Cinema on the highway, both on the road and on highways racing between major cities and in the American deserts. However, cars and machines have become immortal and are capable of giving rise to their own legends, sometimes superior or equal to those who drove them. On an emotional wave Ferrari Michael Mann, presented out of competition at the latter Venice International Film Festival 2023and thanks Gran Turismo: The Story of an Impossible Dream, directed by Neill Blomkamp (in cinemas September 20), starring David Harbor and Orlando Bloom, based on the famous racing game saga, then the roaring and conquering duo return to challenge each other and deliver emotion, detail, style, exploration. Let’s find out 5 films in which cars are (still) the main characters in our imagination and why.
James Bond and Aston Martin DB5
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Sean Connery next to an Aston Martin DB5 during the filming of Goldfinger in 1964.
Connection. James Bond. English secret agent, invented by the writer in 1953. Ian Flemingand brought to the big screen by producer Albert R. Broccoli, in his long (and still eventful) cinematic saga he actually drove a wide variety of car models and was full of accessories. The leftist one in history? Aston Martin DB5equipped with a bulletproof shield, ejection seats, anti-radar protection and machine guns, in short, agent 007’s personal car, driven Sean Connery since the movie Golden finger, released in 1964, and in Thunderball. The success would be repeated, later returning in the films GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough (with Pierce Brosnan), and then again in the subsequent films Casino Royale, Skyfall, Specter ” and “No Time to Die,” in this case Daniel Craig wearing a helmet that set trends, evoked desire and imitation. Example: Leonardo DiCaprio, who in Steven Spielberg’s film Catch Me If You Dress Up, dresses like him and even decides to buy him. Between fiction and reality.
James Dean and the Mercury Club coupe
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James Dean and Natalie Wood in a scene from Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause
James Dean and the passion for cars has now become a legend within a legend, so much so that the American actor died on September 30, 1955 in a traffic accident while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder. In life, as in the movies: it happens in Rebellion without cause Nicholas Ray, thanks to the character of Jim Stark, in the so-called “chicken run”, a test of courage, takes on the challenge of gang leader Buzz and throws himself from the car before it falls into a cliff overlooking the sea. What model was it? Fabulous Mercury Club Coupe black.
At the pace of the future thanks to DeLorean
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An exact replica of the DeLorean DMC-12 used in the Back to the Future trilogy.
It’s more than a machine, it (was) a machine over time, capable of running (and flying), projecting Michael J. Fox covering the past, present and future. A memorable trilogy clearly belongs Back to the Futurein which Marty McFly travels between the 1950s, 1985 and 2015, the model is legendary DeLorean DMC-12modified for the occasion and became a research tool, as well as an imaginary cult object, in which everyone would like to have the opportunity to drive a car at least once.
Thelma and Louise’s Ford Thunderbind
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Freedom, rebellion and women’s emancipation, away from the world and from those who would like to be kept in a cage at home. One of the most famous road films in film history, directed by Ridley Scott. Thelma and Louisestarring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis continues to make history. But what model did they drive? A Ford Thunderbirdused (and reproduced) in five different models during the American director’s filming and became a symbol of a generation.
Dominic Toretto’s Dodge Charter
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1970 Dodge Charger R/T from the movie “Fast and Furious”
Another round, another race (but a secret one). They are from the series Fast and furious, a superlative franchise where cars are king, incredible speed generates action, skyrocketing box office returns and mind-blowing action sequences. But Dominic TorettoHowever, one of the main characters, played by Vin Diesel, drives 1970 Dodge Charger R/Twhich has now become a second skin to him.