What Is a Road Movie? Elements and Examples of the Genre
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
What Is a Road Movie? Elements and Examples of the Genre
Scene from Thelma & Louise. (Photo by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images)
by Christopher McKittrick, Thought.co, Updated December 22, 2018
A road movie is any film that centers on a road trip (often, but not exclusively, via automobile). In road movies, one or more characters travel great distances to fulfill a goal. Along the way, the characters usually face conflict with each other and their unfamiliar surroundings while experiencing growth and development.
Key Takeaways: Road Movies
The term "road movie" refers to any film that centers on long-distance travel (typically, but not always, a road trip).
Road movies have been produced in numerous genres, including comedies, dramas, and horror movies.
Notable examples of road movies include It Happened One Night; Easy Rider; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; and Thelma & Louise.
Origins of the Road Movie
Travel has been a foundational narrative device since the time of ancient storytellers, as evidenced by Homer's The Odyssey. The medium of cinema allows filmmakers to depict transportation visually (even if visual effects like rear projection are utilized to simulate movement). As a result, filmmakers have often used road movies to place characters in unfamiliar settings that challenge their beliefs and values—known as a "fish out of water" plot.
Gags about traveling appeared in many silent films, but one of the earliest examples of a true road movie is Frank Capra's comedy It Happened One Night (1934). The popularity of the genre grew in the 1950s and 1960s as car travel became more common in American life. Road movies have also involved other forms of transportation, including railroad, bus and airline travel, sometimes taking the "road movie" off-road.
Road movies have been produced around the world, from the 1957 Swedish film Wild Strawberries to the 2005 Australian film Wolf Creek. However, the road movie is strongly identified with American film, likely because of the influence on the automobile on American culture.
Types of Road Movies
Because of the potential for mishaps in traveling in unfamiliar territory, road movies lend themselves to comedic stories. Absurd transportation issues and confrontations between dissimilar characters forced to travel together have been featured in classic comedies like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963); National Lampoon's Vacation (1983); Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985); Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987); Midnight Run (1988), and Dumb & Dumber (1994).
The narrative arc of the road movie can also be used to develop relationships between characters and create dramatic situations, as in Rain Man (1988) and Green Book (2018).
Other genres that have crossed over with road movies include action (Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015), horror (Joy Ride, 2001), film noir (The Hitch-Hiker, 1953), and superhero (Logan, 2017). Though they don't involve modern transportation, Westerns like Stagecoach (1939) and fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies also feature elements of road movies as they depict character-changing journeys.
Top Road Movies
The following list contains a selection of top road movies across a variety of genres.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Clark Gable sits on a bench with Claudette Colbert in a scene from the film 'It Happened One Night', 1934. Columbia Pictures/Getty Images
One of the earliest examples of a road movie, It Happened One Night features a recently-married high-society woman (Claudette Colbert) on the run from her disapproving father. She is tracked down by a recently-fired reporter (Clark Gable) who sees her as the story he needs to get back on his feet. The pair end up traveling together in what is arguably the first screwball comedy. It Happened One Night won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
Easy Rider (1969)
American actors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda ride through the Desert on motorcycles in a scene from the film 'Easy Rider', directed by Hopper, 1969. Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Director-star Dennis Hopper created the ultimate motorcycle film about two drifters (Peter Fonda and Hopper) who travel across America and experience 1960s counterculture. Easy Rider is one of the most successful independent films of all time. It is also celebrated for its classic soundtrack that features one of the ultimate driving songs, Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild."
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Steve Martin and John Candy sit in a destroyed car in a scene from the film 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles', 1987. Paramount/Getty Images
Neil Page (Steve Martin) is a businessman who just wants to get home in time to spend Thanksgiving with his family. When a major snowstorm derails his plans, he finds himself forced to travel the highways with shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). Writer-director John Hughes' hilarious road comedy has since become a holiday classic.
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon sitting in their convertible with squad cars behind them in a scene from the film 'Thelma & Louise', 1991. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images
Two women (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) set out on a weekend getaway but soon wind up on the run from the law after Thelma kills a man who attempted to rape her. The two women travel across the country in an attempt to escape authorities in a film that has been dubbed a feminist revenge fantasy. Thelma & Louise won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road. Jasin Boland - © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
In Max Max: Fury Road, the fourth film in George Miller's post-apocalyptic Mad Max series, Max (Tom Hardy) accompanies several women escaping a vicious dictator who has enslaved them. The group hits the road in a hot pursuit that lasts nearly the entire length of the film. Mad Max: Fury Road won six Oscars.
