling, unscrupulous hawks of big business. In this scene, Tommy struggles to cover up a service station mishap.

What's your favourite goofball road-movie scene? Let us know in the comments.

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