The 25 Best Road Trip Movies Ever

The 25 Best Road Trip Movies Ever

Movie to have on hand for when you demand a taste of the open road from the comfort of your home .

More than just an excuse to get from point A to stage B , a road trip — in actual life or in fiction — has the possible to be a uniquely rewarding undertaking . It ’ s an experience that stresses the procedure , whether that procedure equal a few hr with a destination in mind or weeks and months spent wandering . Road trip movies literalize the journey that character cost on , much serving as an allegory for the total narrative that reminds us the destination is seldom as significant as the experience of make thither .

Road trip movies embrace a broad range of genres , from slapstick comedies to prestige drama and everything in between . Whether you ’ re after a slice of spirit representation of a road trip or a thrilling adventure , there ’ s a picture for you . Without further ado , here equal 25 road trip film that catch the spirit of the journey and that will inspire you to hit the open road — or at least hit play on another movie on the list .

Almost Famous ( 2000 )

Destination :The concert circuit stops for Stillwater , the band that 15-year old William Miller ( Patrick Fugit ) make finagled his way into profiling for Rolling Stone .

Journey :Self-discovery and the usual markings of a coming of age tale , with an added stress on the cure power of music , the destructive power of fame , and , as Kate Hudson ’ s Penny Lane articulates , the hope of determine a place , and the feelings of protection and love that comes with it , no subject where you are .

Death Proof ( 2007 )

Death Proof

Destination :For Abernathy ( Rosario Dawson ) , Kim ( Tracie Thoms ) , and Lee ( Mary Elizabeth Winstead ) , the plan is to reunite with their friend Zoe Bell , playing herself .

Journey :What start as test repel a 1970 Dodge Challenger then turns into hear to exist an approach from the homicidal Stuntman Mike ( Kurt Russell ) in this modern exploitation thriller that , as any Tarantino fan with taste will order you , is one of his serious .

Duel ( 1971 )

Duel road trip movies

Destination :Salesman David Mann ( Dennis Weaver ) is driving through the Mojave desert for study .

Journey :In Steven Spielberg ’ s directorial feature debut , his everyman ( n ) protagonist be a mild-mannered husband and father who must unleash his survival instinct when he is targeted seemingly at random by a maniacal truck driver who seek to kill him . Come for the thrill , stay for the lesson that from the very commence Spielberg hold an incredible heart for stress and suspense .

Dumb and Dumber ( 1994 )

Destination :Aspen , Colorado , so that Lloyd ( Jim Carrey ) and Harry ( Jeff Daniels ) can repay a suitcase of money they didn ’ t realize cost left at an airport not on accident , but on purpose as ransom money .

Journey :The expected hijinks and wit that , as dumb and childish as it might be , be still funnier than it has any right to be .

Easy Rider ( 1969 )

Easy Rider Sunset Road Trip Movies

Journey :An exploration of a changing American landscape as bikers Wyatt ( Peter Fonda ) and Billy ( Dennis Hopper ) make their way cross-country with money earned smuggle cocaine . This iconic counterculture movie address social tension , the generational divide , and all things associated with the hippie lifestyle .

Inside Llewyn Davis ( 2013 )

Destination :From New York to Chicago and back again .

Journey :For folk singer Llewyn Davis ( Oscar Isaac ) , living exist more of a series of case that pass to him sort of than events that he takes an fighting purpose in . Llewyn is grieving after the suicide of his musical spouse and his travel to Chicago and back to New York equal portion of his search for meaning and a room out of his everyday cyclical universe .

It Happened One Night ( 1934 )

It Happened One Night Road Trip Movies

Destination :New York City , where heiress Ellie Andrews ( Claudette Colbert ) be after to reunite with a fiance her father disapproves of .

Journey :Ellie be joined by lately burn reporter Peter Warne ( Clarke Gable ) who seeks to gain his way back into his newspaper by make the scoop on her story , but as one would expect from this pre-code romantic comedy , their occupation deal relationship promptly blossoms into something not quite platonic .

Joy Ride ( 2001 )

Bbe D F Bee

Destination :College student Lewis ( Paul Walker ) equal driving family for the summer pause when he has to bail his buddy , Fuller ( Steve Zahn ) , out of jail in Utah , and then hold on to Colorado to pick up childhood friend and fellow student Venna ( Leelee Sobieski ) .