There are many road movies. Which ones do you like, and why? If you want to comment and are not a member of the Everyone Loves Movies group. it's easy to join, just click this link and then click "JOIN GROUP", and you are automatically a member.
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There are other Road Movies that I have seen and enjoyed, for example: Vanishing Point, Two Lane Blacktop, Duel, Wages of Fear, RV, and even Around the World in Eighty Days can be considered a Road Movie.
So what about you - which Road Movies have you enjoyed watching?
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My favorites are Duel and Easy Rider...''Born to be Wild''......
This is a good one too Buzz, but will have to comment later. Maybe over the weekend.
Smokey and the Bandit & Cannonball Run
Another biker road movie could be Wild Hogs.
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and The Wild One are a couple of my favorite road movies.
The top spot on my list goes to the original Death Race 2000 movie starring Sylvester Stallone and David.Carridine.
Oh yeah, Easy Rider & Thelma and Louise.. definitely favorites.
But there are so many road movies out there, it's hard to pick just a few...
Broken flowers - but then I'm a huge Bill Murray fan.
Little Miss Sunshine
Thelma and Louise is my favorite road trip movie
I think I told you before but I usually watch off the wall movies. Ones that may not have been very popular.
So with this category I would have to add,
Transamerica
For comedy, I did see,
We're the Millers
Good article, Buzz. Among my favorite road movies are:
"The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) - The Great Depression, poor family forced off their land traveling to California.
"The Long, Long Trailer" (1954) - Romantic comedy - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Think of the "I Love Lucy" show, and you can figure out Lucy's zany antics in the movie.
"Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) - The Great Depression (again). Based upon the real lives of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on their crime spree in the 1930s.
The only one I have seen out of those was the Trailer movie with Lucy.
It is funny watching older movies and seeing how things have changed. Like now, it is against the law to ride in a trailer while it is being towed.
I'm a big fan of the Turner Classic Movies network, so I watch a lot of old movies. I agree that it's fun to watch older movies to see how things have changed and developed - like clothing, scenery/backdrops, make-up, hair styles, technology, etc.
Good choices, Jasper. They made me realize that O Brother, Where Art Thou can also be so categorized.
Jeese, I could post every single one of these......
and a few more I could add.....
but my allotment is full at the present time....
Nowhere Man. You are not Oskar Schindler, you have done enough, and we all know that there will be more when you can.
Everyone posts Easy Rider. I have never seen that movie.
Would Apocalypse Now be considered a road trip?
The movie captures a moment in time. Not really a great movie, yet entertaining and interesting if one experienced the era.
Two things bothers me about the movie and it has to do with the bikes.
I can't get past the handle bars. They were popular to the point even bicycles (Schwinn Mustangs) were made with them. Wasn't a fan then and nothing has changed for me in that area.
Then those tiny fuel tanks, feeding thirsty engines, while riding in that desert country.
I still like it.
I guess storing cocaine in the fuel tanks cut down on available fuel.
Hey Dave,
You might be interested in this part of the Wikipedia Easy Rider article on the subject of the motorcycles:
What a story. Those old pan heads were something. I still like them.
Maybe I have a movie to contribute here.
One Sunday morning when I was young, but still old enough to ride a bicycle, me a the neighbor kid were riding our bicycles around.
Maybe we had just finished delivering papers. The streets were all dead empty. This red motorcycle comes through, coughing and sputtering, then shuts off maybe 100yds or so in front of us.
Naturally, being a 2 wheeled vehicle AND with a motor we had to go investigate. This fella who looked like he could have come right out of that Marlon Brando movie, The Wild One, is there working on his bike. Leather jacket, white T shirt, cigarette and all.
We struck up a conversation with him and he didn't seem irritated that a couple kids were asking questions while he was trying to figure out how to get his bike running again.
Eventually he asked if there was a store nearby where he could get a couple simple things. Really can't remember what exactly.
Sure there was. A couple miles away there was a little corner "shopping center" with stores that had those things. He gave us some money and asked if we could go get them.
Sure we could. He was a fellow biker.
We went and got the stuff and and he was there waiting for us. I wonder what was going through his mind? Did he make the right decision about giving us some money?
We gave him the stuff and probably no more than 5 minutes later he has the motor running. Gives us thanks, puts his jacket back on and rode off, never to be seen by us again.
It was a Hydra Glide.
Good story, Dave. All you 2-wheelers were like brothers. Did he tell you to "keep the change"?
