If you love car movies, this article on Japanese car movies is for you. While we don’t condone street racing (please keep it on the track), there is a slew of exciting movies centered on the culture surrounding illicit nighttime escapades on the world’s highways and boulevards.
There are several other must-see street Japanese car movies out there that try to have fun with and one extremely renowned, near-inescapable blockbuster franchise.
Furthermore, This is, indeed, a diverse list. It comprises a broad and attention-grabbing mix of films that will keep you occupied on your couch: gearhead classics, cult classics, noirs, modern blockbusters, art-house favorites, and even genuine obscurities.
No matter your preferences, you can rest guaranteed that there will be something for you.
A “car movie” is defined as a film in which an automobile plays a significant role in how a character interacts with the world. Whether as a weapon, a tool, a dream, a backdrop, or a metaphor.
Without further ado, let go. Here are some of the best Japanese car movies. So, please read on.
Ford vs. Ferrari (2019)
Even if you’re not a motorhead, you’ll probably enjoy this high-octane bromance. Which is propelled by zesty performances and Mangold’s precise direction.
Ford v Ferrari is undoubtedly the best car film of the decade, and the story it depicts resonates beyond enthusiast circles, capturing the general public’s attention.
It was also nominated for two Academy Awards, one for best film editing and the other for best sound editing.
Furthermore, these two carmakers shouldn’t have ended up at the same crossroads on the surface. One is an American behemoth that specializes in mass-market automobiles.
The other is a much smaller Italian company that operates in the industry’s upper echelons.
Following a botched takeover attempt, the two businesses spent most of the 1960s beating each other on and off the racetrack. And it didn’t stop until Ford thought it had gotten even.
In addition, Matt Damon plays Carroll Shelby, an American automotive designer. And everything-man, while Christian Bale plays Ken Miles, a courageous British-born race car driver.
To construct a new vehicle for the Ford Motor Company. These two brilliant men battle corporate influence, the laws of physics, and their demons. They want to compete against Enzo Ferrari’s race cars at France’s 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rush (2013)
If you enjoy Formula One racing, you will adore this film. Also, Rush is based on a true story about the feud between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, two of the finest Formula One drivers of the 1970s.
It transports spectators to one of Formula One’s most cutthroat and exhilarating eras, culminating in the spectacular 1976 crash that nearly killed Lauda.
The F1 cars of that era are extremely attractive, and the star-studded production staff adds to the excitement. Director Ron Howard enticed several genuine race cars out of their owners.
At the same time, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle channeled Frankenheimer shooting them in motion and the fact that the story was created by the renowned author Peter Morgan.
The Fast and Furious (2001)
Instead of surfing, it’s crucial to street racing in this brilliant version of Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break. Starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel instead of Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.
No one could have predicted that a plot about a buster joining a gang of street racers stealing DVDs from moving 18-wheelers would bloom into a billion-dollar superhero series when this mid-budget gem entered theaters in the summer of 2001.
In reality, re-watching the film for what it was at the time: the first cinematic severe take on the late-’90s/early-’00s import drag and tuner culture with a caper plot was thrown in for good measure, the film is significantly better. This is one of the best Japanese car movies.
The Fast And Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
When Tokyo Drift first presented touge racing to the public, Formula D was still in its infancy. It’s also the last film in the Fast and Furious franchise to be entirely centered on automotive culture.
Particularly the action on the other side of the Pacific. Which had previously been documented exclusively by Japanese films that were rarely seen outside of Japan until 2006.
Although it was not well received in the United States when it was released in theaters. It served to establish the foreign template that would govern the rest of the franchise’s casting decisions.
Baby Driver (2017)
Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright, is a cinematic delight. This enormous crime comedy-romance-musical-action epic follows a bright teenage getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) who wants to escape the mob boss he’s been working with (Kevin Spacey).
One thing is certain: if “Kevin Spacey” appears on a movie poster, you know it has to be fantastic. Second, the film boasts some of the most surrealistically wild vehicle chases ever.
Expertly coordinated the greatest rock soundtrack in eternity. Other filmmakers have undoubtedly experimented with such a lighthearted blend of spectacular automobile action scenes.
And vibrant music throughout the years, but Wright takes things a step further. He sees a powerful symbol for his emotional solitude in the protagonist’s essential connection to vehicles and music. and his need to hold the world at bay.
Mischief 3000 (2002)
Before YouTube, you had to seek out specialty VHS and DVD flicks put together by persons willing to risk being identified by local law authorities if you wanted to view video of people hooning vehicles and generally making horrible judgments behind the wheel (like Toru Kirikae taking his Ferrari F40 to 200 mph speed on a Japanese highway).
Furthermore, for many, this Tekademics documentary was their first glimpse into a previously unknown world of stickered exotics speeding across the American heartland, with occasionally disastrous results.
Mercedes, Mon Amour (1992)
After you’ve seen enough big-budget Hollywood films, it’s time to check out a lesser-known Turkish gem. Part The Bicycle Thieves, part The Old Man and the Sea, this witty.
The moving story follows an impoverished peasant who travels to Germany to work and save money for his beloved yellow Mercedes.
He tries to drive it back to his village, hoping to revel in the glory of his hard-won achievement. Still, he runs into numerous barriers along the way. Many of these are due to his venality and consumerism and Turkey’s notoriously bad drivers.
