10 Great Travel Race Movies

Lists: Slow travel is well and good. But there's something irresistible about a great travel race movie. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eva Holland and Eli Ellison share their favorite vicarious thrill rides.

4) Bite The Bullet

The Western Press newspaper holds a 700-mile endurance horseback race across the badlands and sand dunes of “Nowhere U.S.A.” Among the Western archetypes gunning for the prize money are two ex-Rough Riders (Gene Hackman and James Coburn), a mouthy punk (Jan Michael Vincent) a shady cowgirl (Candice Bergen) and a broken old man (the great Ben Johnson). While the makings of a dusty macho movie are all there, Bullet also has something to say about greed, the waning days of the Old West and animal cruelty. It’s part adventure picture, part PETA recruiting film and an overlooked ‘70s gem.

Next Page »


Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.

Eli Ellison


6 Comments for 10 Great Travel Race Movies

Kevin Fay 09.12.08 | 12:18 PM ET

Good stuff, guys. But you forgot “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.” Have you seen it? It’s really funny, and so, so weird.

slipstream 09.12.08 | 4:19 PM ET

Burt Reynolds is the man Smokey and the Bandit is a great race scene. I have him as the voice on my GPS that I got from Navtones.com. He often helps me escape from tricky situations now!

Eli 09.12.08 | 5:03 PM ET

Thanks, Kevin. I have seen Mad World and it was a tough call between that and Great Race. At the time, the latter just seemed to fit better, but I could go either way.

I’ll let Eva tell you all about her favorite Mad World remake: Rat Race.

Eva Holland 09.13.08 | 1:02 AM ET

Ooh, don’t even get me started on Rat Race!

It takes 2nd place in my list of All-Time Worst Movies To Be Stuck Watching On A Long Distance Bus Ride With The Sound On.

(The first was Jeepers Creepers. In Turkish.)

Sub 10.02.08 | 3:16 PM ET

Midnight run is classic!  Rat Race is fun, not the greatest movie, but it does boast 3 Oscar winners.

Torah 10.04.08 | 4:36 PM ET

Yeah, I’d like to back up Kevin and say that “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” is missing. I’m not so sure what people have against Rat Race though; I thought it was quite humorous.

In my personal opinion, I think my favorite movie in the list is Death Race 2000.

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.