Before Fast and the Furious made it big with their butt-kicking stunts, there was Smokey and the Bandit, which gave thrill-seekers everywhere the satisfaction of seeing big rigs and fast cars tear up the road. This specific kind of film genre first got its taste of fame in the ’70s, and since then has become a staple in Hollywood films. Here are the 15 best truck movies every big rig fan should watch:
15. Black Dog (1998)
Jack Crews (portrayed by Patrick Swayze) is a truck driver attempting to rebuild his life after serving time in jail. A well-paid haul looks like a fresh start he has been waiting for until he learns what’s in the trailer – illegal guns. It becomes a battle for his life to return home to his family.
The draw here is the road action, with big rigs used to shove enemies out of the way. Randy Travis, a country singer, joins the cast, while Meat Loaf plays a loud, vicious foe. This is a good choice if you’re looking for a truck movie that gets right to the crashes.
14. Monster Trucks (2016)
The name is quite literal. A creature called Creech hides in a pickup and supplies the muscle that makes it move. Tripp (portrayed by Lucas Till) is a teen who builds the truck and tries to protect his new companion from an oil firm.
Creech is an easy choice for youngsters who enjoy big wheels. Once the truck starts climbing where a vehicle has no business going, you get the joke. It’s silly as hell, and the film is happy to stay that way.
13. The Ice Road (2021)
The sound of ice shattering beneath a full vehicle is far worse than a nasty engine knock.
Liam Neeson leads a crew that transports rescue equipment to miners trapped in northern Canada. Their journey traverses ice that is beginning to melt, so speed and weight become obstacles they can’t overcome. Laurence Fishburne and Amber Midthunder accompany him on the job.
Once fractures appear along the path, the rigs have limited margin for error. You may find yourself focusing on the ground rather than the drivers.
12. Armored (2009)
A truck designed to keep robbers out might be an excellent spot to hide from them. Armored puts that idea to work when a group of cash transport guards plans to rob its own cargo. The pledge that no one will be harmed quickly falls apart, forcing rookie guard Ty Hackett to choose sides.
Columbus Short portrays Ty, and he collaborates with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne. Much of the tension stems from being locked within the armored vehicle as those who know its weak points attempt to enter. Every blow against the steel feels much too close.
11. Snitch (2013)
Dwayne Johnson looks quite at home in the cab of a big rig. He portrays John Matthews in the film Snitch, a father who consents to assist his imprisoned son by working with the DEA. He gets access to the drug trade through his company’s trucks, but he quickly discovers how little control he has over the transaction.
Johnson lets you see his fear as the job gets worse, which makes the later truck chase feel more frantic.
10. Trucker (2008)
Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan) enjoys her life on the road and has kept her son out of it. When his father becomes ill, she must take the youngster in. They hardly know one another, and neither wants to change that. Trucker allows you to linger with their rage rather than hurry them to a comforting hug.
Monaghan obtained a commercial driver’s license for the job, and Diane appears at ease in the cab. The truck serves as both her profession and her method of escape, which becomes problematic when she has a child who requires her presence.
9. Joy Ride (2001)
Pranking people over a CB radio is a really terrible way to spend your time. Paul Walker and Steve Zahn star as brothers who learn that lesson the hard way when they trick a trucker called Rusty Nail into meeting a woman who isn’t real.
He doesn’t take it well.
With Leelee Sobieski dragged into the situation, the road trip becomes a hunt through isolated stops and dark stretches of highway. Director John Dahl lets the voice on the radio deliver much of the fright. You hear the threat before you can tell where it’s coming from, and then a pair of truck lights makes the road feel very small. Zahn’s talent for playing a fool serves the early scenes well, but the joke turns ugly quickly.
8. Breakdown (1997)
Jeff Taylor, played by Kurt Russell, stays with his broken-down automobile while his wife seeks assistance from a truck driver. By the time Jeff arrives at their designated meeting place, she has disappeared. The man who drove her maintains he has never seen any of them.
