Okay, so here’s the deal. We are launching the Annual Off Road Xtreme Auto Film Festival. However, first we’ll need your help nominating the movies to appear in our festival, and that’s where you, the readers of Off Road Xtreme come into play. It’s all up to you, so get your typing fingers and your imagination ready.

We are dirt fans first and foremost, but when it comes to automotive-related movies, anything with an engine in it that goes fast is cool!

How It Works

So this is the basic concept: The nominees for the First Annual Off Road Xtreme Auto Film Festival can be any motion picture that includes a truck, SUV, car, or even motorcycle, and preferably during some point in the film it appears driving off-highway, which is a polite way of saying in the dirt. Since this is the first year, we’re going to keep it simple.

A total of 5 films will be selected as winners, one Category Award Winner in each of four categories, and a Grand Award Winner. Nominations will be unlimited in number per nominator, however, since we are planning to run all the winning films on Off Road Xtreme, they must be films available on YouTube.

Here are the four categories and brief descriptions, however, feel free to nominate automotive films that you think may or may not neatly fit into these categories, and we’ll be let the chips fall where they may.

Nominating Categories

Category 1: Main Character. Films in which the car is its own character. “Christine” is a perfect example of this. Or the DeLorean from “Back To The Future” could fit into this category.

Category 2: Extension of Main Character. The Challenger and Kowalski in “Vanishing Point” is a perfect example. The auto and hero are one. If the auto is destroyed the character is lost or vanquished. They are tied together completely.

“Christine” is one of the all-time thrillers when it comes to automotive movies.

Category 3: Auto As Tool: This could be considered a subset of Category 2, but there is a difference. The automobile is a tool used by the character to achieve a goal. The Ford Falcon XB Interceptor in Mad Max. The Mustang in “Bullitt.”

Category 4: Driving Focus: Action is the main point, but the automobile is not. You know, such as “Rush.” Not a whole lot of real car/truck “stuff.” However, if you’re looking for pure off-road, there is “Dust To Glory,” released in 2005 about the 2003 Baja 1000, and among a cast of hundreds, Mario Andretti, Robby Gordon, and Larry Roeseler make key appearances. “On Any Sunday” is about motorcycle racing, but hey, Steve McQueen is in it, and that’s all that needs to be said.

Movie Night Fun

So let’s have fun with this and watch some great automotive movies. Let us know what your nominations are for the 1st Annual Off Road Xtreme Auto Film Festival in the Comments section below, and we’ll take the most popular choices, announce the winners, and begin the showings when we get the red carpet rolled out!

Who can forget the awesome Mustang from “Bullitt”? It was used in what is arguably the greatest chase scene ever recorded on film.