A touching story that also serves as a sharp societal satire and one that has earned a spot on our list of the best automotive movies of all time.
Initial D (2005)
Takumi, the tofu delivery driver’s dominance of the Mount Akina drift scene in his Toyota AE86 Corolla. Is it one of the most enduring street racing fiction ever captured on film, animation, or celluloid?
Despite not being a cinematic classic, Initial D was the first to bring touge action to the big screen. And it remains an essential chronicle of its time.
The Wraith (1986)
Charlie Sheen is a car, a ghost, and possibly just a regular guy who kills his assailants while street racing.
Isn’t that enough of a description? The Wraith imagines a future in which an adolescent can be reincarnated as the Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor supercar.
While still attending high school and hanging out with his friends. Oh, and every time there’s a street race, he extracts sweet, scorching retribution on his killers by using the ‘Wraith’ (the moniker given to the M4S). Just go with the flow.
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
First, if you haven’t seen or read about the 1974 film Gone in 60 Seconds, a word about the original, directed by stuntman H.B. Halicki, is one of the oddest movies ever made, bordering on unwatchable.
In a nutshell, it’s a collection of jumbled-up vehicle scenes and stunts tied together by speech that tries to tell a complex plot about a gang of thieves robbing a bunch of automobiles for no apparent purpose.
The remake is almost the polar opposite of the original. Jerry Bruckheimer produced the 2000 remake, an unbelievably slick, star-studded heist film.
Redline (2009)
Only once every five years does the world’s most dangerous and thrilling car race occur. And that’s all there is to it for tonight.
At the starting block, the competitors are lined up. JP, the circuit’s most daredevil driver, is waiting for the green light in his vehicle.
On the starting line is female driver Sonoshee, with whom he is secretly in love. She’ll go to any length to get on that podium. In this race, anything is not only possible but also permitted.
Furthermore, their opponents have modified their vehicles to outfit them with incredibly destructive weapons; with such participants, it’s no surprise that the government has banned Redline, which will do anything to stop it. This is one of the best Japanese car movies.
Need For Speed (2014)
The story follows a local street racer who joins up with a wealthy and egotistical business associate, only to be falsely accused and imprisoned by his partner.
He joins a New York-to-Los Angeles race to exact revenge after being released. When the racer’s ex-partner finds out about the scheme, he places a huge bounty on his head.
Compelling him to run a cross-country gauntlet of illegal racers in all kinds of supercharged cars.
Born To Race (2011)
The protagonist of Born To Race is Danny Krueger, a brazen young street racer on a collision course with disaster. Also, after an accident at an illegal street race, he is relocated to a small town to live with his estranged father.
A retired NASCAR racer. When Danny decides to compete in the NHRA High School Drags. He feels obligated to ask his father for help in taking down the local hotshot.
The Transporter (2002)
Frank Martin, a former Special Forces officer, will deliver anything to anyone for the correct price. And his no-questions-asked approach has made him immensely popular.
However, when he discovers his current cargo is alive, a hazardous series of events begins. A sleazy American businessman is smuggling the bound and gagged Lai to France, and Frank fights to free her while a French detective exposes his criminal actions.
Death Proof (2007)
This Quentin Tarantino homage to cult auto films is a terrific thriller. Complete with the ultimate vehicle stunt sequence and plenty of the director’s trademark moments of seemingly meaningless dialogue.
The film is exhilarating yet emotional, as is typical of Tarantino’s work. And it also has the fun, experimental character of a narrative puzzle.
Furthermore, the narrative is straightforward, but Tarantino, you can bet, isn’t. Tarantino stars Kurt Russell as a stunt driver who enjoys killing carloads of unsuspecting females.
We observe him chase and consume his prey in the first half of the video; in the second half, we see a group of victims fight back. This is one of the best Japanese car movies.
Taxi (2015)
The Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been barred from making films by his government, and his freedom of movement is severely restricted. Taxi won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2015, but he could not return to Germany to collect it.
However, it hasn’t stopped him from conducting some profoundly personal, shape-shifting, documentary-style inquiries into his own life.
This film takes place entirely inside a taxi cab that Panahi is driving about Tehran, as various people come and go with their own peculiar and highly personal tragedies.
This may not seem like much, but the film’s seductive, quietly revolutionary nature will pleasantly surprise you.
Mad Max: Furry Road (2015)
Like Fast and Furious, many would argue that more than one Mad Max picture deserves to be included in any best automobile movies list.
Director George Miller’s pitch-black dystopian visions have always been the best among the best automotive movies. Combining highly stylized filmmaking and mind-blowing, real-life vehicle stunts.
Max’s Ford Falcon Police Interceptor, replete with a blower and a V-8, is also a true badass, possibly the worst car ever shown in a movie.
Compared to the critically acclaimed The Road Warrior, The Furry Road’s filmmaking is more stylized, the stunts are nuttier, and even the lead actor Tom Hardy easily out-broods his predecessor Mel Gibson.
Fury Road does a superb job of depicting the varied and unique personalities and the horrific world they live in this spectacular thrill ride and its relentless, explosive action sequences. This is one of the best Japanese car movies.