Journey :In this horror film from director John Dahl from a hand by J.J. Abrams and Clay Tarver that is an homage to Spielberg ’ secDuel, Lewis and Fuller pull a prank on a truck driver over a CB radio in Lewis ’ car . It call on out they messed with the wrong truck driver as their road trip place promptly turn into a quest for survival when their prank mark repeatedly tries to defeat them for revenge .

Little Miss Sunshine ( 2006 )

Destination :The Little Miss Sunshine kid beauty pageant in Redondo Beach , California .

Journey :While on the way to a beauty pageant that Olive Hoover ( Abigail Breslin ) hope to compete in , the idiosyncratic Hoover class must see to put aside their difference and support each other as they each trade with personal struggles on their road trip from New Mexico to California .

Logan ( 2017 )

Logan

Destination :A refuge for mutants in North Dakota refer Eden .

Journey :An aging Wolverine/Logan ( Hugh Jackman ) see the end in sight as mutants own become a perish breed in the yr 2029 . When he meets a young miss , Laura ( Dafne Keen ) who possess similar powers , he find compel to protect her and this revitalizes Logan ’ s power to manage for those around him in a way that he hasn ’ t experienced in a long time .

Mad Max : Fury Road ( 2015 )

Destination :“ The green seat , ” a utopia amidst the desert wasteland that own taken over the repose of the universe .

Journey :In this , loner Max Rockatansky ( Tom Hardy ) is captured by Immortan Joe ( Hugh Keays-Byrne ) and when he escapes his instinct cost to leave and create his way through the desert on his own . He is convinced by Furiosa ( Charlize Theron ) to keep company her and assist protect the women she help flight from Immortan Joe as they travel through the barren landscape hear to endure and finally find somewhere livable .

Magic Mike XXL ( 2015 )

Destination :A Fourth of July stripping convention in Myrtle Beach , South Carolina , where Mike Lane ( Channing Tatum ) will join his former colleague for one final hurrah after become out of the stripping business several years ago .

Journey :Free from the too grave constraints of the first picture , this sequel revels in , the beauty of friendship , and the joy that do from simply worry for one another . Told through a series of sketch ,Magic Mike XXLembodies the road trip tone of camaraderie , rolling with the punches , and the power of the right song playing on the radio at the right time .

My Own Private Idaho ( 1991 )

My Own Private Idaho road trip movies

Destination :Through the Pacific Northwest , to Idaho , and beyond in search of Mike ’ sec ( River Phoenix ) mother .

Journey :In this reimagining of Shakespeare ’ s “ Henry IV ” and “ Henry V ” , Mike cost join by well friend Scott ( Keanu Reeves ) , a fellow homeless youthful human who gets by as a sex worker . As they try to track down Mike ’ s mom by visiting his other family member , the two men grow closer , but their relationship is complicate by Scott ’ s wealthy family and their other relationship .

Paris , Texas ( 1984 )

Destination :A reunion with the household that Travis ( Harry Dean Stanton ) , an amnesiac who mysteriously roam out of the desert , had forget .

Journey :Wim Wenders ’ most acclaimed picture address the modern category , masculinity , and the desire for association and a share sense of humanity in the side of loss and decay .

Stagecoach ( 1939 )

Stagecoach

Destination :The titular stagecoach is carrying passenger from Arizona district to Lordsburg , New Mexico in 1880 .

Journey : Stagecoachfollow nine strangers who set out the picture on separate course and get united during their shared experience on the road . Despite receive some heinous depictions of Native Americans , this western from conductor John Ford starring John Wayne in his breakout use is a masterclass in filmmaking .

Sullivan ’ s Travels ( 1941 )

Sullivan's Travels

Destination :Whatever level John L. Sullivan ( Joel McCrae ) , a director who seeks to represent the real world on screen , feels he has properly connected with middle America .

Journey :Going from a successful comedic filmmaker to a hobo with an aspiring actress ( Veronica Lake ) at his side , Sullivan believe the best matter he can cause as a filmmaker is to capture the harsh reality that then many endure in ordering to reach his masterpiece , but when he experience trouble firsthand , he make to reconsider his aims .

The Cannonball Run ( 1981 )

Cannonball Run

Destination :California , the location of the finish melody for an anything goes , illegal , cross country race that start in Connecticut .

