Six of the best road trip movies for your in-car DVD player

What better way to pass the time on a road trip than watching other people have road trips? Here’s our pick of the six best road trip movies for your in-car DVD player.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

I know right now that there are going to be people out there who despise Beavis and Butthead and their childish 90s MTV antics, but as a road trip movie, ‘Do America’ was at least popular – it took well over $60million at the box office. The hapless duo are on the road in pursuit of their stolen TV set, and accidently get involved with a hit-man plot. On route, they visit the Grand Canyon, and the Hoover Dam, and then end up at the White House where they meet President Bill Clinton. Is totally childish and offensive and deserves every bit of its 12 rating and then some.

Worth a watch if only for the soundtrack. Love Rollercoaster by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is worth it in itself.

Road Trip

Possibly the most obviously titled film in this list is the 2000 movie Road Trip. Think American Pie on the road and you’re getting somewhere. A college student accidentally mails a sex tape to his girlfriend and then sets off with three friends to intercept it. With a 15 rating, this one involves drink, offensive language, sex, nudity, and not a lot of actual college education.

Dumb and Dumber

Two hapless idiots, played by Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey set off to Aspen, Colorado to drop off a lost suitcase to a girl that one of the idiots has fallen in love with. They start off in a van dressed up as a dog, and then trade the van for a mini motorcycle. The laughs don’t stop once they get to their destination though, and there are several memorable scenes, including one with a non-flushing toilet, and one with a pair of very rare owls. The question is, do Harry and Lloyd ever get their break? A 12 rating on this one – mild sexual references, jokes about bodily functions, and a lot of laughs make this a favourite in our house!

Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?

Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit is the first in a series of 3 films starring Burt Reynolds. Two US southerners go on an errand to collect a truckload of beer and drive it back from Texas to Georgia but end up getting caught up in all sorts of capers, while being pursued by a jilted groom and a sheriff. It’s classic car driving fun and a staple movie of anyone growing up in the 1980’s. Is a 15 rating, though I can’t remember why. Will have to have another watch, I think.

Rat Race

A road, water, and air trip, Rat Race is a literal gold rush. Starring some big names including Rowan Atkinson and Whoopi Goldberg, the story is about a betting game where the ‘rats’ are unwitting volunteers chosen from the customers of a casino in Las Vegas, and the ‘race’ is a trip to a locker in New Mexico, the first person to get there being allowed to keep the treasure of $2 million. With some excellent set pieces from a stellar cast, the outcome is quite predictable. It is a lot of fun though, and worth a watch if not just for the family stop over at the Barbie Museum.

National Lampoons Vacation

One of many National Lampoons movies – National Lampoons European Vacation is also worth a watch – starring Chevy Chase, National Lampoons Vacation is a family road trip and a half. Clark Griswold decides it’s a good idea to drive his family from Chicago to their holiday destination of Walley World in California instead of flying (hint: it isn’t at all the good idea he thought it would be), and they endure many a mishap before they get to Walley World, and then things aren’t quite as they should be. Being the Griswold family, they make the most of it anyway. Well, it is vacation time!

If any of these films have made you keen to watch them again, then have a look at our selection of in-car DVD players.

Which film would you add to our list?