46 Best Auto Racing Movies (F1 the Movie, Days of Thunder)
(Photo by Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection. DAYS OF THUNDER.)
The latest: F1 the Movie is Certified Fresh! The Brad Pitt-starring action-drama is director Josephn Kosinski’s first feature since Top Gun: Maverick and is out in theaters this week!
And fittingly, Days of Thunder, Tony Scott and Tom Cruise’s high-octane reunion after Top Gun, is celebrating its 35th anniversary!
Red flag, green flag, go! Let’s burn rubber as we ranking the best auto and car racing movies of all time by Tomatometer! We start with Certified Fresh classics, putting audiences in the driver’s seat at 24 Hours of Le Mans (Ford v Ferrari), Formula One Grand Prix (Rush), and NASCAR (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby).
(We focused on sanctioned sport of auto racing, so we’re saving your cannonball runs, death races, and Tokyo drifts for another day.)
Those are followed up with popular favorites, including the Indy 500 highlight Winning (starring real-life speed legend Paul Newman), Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder, the cult dazzler Speed Racer, and family-oriented films like Cars, Turbo, and the Herbie entries.
And most recently, we’ve added Gran Turismo (we think we’re legally obligated to emphasize that this is BASED ON A TRUE STORY), based on the long-running hardcore sim from Sony.
#1
(2010)
93%
Critics Consensus: Even for filmgoers who aren’t racing fans, Senna offers heart-pounding thrills — and heartbreaking emotion.
Synopsis: Ayrton Senna becomes a three-time Formula One racing champion and Brazil’s national hero before his untimely death at age 34.
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#2
(2019)
92%
Critics Consensus: Ford v Ferrari delivers all the polished auto action audiences will expect — and balances it with enough gripping human drama to satisfy non-racing enthusiasts.
Synopsis: American automotive designer Carroll Shelby and fearless British race car driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics
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#3
(2017)
92%
Critics Consensus: High-octane fun that’s smartly assembled without putting on airs, Logan Lucky marks a welcome end to Steven Soderbergh’s retirement — and proves he hasn’t lost his ability to entertain.
Synopsis: West Virginia family man Jimmy Logan teams up with his one-armed brother Clyde and sister Mellie to steal money from
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#4
(2025)
88%
Critics Consensus: Driven by Brad Pitt’s laidback magnetism and sporting a souped-up engine courtesy of Joseph Kosinski’s kinetic direction, F1 The Movie brings vintage cool across the finish line.
Synopsis: Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was FORMULA 1’s most promising phenom of the 1990s until
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#5
(2013)
88%
Critics Consensus: A sleek, slick, well-oiled machine, Rush is a finely crafted sports drama with exhilarating race sequences and strong performances from Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl.
Synopsis: In the mid-1970s, charismatic English playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) share an intense
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#6
(2006)
74%
Critics Consensus: Cars offers visual treats that more than compensate for its somewhat thinly written story, adding up to a satisfying diversion for younger viewers.
Synopsis: While traveling to California to race The King and Chick Hicks in the Piston Cup Championship, Lightning McQueen falls out
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#7
(2006)
72%
Critics Consensus: Though it occasionally stalls, Talladega Nights’ mix of satire, clever gags, and excellent ensemble performances put it squarely in the winner’s circle.
Synopsis: NASCAR superstar Ricky Bobby is at the top of his game; adored by fans, a trophy wife by his side,
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#8
(2009)
100%
Critics Consensus: Racing Dreams offers an absorbing peek at the lives of young NASCAR hopefuls that should resonate with racing enthusiasts as well as viewers with no connection to the sport.
Synopsis: Marshall Curry goes behind the scenes of the World Karting Association, a youth racing league that often serves as a
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#9
(2016)
– –
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Automobile magnates Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari develop a fierce rivalry at the Le Mans during the 1960s.
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#10
(2018)
93%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A small-town stock car track and the drivers that call it home struggle to hold on to an American racing
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#11
(2015)
92%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The 35-year racing career of actor Paul Newman.
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#12
(1966)
91%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The most daring drivers in the world have gathered to compete for the 1966 Formula One championship. After a spectacular
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#13
(2017)
86%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Groups of drivers compete in a deadly, government-sponsored cross-country race, where points are earned for killing pedestrians and other drivers.
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#14
(1975)
82%
Critics Consensus: Death Race 2000 is a fun, campy classic, drawing genuine thrills from its mindless ultra-violence.
Synopsis: In the year 2000, America is a totalitarian regime on the brink of collapse. The most popular sport in this
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#15
(2013)
80%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Southern California drag racers Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen team with corporate giants to change the face of sports.
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#16
(1968)
78%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Race car driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) and his philosophical mechanic, Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett), find themselves in possession of
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#17
(2015)
77%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Production problems affect the filming of the movie “Le Mans” in 1970, a passion project for Hollywood icon and racing
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#18
(2019)
75%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Filmmaker Paul Taublieb examines the special friendship between NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip.
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#19
(1973)
75%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Junior Jackson (Jeff Bridges) is a Southern boy with a penchant for driving too fast along his native North Carolina
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#20
(2023)
73%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Zhi, a rookie race car driver, gets the opportunity to compete against the reigning champion of the rally car circuit.
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#21
(2023)
72%
Critics Consensus: Sleek and well-acted, Ferrari overcomes its occasionally underpowered narrative to deliver a rousing and admirably complex biopic.
