Seven of the Best Truck Scenes in Movie History

Trucks have featured in many movies over the years and they quite often appear in some of the most exciting and explosive scenes. A car chase is memorable enough but usually when a truck is involved, there is absolute chaos! Here's a look at seven of the best truck scenes in movie history:

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

One of the greatest action scenes of all time also boasts a massive tow-truck. Terminator 2: Judgement Day features a powerful Freightliner FLA9664 tow-truck as it crashes over a bridge and through pretty much everything else that gets in its way (losing its roof in the process). Arnie saves the day though in this memorable chase scene with John Connor.

2. Cars

Without doubt the cutest and friendliest truck on this list. With his bucked teeth and wide eyes, Mater is based on a 1951 International Harvester and was the star of the 2006 Disney-Pixar movie, Cars. The rusty tow-truck features throughout the movie, but also appeared in the sequel to the original, as well as various other spinoff stories.

3. Home Alone

One of the most uplifting truck scenes is the one from Home Alone when Kevin's mum gets a ride from the airport to Chicago in the back of a Budget Rent-a-Truck with Gus Polinski, Polka King of the Mid-West (played by John Candy) and his band. As they travel back to find Kevin, the band play various songs including the Christmas classic, 'Deck the Halls' in this memorable scene that shows some true Christmas spirit.

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark

A beautiful 1930's Mercedes truck features in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in a breath-taking stunt sequence. The chase scene required 13 stunt men and took over five weeks of filming as a fight breaks out in the cabin of the truck causing Indi to fly out of the front windscreen at one point, only to climb under the bottom of the truck and back out of the other side. Classic Indiana Jones at his best!

5. Licence to Kill

Although Licence to Kill - featuring Timothy Dalton - may not be the finest Bond film ever made, one of the highlights of the movie is the climatic truck chase featuring two specially prepared Kenworth trucks. The electrifying chase (complete with the classic Bond theme tune) sees one of the trucks spectacular blow up while the other (driven by Bond) ends up driving on just the wheels on its left hand side before crushing a car to smithereens. The truck then ends up being suspended over the edge of a cliff before rolling down and crashing into another truck below. The film may not be a classic, but this truck scene certainly is!

6. Karate Kid

"Wax on. Wax off. Wax on. Wax off." One of the most famous lines in movie history was spoken by Mr Miyagi as he taught Daniel how to improve the strength in his arms by cleaning his 1942 Chevrolet ½-Tonne Pickup truck. It clearly helped as Daniel went on to win the prestigious karate tournament at the end of the film.

7. Back to the Future

Not only was Back to the Future one of the coolest films of the 1980s, but it also features one of the coolest trucks. The 1985 Toyota SR5 with blacked out windows was driven by Marty McFly in the famous movie, and the original vehicle is believed to have undergone extensive restoration in 2012 to get it looking back to its best.

Steve Alexander has been writing about the best truck scenes in movie history. Find more information about starting a career in lorry driving by visiting HGV Express.