Traveling on the open road is a visual experience, and that’s one reason road trips are a classic subject in film. Countless good road trip films have been made throughout the years and may have even inspired your own adventures on the open road. With the help of car finance through 360, you will be creating your own memorable trips in no time! Long journeys are tough, and they lead to plenty of drama and comedy. That’s probably why a road trip such a great framing device in film, and it’s definitely one reason real road trips are so memorable.

Memorable Road Trips in film

Mad Max (1979)

In the near future, resource scarcity brings society crashing down, leaving power in the hands of only those strong and ruthless enough to hold onto it. While some remnants of civil society hold on in Australia, bandits and gangs dominate the Outback and make travel on the highways at best a dangerous venture. With what little remains of Australia’s police force unwilling or unable to combat the gangs, former policeman Max Rockatansky takes it upon himself to cross Australia and bring one of the worst gang leaders to justice. Replete with desolate imagery and 80s-style action, this movie earned its lasting fame.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Recently paroled convicts Jake and Elwood go on a mission from God. They learn that the Catholic orphanage where they grew up is about to be foreclosed upon unless someone comes up with the money to pay its debts. They only know one (legal) way to raise that kind of money: reunite their old Rhythm & Blues band. The pair travel across the US state of Illinois, from the rural and industrial towns to Chicago, in order to convince their old bandmates, one by one, to join them. Along the way, they draw the wrath of, among others, neo-Nazis, a woman skilled in bomb-making and the law. The movie is full of images of 1970s Illinois, and it is both engaging and hilarious.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Between two overworked and largely unsuccessful parents, a heroin-addicted grandfather, a suicidal uncle and two strange children, the members of the Hoover family don’t have much to feel good about. When Olive, the daughter, earns a place to compete in a youth beauty pageant in southern California, the family has only two days to travel across the country together in a small caravan to get there. The setting changes with the tone of the film from start to finish; as the Hoovers are forced to face their problems with themselves and each other, the suburban backdrop transforms into rural farmland, sun-blasted desert, and coastal cliffs. Little Miss Sunshine is a gorgeous film in more ways than one.

We left out the numerous movies based on books that centre around road trips because we’ve already talked about road trips in literature, but that doesn’t mean you should leave those movies out, even if you have read the books. Films like The Motorcycle Diaries and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas bring the books to life impeccably and shouldn’t be missed. However, if you’d rather go on your own journey, 360 Finance is ready to help you finance and insure your car and your gear.