Synopsis: Ferrari is set during the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle and danger of 1950’s Formula 1, ex-racer, Enzo Ferrari,
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#22
(1971)
71%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Filmed during the annual 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans, France, in 1970, this fast-paced drama follows Michael Delaney (Steve
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#23
(2009)
70%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A daredevil driver falls for an alluring woman as he tries to win a race that occurs only once every
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#24
(2017)
69%
Critics Consensus: Cars 3 has an unexpectedly poignant story to go with its dazzling animation, suggesting Pixar’s most middle-of-the-road franchise may have a surprising amount of tread left.
Synopsis: Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast cars, the legendary Lighting McQueen finds himself pushed out of the sport that
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#25
(2013)
67%
Critics Consensus: It’s nowhere near as inventive as its off-the-wall premise might suggest, but Turbo boasts just enough colorful visual thrills and sharp voice acting to recommend as undemanding family-friendly fare.
Synopsis: Turbo (Ryan Reynolds) is a speed-obsessed snail with an unusual dream: to become the world’s greatest racer. This odd snail
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#26
(2023)
65%
Critics Consensus: Gran Turismo‘s brisk action and feel-good underdog drama are undermined by its loose telling of the fact-based story, but this is still a generally solid racing movie.
Synopsis: Based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, the film is the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran
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#27
(1969)
63%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Race car driver Frank Capua (Paul Newman) holds track victories above all else, but as he competes in the string
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#28
(2004)
60%
Critics Consensus: A thrill ride for fans, but those looking for a deeper experience will be choking on exhaust.
Synopsis: Filmmaker Simon Wincer follows racers who are traveling, and sometimes crashing, at nearly 200 mph; narrated by Kiefer Sutherland.
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#29
(2021)
60%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The life and career of seven-time Formula 1 world champion race car driver Michael Schumacher.
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#30
(1977)
60%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: This third movie in the Disney series finds driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) once again hitting the road with Herbie,
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#31
(2024)
56%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: ONE FAST MOVE is an action-adventure thrill ride about a young man down on his luck who seeks out his
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#32
(2001)
55%
Critics Consensus: Sleek and shiny on the surface, The Fast and the Furious recalls those cheesy teenage exploitation flicks of the 1950s.
Synopsis: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) enjoys the adrenaline of street car racing and his fans treat him like a rock star.
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#33
(2012)
50%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Only one victory away from winning his freedom, legendary driver Carl Lucas (Luke Goss) enters the first Death Race to
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#34
(2019)
44%
Critics Consensus: Its heartstring-tugging overtures may be difficult for dog lovers to resist, but The Art of Racing in the Rain is sentimental and contrived.
Synopsis: Denny Swift is a Formula One race car driver who understands that the techniques needed on the racetrack can also
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#35
(2008)
42%
Critics Consensus: Overloaded with headache-inducing special effects, Speed Racer finds the Wachowskis focused on visual thrills at the expense of a coherent storyline.
Synopsis: Born into a family business of race cars, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is one of the track’s hot stars. Sitting
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#36
(2008)
41%
Critics Consensus: Mindless, violent, and lightning-paced, Death Race is little more than an empty action romp.
Synopsis: Framed for a murder he did not commit, three-time speedway champ Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) finds himself at Terminal Island,
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#37
(2005)
40%
Critics Consensus: Herbie: Fully Loaded is a decent kids movie that is pretty undemanding for adult viewers.
Synopsis: Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) wants to become a NASCAR driver but her overprotective father, Ray Peyton Sr. (Michael Keaton), won’t
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#38
(2006)
38%
Critics Consensus: Eye-popping driving sequences coupled with a limp story and flat performances make this Drift a disappointing follow-up to previous Fast and Furious installments.
Synopsis: Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) always feels like an outsider, but he defines himself through his victories as a street racer.
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#39
(1990)
38%
Critics Consensus: Days of Thunder has Tom Cruise and plenty of flash going for it, but they aren’t enough to compensate for the stock plot, two-dimensional characters, and poorly written dialogue.
Synopsis: In the fast-paced world of NASCAR, a rivalry brews between rookie hotshot Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) and veteran racer Rowdy
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#40
(2003)
37%
Critics Consensus: Beautiful people and beautiful cars in a movie that won’t tax the brain cells.
Synopsis: This sequel focuses on ex-police officer Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), who relocates from Los Angeles to Miami to start over.
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#41
(2009)
29%
Critics Consensus: While Fast and Furious features the requisite action and stunts, the filmmakers have failed to provide a competent story or compelling characters.
Synopsis: When a crime brings them back to the mean streets of Los Angeles, fugitive ex-convict Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and
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#42
(1996)
22%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Sandra (Halle Berry), the new science teacher at a poor Hawaiian high school, finds the students surly and unmotivated. So
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#43
(1983)
19%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Confident NASCAR driver Stroker Ace (Burt Reynolds) runs into problems when a confrontation with his commercial sponsor causes him to
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#44
(2010)
17%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Convicted of killing a cop, an inmate (Luke Goss) competes in a brutal race where cars are deadly weapons.
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#45
(2001)
14%
Critics Consensus: Underdeveloped characters, silly plot dynamics, and obvious CG effects.
Synopsis: A cutting-edge action drama about an exciting cast of characters living life in the fastest of lanes, in the thrilling
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#46
(2018)
0%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A stock car racing legend is drawn back to the dirt track when his son, an aspiring driver, joins a
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