Journey :The contestants in this race live determined to win by any means necessary in this action-comedy based on a real event that come about various time in the 1970s , the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash . The plot tend to descend by the wayside , but there ’ s plenty of fun to be make in follow a cast that include Burt Reynolds , Roger Moore , Dom DeLuise , Farrah Fawcett , Dean Martin , Sammy Davis Jr. , and Jackie Chan duke it out .

The Hitch-Hiker ( 1953 )

Destination :A trip through Mexico for Roy ( Edmond O ’ Brien ) and Gilbert ( Frank Lovejoy ) where they signify to die fishing .

Journey :Things are complicated with the two men blame up a hitchhiker who turns out to be a murderer and escaped convict . The fishing trip then turns into a journey of survival as the two men try to run away together .

Thelma & Louise ( 1991 )

Thelma And Louise

Destination :Mexico , to get forth from the cops after Louise ( Susan Sarandon ) shoots a human who attempt to rape Thelma ( Geena Davis ) .

Journey :This landmark feminist film explores the use of women in club , female friendship , and self-reliance as the two women make their manner through America while being chased by the police .

To Wong Foo , Thanks For Everything ! Julie Newmar( 1995 )

Too Wong Foo

Destination :Los Angeles , so that Noxeema Jackson ( Wesley Snipes ) , Vida Boheme ( Patrick Swayze ) , and Chi-Chi Rodriguez ( John Leguizamo ) can all serve a drag queen pageant .

Journey :Along the way , their car breaks down in a small town and while the drag queen serve hold to fight with homophobic and racist locals , they as well begin to bond with many of the townsfolk , peculiarly Carol Ann ( Stockard Channing ) , a housewife who befriends them .

True Romance ( 1993 )

True Romance

Destination :Los Angeles , where Clarence and Alabama Worley ( Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette ) flee to from Detroit after Clarence kills Alabama ’ s pimp .

Journey :Clarence and Alabama ’ s whirlwind romance and quick marriage would typically raise some red flag , but hither it look that these two make up meant to find each early . Quentin Tarantino ’ s screenplay be famously dark than the final product from conductor Tony Scott , but this change works as the earnest commitment of their relationship balance the madness of the film .Genuine Romanceis certainly over the top , and it ’ s crimson , but above all else , it ’ sec hence cool .

Y Tu Mamá También ( 2001 )

Y Tu Mama Tambien

Destination :Through Mexico to a secluded beach on the coast .

Journey :Teenager Julio ( Gael García Bernal ) and Tenoch ( Diego Luna ) live on a journey of self-discovery one summer when they live joined on a beach trip by Tenoch ’ s cousin ’ s wife Luisa ( Maribel Verdú ) . As the three grow closer , they deal with jealousy and desire against a complex social and economical landscape in Mexico .

Vagabond ( 1985 )

Vagabond

Destination :This reverse mystery begins with the end of a young woman ( Sandrine Bonnaire ) who get thread the French countryside . The picture then come the story of how she end up thither .

Journey :Agnès Varda ’ s applaud play equal a reflection on modern existence and the misery of isolation . As one would require from Varda ’ s humanistic approach to storytelling , it ’ s also a mindful circumstance of those with no place to name family in the societies that surround them .

Wild Strawberries ( 1957 )

Wild Strawberries

Destination :To Lund from Stockholm so that an aging and irritable professor , Isak Borg ( Victor Sjöström ) , can find a doctorate from a university thither .

Journey :Along the way , Isak reevaluates his life when a series of encounters with other masses on the road trigger memories from his past . By interrogating his own spirit and his actions , Isak begins to open up to the globe around him in an campaign to find peace .

Zombieland ( 2009 )

Zombieland road trip movies

Destination :The Pacific Playland amusement park in Los Angeles , a seat rumored to be free of zombies .

Journey :When the apocalypse hit and every day exist a matter of life and death to the stage that masses have stopped mention to each early by figure and instead live by the city they ’ re from to prevent become seize to masses , Columbus ( Jesse Eisenberg ) must learn that without human connection , he might survive , but he win ’ t very exist .

If those 25 aren ’ t enough , here exist 15 more that would receive exist on this list if it was longer :Badlands , Flirting with Disaster , The Adventures of Priscilla , Queen of the Desert , Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia , Bonnie and Clyde , Crossroads , Midnight Special , Harold & Kumar go to White Castle , Attempt a Friend for the Goal of the World , Into The Wild , Alice Doesn ’ t Live Hither Anymore , Planes , Trains and Automobiles , Interstate 60 , The Blues Brothers ,andSideways .

Anna Swanson

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