BIG SCREEN BIG RIGS
Hollywood has had an on-again/off-again love affair with big rigs, sometimes casting truckers as nomadic anti-heroes rebelling against the establishment, other times trucks have been sinister juggernaut villains marauding through innocent bystanders in pursuit of the protagonists. In honor of the Heavy Haulers theme we have going throughout the issue, we present five of our favorite trucks from the silver screen.
Freightliner FLA Tow Truck—Terminator
Big rigs of various models play prominent roles in the Terminator franchise, from the International Harvester that (almost) blows up the original in T1, to the pair of Freightliners the T-1000 hijacks in T2. We’re partial to the black FLA tow rig, as that truck-vsmotorcycle chase down the Bull Creek culvert in L.A. is one of the most exciting scenes in the movie—or any movie from the 1990s! The truck only gets about 4 ½ minutes of screen time, but it is 4 ½ minutes of cinematic gold!
Western Star 4800—Maximum
Hear us out on this one. If you rank a truck based on memorability and its importance to the film in which it stars, it doesn’t get much more essential than the Happy Toyz Green Goblin truck from Maximum Overdrive. It’s not just the star. Do you honestly remember much else about that flick other than the truck? (Maybe the scorching all-AC/DC soundtrack?) This is by no means a great film, but that leering green face on the nose of the black big rig is a great image and one that sticks with us even 35 years later.
Mack RS700L—Convoy
The one that ticks the most boxes is probably the black Mack RS700L from Convoy. Let’s face it; this is a movie about trucking and the Rubber Duck is the starring truck! The movie is a classic, the truck has an undeniable cool-factor and it is central to the plot, serving as both the primary setting for much of the film and as a supporting character. There’s good action throughout, a heavy dose of trucking culture and lingo, and even a catchy theme song that calls out the trucks in the film by name! Not surprisingly, it’s one of the few that has been made in diecast.
Mack R600 Coolpower—The
The Road Warrior is one of those instant cultclassic car movies. In terms of filmmaking, it is a piece of minimalist brilliance. What isn’t minimalist is the mega chase across the wasteland starring the battle-armored Mack R600. Involving nearly 30 vehicles and lasting a full 1/3 of the entire film, it is, without doubt, one of the most epic vehicle action sequences ever put on film!
Peterbilt 379—Transformers
2007’s Transformers is not exactly a classic car-guy film, but it makes our list on the strength of a couple of factors. First, the truck is literally a character—with actual speaking lines! How many trucks can you say that about? And Optimus Prime isn’t just an also-ran—he’s one of the top-billed leads. So yeah, in terms of significance to the movie it’s hard to beat this Peterbilt 379. But what seals the deal is the truck itself; the custom Pete is hands-down the nicest truck ever to headline a major motion picture.