I was thinking that very question while typing the story. I don't think the issue came up. We gave him the bag of stuff and that is all I recall about the transaction.
There is something about the experience which reminds me of a Ray Bradbury tale, Dandelion Wine.
Also, there is another story of a completely different topic that happened at that exact same location where that bike stopped. Another story...
@ Ender
I'm not sure if Apocalypse Now would be considered a "road trip" movie, but I have to tell you that Easy Rider, its plot, its actors, its soundtrack was considered to be a sort of "National Anthem" of a generation.
I will have to break down and watch it one of these days.
Did you read the article?
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Overrated? The movie was considered a lot more significant than The Big Lebowski.
From Wikipedia:
Okay, I don't know - I have never watched the Mad Max movies. Maybe someone who has can answer you.
As for your comment about seeing Easy Rider several times - I once posted an article, now in the Everyone Loves Movies archives, about watching movies more than once. By doing so there are certain good things and bad things - you can pick up on and notice things you missed previously, but on the other hand you already know where the movie is going so it can become less interesting.
I would consider the original Mad Max a road movie. The road scenes were significant and IIRC everything centered on what happened on the road.
Just recalled. It was Mad Max: The Road Warrior.
Was wondering when someone was going to get around to that one.....
And then there are these....
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Brown Bunny
Five Easy Pieces
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
The World's Fastest Indian
Vanishing Point
Badlands
They Drive by Night
The Wages of Fear
The African Queen
North by Northwest
The Great Race
Speed
There are literally hundreds of movies that encompass a great journey from one place to another by means of transport....
I had already mentioned above O Brother Where Art Thou?, Vanishing Point, and The Wages of Fear, and as well, Two Lane Blacktop, RV and Duel, and what about the ultimate - Around the World in 80 Days - both the original and the remake both of which I watched when recently shown on TV here.
LOL.
Yes, those are good ones. You might think this is stupid but Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry made me a little down when that Dodge Charger met it's demise.
I have to admit, I am a Hot Rods to Hell guy, as goofy as it is at times.
There is a story behind that too.
I don't like it when Chargers get tore up
Me too. There are certain cars I don't like see getting torn up and the Charger is one.
LOL. I KNEW you'd respond to that.
Me either.....
The people who built that charger for this crash had to be insane....
I consider them murderers......
I'll agree, some people in video or film, think that if they can afford it, they can ruin it.
Absolutely no regard to how hard one of these is to come by, restore or maintain.
An absolute crime.
I have to say, I never watched any of those series of movies because of the beginning of that very scene.
Impossible.
Nobody will ever see or experience that wheel stand AND blowing off the tires like that at the same time for real.
Never watched any of them because of that very scene.
A single night at a local dragstrip watching the Outlaw Pro Streets would have educated them.
They couldn't spend one night at the track to see reality?
That was my key that is was all full of baloney. You might slightly haze the tires, but nothing like that.
Maybe they redeemed themselves, but I don't know.
Was wishing it would be a good movie...
'68 Judge here, I know, the drag is a fake, too much wheelbase for that much lift while spinning the tires. Lift for a wheelstand comes from torque and traction. What they showed in the movie couldn't be done in real life with twice the horsepower.... (and with that much wheelspin, he would have lost the race, hookup wins races)
I believe they used three cars for that movie, the one in the garage which was a real blown Hemi Charger, a second with the large slicks spinning, A real pro stocker, and the car they crashed which was mostly street custom window dressing....
But the car? (the real one in the garage) now that was ALIVE.....
.....just sitting there.
As far as the movies? the first one was the best one the rest went downhill from there.... It's why I didn't add them to the list....
This is the REAL one, the one that was parked in the garage
Custom '70 Dodge Charger R/T You notice the grille is not the normal charger grille. The blower is not a fake as you can see the drive belt at the from edge of the hole cut in the hood. The car they destroyed has a standard Charger R/T grille and a fake supercharger.
(Photo care of Barrett auctions....)
The fake....
Looks good but it's not a real pro street rod.....
That Charger is a pretty car. Always liked those models the most.
Used to have a '73 though...years ago.
Here is my OPS Foxbody. They are the "ugly ducklings of the Mustangs, which NOBODY wants to see in the opposite lane in an outlaw race.
That last picture is sitting a little high. The engine and transmission were out or maintenance.
Well, that's one of my contributions to the Outlaw Pro Streeters.
I like the launch shot, plenty of hookup there....
Nice car......
Thank you NWM. I appreciate the comment.
Just thought of one,
The Sugarland Express
A Goldie Hawn movie from 1974