What better way to gear up for this Saturday’s Tweed Run than by revisiting some of our favorite cycle-centric flicks? Check ‘em out below—the best bike movies, by decade.
1940s: The Bicycle Thief
Before there were movies, there was cinema. You can’t get more classic than Vittorio de Sica’s black-and-white film about a working-class father searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle.
1950s: The Wild One
A film about a different kind of bike, and a wilder kind of ride. Marlon Brando – possibly the most badass actor… ever -- stars in this outlaw biker film as brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler.
1960s: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
What could possibly be better than Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katherine Ross in the same film? Newman and Redford play a pair of gun-slinging Western bank robbers who flee to Bolivia with the gorgeous Ross when the law gets too close. The shootout finale is iconic, of course, but our favorite scene is Newman and Ross’s bicycle duet to the tune of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.”
1970s: Breaking Away
Ah, yes, a classic coming of age flick. If you haven’t seen Breaking Away (and if you were born at any point during the ‘80s, you have), think of this film as bike racing’s answer to Footloose. This one’s in here for nostalgia’s sake, a nod to a time when the world was a simpler place and all you needed to get by was a head of slightly too-long hair, an attitude and a ten-speed.
1980s: Quicksilver
If you love Kevin Bacon, then you’ll love ‘80s Kevin Bacon even more. As a hot-shot floor trader, Bacon’s character is at the top of his game—until he makes a risky business decision and falls to the bottom rung of the ladder. In an attempt to get back on his feet, Bacon gets gritty as a bike messenger. Best scene: The bike race between Bacon and a young Laurence Fishburne.
1990s: Life is Beautiful
This Italian love story is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, thanks to Roberto Benigni, who falls in love with the gorgeous Nicoletta Brashi — and literally falls off his bike. Bicycle as metaphor.
2000s: The Triplets of Belleville
Cartoons aren’t just for kids. This elegantly animated French flick combines everything we love about jazz, Paris, gangsters and the Tour de France.
2010s: Bill Cunningham New York
The granddaddy of street style photography gets his due in this completely charming 2010 documentary. New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham has been taking photos of the city’s most outrageous looks for the past 50 years. The two most important tools of his trade? His Nikon, and his Schwinn.