It seems that as the times change and the world becomes more politically correct, there are fewer and fewer means of promoting self-expression. Freedom of speech has been dwindling down to almost unacceptable levels and to exceed the posted speed limit – even on back country roads – is becoming more unlawful than murder. The only way to get your speed fix these days without ending up behind bars is either to keep it at the track, sit behind a video game console, or pop in one of your favorite car movies.

When I’m not at the track, I personally prefer to relax and watch an automotive-themed creation from Hollywood over letting a video game stress me out. It really doesn’t matter which one either, and although I know I’m going to get flamed for saying this; I do prefer the newer car movies over most of the classics -save for Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, the original Vanishing Point and the first of the Smokey and the Bandit movies. This isn’t because of the fact that the newer movies have current actors and later cars, but because of the action, background music, and the setting of current times.

But I think that neither the classic films nor the car movies of the 21^st century are without their faults however, as both are riddled with poor acting, cheesy dialogue, and unbelievable car stunts.

For example, the original Gone in 60 Seconds is one of the most boring movies to watch until you’ve waited for the final 40 minutes in which the epic car chase takes place. I think the rest of it was pretty sleep-inducing, and let’s be honest, are you going to tell me that the ’73 Mach 1 didn’t break down once during filming? Doubtful. While we’re at it, let’s look at Bullitt.

The last time I checked a ’68 Charger had only four wheels, not seven, as evidence of it losing seven hubcaps throughout the chase, and I don’t care if it was the ‘60s or not, how many of those identical VW Beetles could there have been within a few blocks? But now I’m nitpicking.

Other than the chase (which I do love, by the way) I thought the movie was pretty lame. Yup, I just said that. I haven’t watched it in years, but the last time I did I literally fell asleep. Despite the famous car chase around the streets of ‘Frisco, the rest of the movie was nothing more than a ‘60s-era cop drama with a few shots of the villains spying on Steve McQueen’s character while sitting in their black Charger, which ultimately led to the aforementioned chase.

But it’s not just the plot or the story line that makes these movies what they are. The reasons we tune in is the action and the cars, and in that instance, that’s where the older movies usually beat out the newer ones with enthusiasts.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI in the industry) has become the norm in making all sorts of the current action flicks, particularly in car movies. It could either make or break a movie. Look no further than the Fast and the Furious films of the last decade.

In a franchise that started out as a series of import street racing movies we all loved to hate (especially the first two for me) with falling floorboards, drawbridge jumps, and the invention of the term, “NOS,” they have slowly evolved into watchable films with plenty of action and muscle cars that we all aspire to own.

In the past few months I’ve seen three of the newest car movies that Hollywood has released (Fast Five, Drive Angry, and The Green Hornet) and I enjoyed all of them. Although The Green Hornet is more of a comedy/superhero film rather than an actual car movie, it’s impossible to ignore the significant role the “Black Beauty”  ’64-’66 Chrysler Imperials used for the film had played. Drive Angry was entertaining, and had plenty of bad ass cars in it, but it was really corny and at times the CGI looked…let’s be kind, and say a little unfinished.

But the big surprise for me was the latest installment of the ongoing F&F films. This film (which grossed $83M in its first weekend) had become more of an Ocean’s 11-esque, action film rather than a movie all about cars.

They’ve also managed to cut down on CGI as much as possible, very unlike the second installment which happens to be my least favorite of the current five. I say current five as it’s already been publicly confirmed by Vin Diesel that there are two more coming down the pike.

They’ve also dug deeper into the character’s backgrounds a bit more in this most recent film, by bringing in a family element, and thus tried to let the audience connect with not only the story, but with the characters as well, which I have to admit I like.

This gave the film makers the opportunity to evolve the characters from idiotic, import punks racing around the streets of L.A in their fluorescent-colored Japanese cars, into fully-matured adults with responsibilities -something that my generation can relate to, since we were in our late teens to early twenties when the first film was released.

When it’s all said and done, we have to remember to take car movies as what they are ninety to one hundred and twenty minutes of popcorn entertainment that are made to appeal to a majority of audiences. At the end of the day, it’s all about making Hollywood money, and if we want to continue to see more movies geared to audiences like us, then it’s up to us to keep seeing them. Because once the audiences disappear, then so will the movies.

Keep on rollin’.

-Rick