The road trip is a concept that can take on a number of forms, and movie producers love their high-concept plot lines. To narrow it down, the "road-trip" film has to include at least a few days traveling in ground transport of some kind, whether it be a car, bus, or even hitchhiking.
There are plenty of movies that take place over the course of a road trip, and the variety includes action, comedies, drama, and even politics. Sometimes it's a family trip, other times it's for fun or holiday time, but there are plenty of great ones.
8 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
As long as the subject is "Oz-ploitation," the conversation has to include an entry from the Mad Max franchise. What starts out as a simple errand that should only have taken a few hours becomes a multi-day journey complete with unwanted guests, unscheduled stops, tragedy, triumph, and all the adventures that every road trip movie has.
It might not be conventional, but in the post-apocalyptic days of humanity, what else can a road trip look like? Years later, resting in the Citadel they helped preserve and build, Furiosa and the Brides can reminisce about that crazy weekend they drove to the edge of the Salt and back.
7 The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994)
Who says every movie from Down Under has to be set in a pessimistic post-apocalyptic wasteland? Especially when the modern one is dangerous enough as it is. A small, low-budget movie that blew everyone's mind with some of the most amazing costuming and cinematography ever put to film, and the drama that makes up the story is just as compelling.
Mitzi, Felicia, and Bernadette are dedicated performers with careers and social lives in the big city. The term in Australia is "lay girls" and they take a trip to Alice Springs in the interior for a special performance at a casino. Not everything as it seems, however, as Mitzi is hiding an interesting secret.
6 Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)
Based on the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, this is also an excellent adaptation and the author was so enamored with Johnny Depp's performance that the two became close friends. The road trip is a relatively short one, taking only four hours, but the characters in this story make the journey seem like the trek to Mount Doom.
The narrative starts on the drive, then flashes back to how Hunter and his lawyer, the equally shameless Dr. Gonzo, ended up in Las Vegas for the weekend in the first place. An alternative title for the film could be "things a person could get away with in the 1970s." This includes trashing rental cars and hotel rooms along with driving along a runway to catch a plane. Not only an iconic road trip movie but a singular moment in time.
5 Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
One of Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal's first films, Y Tu Mamá También is the classic road trip-coming of age movie, but the realistic and immersive depictions of the characters and the world they live in keep the story fresh. Their destination, for example, is a fictional one that Julio and Tenoch have concocted in order to impress Luisa. After a flurry of activity that's as breathless as a speeding car, the story ends on a bitter but pragmatic note.
It was a controversial film at the time for its visceral depictions of sex and drug use, which is odd considering it's not any worse than certain raunchy comedies from an earlier time. The other issue at hand was the political backdrop of the film, which partly followed the rise of Vincente Fox against the "natural ruling parties" of the Mexican state.
4 National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Most people remember the third installment in this series more than the two that came before it, Christmas Vacation, which had a bigger budget and a more accessible PG-13 rating. The original installment in this franchise, on the other hand, was part of the raunchy comedy wave of the early 1980s, and it had a totally unapologetic R-rating.
The plot starts with the basic premise of the family road trip, but Clark Griswald can't get a break, and everything goes as satirically bad as it possibly can. Even when the family thinks they've surmounted every obstacle possible and have reached their final destination, the vacation gods deliver one, final, devastating blow.
3 Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
It's marketed as a comedy, but it's actually a tragedy too, blending both elements but emerging on the happy side. The cast has a lot of impressive names and newcomer Abigail Breslin gave a stellar performance as main character Olive at the age of ten.
The problems this family has seem like satire at first, but a closer look at suicide attempts, snorting heroin, or vows of silence reveals they really aren't that weird. When Olive qualifies for the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, this is the crew that has to drive from Albuquerque to California to get her there. Most of the story takes place in the family's Volkswagen camper van, an iconic symbol of the road trip, one of the film's comedic features.
2 The Sure Thing (1985)
The classic cross-country road trip movie, but with a twist. Two very different people are going from their Ivy League college to California, but the reason for their trek is the same. Alison is visiting her boyfriend and lonely Gibson, played by John Cusack, has been lured west with the promise of The Sure Thing.
Despite the fact this is a movie that was made about college students in the 1980s, it's not a disgusting but hysterical series of panty-raid and toilet-humor jokes. In fact, this film rises above that and even takes a few shots at the frat boys and their slut-shaming. The two main characters bond over their mutual love of literature and astronomy, social and family expectations, and how to survive on Route 66.
1 Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
This whole franchise is about vacations in some form, and the second is the one with the road trip. Mavis and Johnny now have a son, and despite the Count's most fervent hopes, his fourth birthday draws hear, and he has yet to grow his fangs. Mavis, who suspects that her son is a human and not a vampire at all, takes a trip to the in-law's place in California while thinking about moving the family there permanently.
That's not the road trip, however. While she's gone, Count Dracula piles the gang into the family hearse-meat wagon with little Dennis in an attempt to find his inner monster before his mother makes him move away. They visit a gentrified forest, a not-so-haunted camp for child vampires, and of course, it all ends up on social media. It all works out, and Dennis turns out to be a "late fanger" just like his grandpa.