As the weather cools you might find yourself indoors a little more than you would like but do not despair. There are lots of great movies on cycling that you should see. Below are the top nine classic cycling movies of all time. If you haven’t seen them before then now is the time. There’s nothing like a classic to get you in the spirit of cycling.
Here are the Top 9 Cycling Movies of All Time, as seen in the September 2010 issue of BICYCLING magazine, for your viewing pleasure!
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
Co-written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Pee Wee's Big Adventure marks the debut of director Tim Burton. The premise: Pee Wee (Reubens), an overgrown pre-pubescent boy sporting a molded Princeton cut, blush, lipstick, and a shrunken gray flannel suit, lives an idyllic life in his bizarre home until someone nabs his most prized possession: a fire engine-red customized bicycle. He then embarks on an epic cross-country search to find his lost love, not to mention more than a little adventure.
Breaking Away
Coasting between high school and deciding what to do with the rest of their lives four friends are snobbishly looked down upon by the college students of the town as "cutters," since they were born in Bloomington and their parents worked in the local limestone quarries that built the university. Dennis Christopher's character Dave wants to be a champion bicycle racer and he idolizes the Italian racing team -- so much so that he speaks, thinks, and acts Italian, all to his father's forlorn exasperation. Fed up with the way he and his friends have been treated, Dave throws away his false identity and convinces his friends to enter the university's "Little 500" bicycle race against the college students. This light-hearted and heartwarming tale was a surprising word-of-mouth success at the box-office and won several awards, including an Academy Award for "Best Screenplay."
The Triplets of Belleville
This story of a determined grandmother trying to rescue her cyclist grandson after his kidnapping at the Tour de France. If you're wondering whether or not this animated French film is worth your time, the answer is yes. It is a truly unique masterpiece, one that you will be happy you watched.
American Flyers
Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Costner and David Grant star as brothers struggling to win a world-class cycling competition-and regain the respect and affection they once shared. The painful events surrounding their father's death have caused a rift. To bridge the gap both enter the Hell of the West, a grueling race through the Rocky Mountains. While training and racing together, each confronts the fear that the congenital ailment that struck down their father could suddenly strike one of them. Written by Breaking Away Oscar winner Steve Tesich and directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever), American Flyers is a dazzling, spirit-soaring spectacle.
The Bicycle Thief
Antonio, finds a coveted job that requires a bicycle, but when it is stolen on his first day of work, Antonio and his young son Bruno begin a frantic search, learning valuable lessons along the way. The movie focuses on both the relationship between the father and the son and the larger framework of poverty and unemployment in postwar Italy. This movie is revered as a record of one the centuries most influential film movements.
A Sunday in Hell
A Sunday in Hell chronicles the Paris–Roubaix, the most famous and usually the most dramatic of the spring classics. This movie covers everything from the influence of spectators, riders, and even protesters that halt the event temporarily. Riders puncture, crash, make the wrong moves. By the finish the riders are exhausted, mired in dirt, and look like men who have been to hell and back.
Stars and Watercarriers
Stars and Watercarriers is movie about one of the strangest and toughest jobs of this world: professional bike racer on one of the toughest scenes for this job: Giro dItalia Tour of Italy. The movie follows the race in a somewhat chronological manner, with interjects from the narrator and some jumping around to show the numerous battles within the race. A fascinating movie sure to offer perspective and inspire.
2 Seconds
Champion of the mountain bike circuit Laurie is, after ten years, still at the top of her game. At the start of a crucial race she falters for two seconds and loses. She is forced into early retirement by her boss but is allowed to keep the one thing she loves most; her bike. Now lost and alone outside the competition circuit, she is forced to fend for herself and find a new direction. Lost and alone she moves to Montreal and finds work as a bike courier where she impresses her colleagues with her skill and enthusiasm. She meets Lorenzo who forces her to question her knowledge and perceptions of cycling.
Key Exchange
A story of the naïve yearning of the two main male lead characters—Stern and Ben Masters—to be in the Tour de France. A movie sure to strike a chord in the hearts of committed cyclists.
