Wheels not yet in motion for a weekend excursion?

Get comfy and hitch a ride with these faves.

Of course, when it happens to someone else’s family, it’s epic-scale funny.

Chevy Chase, National Lampoon’s Vacation | Whether you’re a parent or a kid, this is probably the way you really remember the family road trip: as a Sisyphean obstacle course and

National Lampoon’s Vacation: Everett Collection

(One lesson: It’s not necessarily a good idea to stop and smell the flowers.)

Smokey and the Bandit(1977)

Get outtaBurt Reynolds' way.

The quintessential chase movie of Reynolds' career, and therefore, of the whole ’70s.

Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, … | The yellow brick road is the setting for every moviegoer’s first road movie. In typical road movie fashion, Dorothy discovers that the point of her

Photofest

Hey, you’d do whatever it takes not to be trapped in a car withTim Robbinssinging show tunes.

Anyone whose road trip ever involved a rental car will appreciate Martin’s rant at the leasing agency.

(Exhibit A: Tom Green.)

Get outta Burt Reynolds' way. Burt in his Trans-Am and Jerry Reed in his semi have just a few hours to make the Texarkana-Florida run,

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The real-life Cannonball Run race was inspired by this movie.

Screenwriter Brock Yates founded the actual Cannonball race, inspired in turn by the aforementionedTwo-Lane Blacktop.

Thelma & Louise(1991)

Road trips are for everyone.

All kinds meet and mingle on the road — in this case, a streetwise reporter (Clark Gable) and a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert), who knows

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All in all,Geena Davis' Thelma andSusan Sarandon’s Louise had a pretty fun time.

Except for the whole roadhouse parking lot incident.

Oh, and the road trip’s last few feet.

John Cusack, Nicollette Sheridan, … | Gen X’s own It Happened One Night , with college students John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga in the Gable and Colbert roles, finding themselves improvising

The Sure Thing: Kobal Collection

Just remember, don’t drink and drive; spit first.

Bonus points for making the entire journey barefoot.

The title says it all, as mismatched travelers Steve Martin and John Candy use every means available to get home for Thanksgiving. Anyone whose road

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Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) mount their choppers to go looking for America but, as the movie’s ad tagline noted, couldn’t find

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Not so much a raunchy college romp as an homage to the raunchy college romps of the early ’80s (a formula the filmmakers would perfect

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Following the examples set in the 19th century by Thoreau, Twain, and Whitman, Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) sheds all his attachments on a quest to

Chuck Zlotnick

Mary Woronov, Death Race 2000 | Yes, this movie was remade into a sleek action extravaganza in 2008, but you have to love the original, pulpy, low-tech version, about a futuristic

Death Race 2000: Everett Collection

The most existential of all the existential road movies of its era ( Easy Rider , Vanishing Point , Five Easy Pieces , Electra Glide

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The Straight Story, Richard Farnsworth | In David Lynch’s gentlest movie, a dying WWII veteran (the majestic Richard Farnsworth) is so determined to make peace with his estranged brother that he

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Lolita (Movie - 1962) | Old World professor Humbert (James Mason) doesn’t just fall for the much too young Lolita; he also falls for America, in all its kitschy roadside

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It’s the young Che Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and his friend Alberto Granado (Argentine actor Rodrigo de la Serna, a real-life relative of Che’s) doing

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Sissy Spacek, Badlands | Inspired by the Charles Starkweather case and starring an impossibly young Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, Terrence Malick’s first film is a dreamy, strangely beautiful

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Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail Breslin, … | Sundance audiences have never been stingy with their standing ovations. But Little Miss Sunshine unleashed a charm offensive so powerful, Park City cheered like Red

Little Miss Sunshine: Eric Lee

Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, and Farrah Fawcett lead the pack in this all-star cross-country underground race. Chaotic comedy ensues. Screenwriter Brock Yates founded the real-life

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Sometimes the road trip leads to enlightenment and self-knowledge; sometimes it’s just an excuse to make wisecracks and break into song. This is probably the

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Future Motorcycle Diarist Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna travel across Mexico seeking adventure, sex, and wisdom, only dimly aware that all three are accompanying

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Road trips aren’t just for guys. All in all, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon had a pretty fun time. Except for the whole roadhouse parking

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This Australian comedy about a trio of drag queens who get a cabaret gig in the middle of the desert is a journey of revelations

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Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, … | Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin compete to see who can do the funnier slow burn as annoyed bounty hunter De Niro drags annoying Mob

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Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, … | Smooth con man Ryan O’Neal and even smoother con moppet Tatum O’Neal (in her Oscar-winning role) travel across the Depression-era Dust Bowl, scamming the gullible

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Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, … | Spend a hilariously uncomfortable week touring California whine country — er, wine country — with a painfully self-absorbed guy who’s not quite ready to get

Sideways: Merie W. Wallace

Ross McElwee’s wistful documentary masterpiece started out as an effort to trace the effects of General Sherman’s scorched-earth campaign during the Civil War, but it

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Billy Boyd, … | Bringing a cherished book to the big screen? No sweat. Peter Jackson’s trilogy — or, as we like to call it, our preciousssss — exerted

Pierre Vinet

The Wages of Fear | Leave it to the French to turn the road trip genre into an exercise in existential dread — a nail-biting one along bumpy mountain roads

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Lost in America, Albert Brooks | When you flee the corporate world, sell all your assets, buy a mobile home, and take your nest egg along with you on your journey

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Like Lolita (and not just in a creepy way), this story of a lad’s search for his stolen bicycle is really a celebration of kitschy

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Three soldiers back from Iraq (Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Peña) bond during a road trip across the United States.