J.T. Walsh’s quiet denial is considerably more unsettling than a screaming threat. Jeff has little evidence and miles of empty road surrounding him. Director Jonathan Mostow keeps you close to his anxiety as he figures out who he can trust. The truck action gets wilder towards the end, but that first, bland refusal to tell the truth is what makes the film so hard to shake.
7. Sorcerer (1977)
Four men, driven by desperation, accept a job transporting volatile explosives across a South American jungle. The trucks are falling apart, and a single hard jolt could set off their cargo. William Friedkin keeps you on edge at every turn.
Roy Scheider heads the cast, yet the trucks command just as much of your attention. Watch for the long bridge crossing: rain is pouring as a heavy rig creeps onto a bridge that barely seems sturdy enough for one person. It sways. The wheels slip. You can see how much weight those planks are being asked to hold.
The film takes its time putting the men behind the wheel. Once they start driving, even little bumps feel like a threat.
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Furiosa’s War Rig is surely among the most subtle escape vehicles ever built. Charlize Theron pilots it across the desert carrying Immortan Joe’s wives, while Max (Tom Hardy) is drawn into their struggle to break free. Joe dispatches an entire fleet in pursuit of them.
George Miller turns the truck into a place you come to know over the course of the chase. Inside the vehicle, they get a few moments to talk before someone has to climb back outside. Even as the road fills with cars, you can track a fight from one section of the rig to the next. The truck keeps absorbing damage, which makes every repair stop feel well earned. By the finish, you find yourself feeling sorry for the truck too.
5. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
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An already established Burt Reynolds scored another hit with the release of Smokey and the Bandit. Now regarded as a classic, this movie follows the trail of a truck driver’s crazy attempt to illegally transport a truckload of beer to win a bet. The tale goes awry when the local sheriff goes on a mission to stop him.
Add in a runaway bride, and you are in for an entertaining, funny, and thrilling ride. Smokey and the Bandit was a box office hit that helped fuel the craze for truck movies. It also spawned several Burt Reynolds look-alikes and Smokey and the Bandit copycats that failed to capture the humor, wit, and charisma of this film.
4. Convoy (1978)
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Released during the nation’s CB radio craze, Convoy is loosely based on C. W. McCall’s hit country song of the same title. Directed by Sam Peckinpah, the Convoy stars Kris Kristofferson, Burt Young, Ali MacGraw, and Ernest Borgnine.
The film follows the story of a group of vigilante truckers who form a convoy to challenge a good-for-nothing cop. Armed with their CB radios, this group of unlikely heroes spurs an entire community, capturing the hearts of those around them.
3. Over The Top (1987)
Fresh from the success of his Rocky movies, Sylvester Stallone takes on a dramatic and powerful movie that revolves around the unbreakable bond between a father and a son. In this sports drama, Stallone plays a truck driver named ‘Lincoln Hawk’ who is fighting to win back custody of his boy.
To do so, he joins an arm-wrestling competition with a cash prize and a new truck on the line. This heartfelt story gives its truck driver problems that go well beyond the next delivery. Through this film, we get to sympathize with the man behind the wheel.
2. Duel (1971)
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From master filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes Duel, an action-packed movie with powerful visuals that ignite the big screen. With fast-paced stunts, a beautifully woven story, and stunning cinematography, Duel set the bar high for truck movies of the future generation.
Here, an ordinary family car becomes a target for a huge tanker truck.
1. Thieves’ Highway (1949)
Thieves’ Highway is a poignant movie that shows the rough side of San Francisco and was directed by Jules Dassin, who later continued his career abroad after being blacklisted in Hollywood. A gripping story about a war hero who comes home and finds his dreams shattered and his father crippled by a crooked produce dealer; seeking revenge, he starts hauling produce to expose the dealer’s unlawful ways.
His journey, however, may cost him the happy and stable future that he has always longed for. As the unbeatable king of the roads, these monstrous trucks became a vehicle for filmmakers to showcase their talent for creating action sequences that will shock and surprise their audiences.
Honorable Mentions
- Maximum Overdrive (1986)
- Big Rig (2007)
- The Hurricane Heist (2018)
Did you like our list of big movies with big trucks? Did we miss any great truck movies on this list? Share with us in the comments below!