TOP TEN Lists - This Week: Movie and TV show locations

Topic #17 - Top Ten TV and/or Movie Vehicles


This one is pretty simple. Which vehicles have you enjoyed the most in TV shows and/or movies. The term vehicle is pretty wide ranging and can include both realistic and/or fictious ones. The question is not which ones are the "best", but rather the ones that were the most memorable to you and the ones you liked the most.

My list is complete, but I'll wait for a couple of your lists to be posted before posting mine. Curious to see what you guys come up with!

 

These might be more nostalgia, but, per the criteria, these were some of the first that jumped to my mind.

KITT (Knight Rider): In some ways we're getting very close... but with none of the sass and charm of KITT.
The DeLorean (Back to the Future)
Millennium Falcon (OT Star Wars)
The Batmobile (1989 Batman)
USS Enterprise (Star Trek: TNG): I casually watched OG Trek as a kid, but I really enjoyed TNG.
AT-AT (Star Wars: ESB)
Light Cycle (Tron)
Ectomobile (Ghostbusters)
The Mach-5 (Speed Racer)
The General Lee (Dukes of Hazard)

Honorable mention:
Every OT SW vehicle and every 80's/90's G.I. Joe vehicle (Movie, animated or toy... this was my childhood to young "adult"hood)
Voltron Lion (Voltron)
Thunder Tank (Thundercats)
The Firebird Trans-Am (Smokey and the Bandit)
The A-Team van
Robotech Valkyrie
Space Battleship Yamato
The Thunderfighter (80's Buck Rogers)
The Mystery Machine

 

The car theme is definitely appropriate for a best vehicles list!

I've got some overlapping choices with you. Good stuff!

 

This is a lot better! I'll be taking a while to think about it, though.

 

Distracted with TOW stuff?

 

1. DeLorian (Back to the Future) - It time travels. It flies. It has Mr. Fusion. It's essentially another main character in what is a fantastic movie series. Everything from the 88 miles/hour to the fire trail is awesome.
2. Enterprise D (Star Trek) - the backdrop to all the adventures had in my favourite Star Trek series. For seven years of the show it takes us on a wild ride.
3. Star Gate (Star Gate) - yes, I'm admittedly pushing the limits of what is a vehicle. It isn't a vehicle per se, but it is a mode of transportation, so I'll say it's close enough. Of all the entries on here, it might be the most intriguing. A doorway to a distant unknown place. Near instantaneous travel. I've loved it since I watched the first Star Gate movie, and my fondness for it only grew throughout the various Star Gate series. Oh... and the water effect is pretty spiffy.
4. Batmobile (Batman [1989]) - growing up, this was my generation's Batmobile. It has a brilliantly fantastical element to it.
5. Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) - do I really need to explain this one?
6. Death Star (Star Wars) - same as above.
7. Borg Cube (Star Trek) - it's a ship that perfectly encapsulates the Borg; alien and foreign. It doesn't have any distinguishing features, but rather an eerie uniformity to it. Resistance is futile.
8. TARDIS (Doctor Who) - Who wouldn't want to own something like this? The ability to travel across space and time. The infinite storage space is a nice bonus too.
9. Hoverboard (Back to the Future) - there wasn't a kid I knew who didn't want to own one of these. Truth be told, even current day, I wouldn't say no to one.
10. 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500, "Eleanor" (Gone in 60 Seconds) - this comes down to the way they speak of it and build it up throughout the course of the movie. Highlighted with an epic car chase to top it all off. Unicorn!

Honourable mentions: Titanic, F14 Tomcat (Top Gun), Alien ships (Independence Day), The Machine (Contact), Tron light vehicles (Tron Legacy)

 

All right, here comes my list!

1. The DeLorean (Back to the Future): For once I'm in agreement with everyone else on here - Back to the Future is an excellent trilogy of films, and the DeLorean is an especially iconic part of it. "You made a Time Machine... out of a DeLorean?"
2. The Hogwarts Express (Harry Potter): Especially iconic to my generation, receiving your Hogwarts letter and taking your first trip on this have been the pipe dream of many a late 90s/early 2000s child. Not to mention it was a classic piece of British engineering from the Golden Age of Steam even before it was chosen to play a key role in a certain wizarding franchise.
3. Del Boy's Reliant Regal (Only Fools and Horses): In all British sitcom history there has never been such an iconic vehicle, especially one tied to any one character. Pretty much everyone in Britain will know what it is if you mention it - three wheels, bright yellow, dreadful suspension, absent of tax disc and an exhaust system that would never pass an MOT in a million years, with Trotters' Independent Traders (TIT ) of New York, Paris and Peckham proudly emblazoned upon its flanks. In many ways Del's van mirrors Del himself - bold as brass, tacky, law-bending, carrying hooky goods, often smoking, but in between it all never giving up.
4. Ecto-1 (Ghostbusters): Another example of something tacky that has become so iconic in part because of its tackiness - it's pretty obvious Dr. Venkman must have chosen the sound of the new siren . Also another example of something that has become so iconic simply because the films it has starred in are just so universally loved - the original Ghostbusters duology just can't be beaten, we all know it, apart from those who tried and failed to beat it.
5. The Anti-Pesto Van (Wallace and Gromit): Another battered old van, this time an Austin and festooned with inventions. Making its debut in the claymation duo's feature-length debut, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, it served as the faithful steed for Wallace and Gromit's new enterprise, the pest-control firm Anti-Pesto, and when that folded it was repurposed into the van for their baker's firm Top Bun in A Matter of Loaf and Death. Like Only Fools, Wallace and Gromit is one of those uniquely British creations that not many people from other countries quite understand, but that is what is so British about it, and the Anti-Pesto Van is just another vector of that Britishness - a creation of a long-departed manufacturer that continues to remain reliable and as tough as old boots as it was when it was first made, the perfect epitome of the absolute quality of anything Made in England, rather like Wallace and Gromit itself.
6. Death Star I (Star Wars Episodes II, III and IV and Rogue One): The original 'unkillable' planet-killing space station that helped to start the whole saga off, made a small but significant cameo in the Prequels and was pretty much the subject of Rogue One. Need I say more?
   
7. U.S.S. Enterprise-D (Star Trek: The Next Generation): Though DS9 is my favourite Trek series, it's hard to beat how iconic the 80s resurrection of the U.S.S. Enterprise is - significantly larger and more powerful than its predecessor even before you count the superior 24th Century tech, but at the same time serving as an exploration ship rather than a warship, acting as home to more civilians than trained troops. The Enterprise-D's purpose and role pretty much epitomises the Federation as a utopia for humanity - technologically strong and capable in warfare if necessary, but always preferring to explore and discover new life and new civilisations... to boldly go where no human has gone before.
   
8. Lance Corporal Jones' Butchers' Van (Dad's Army): Another British comedy classic, Dad's Army follows the escapades of a platoon of Home Guard doing their bit to protect their little chunk of Britain during WWII, with a variety of chaotic results. Following the platoon's need for a troop transport, Lance Corporal Jones, the butcher, volunteers to donate his van to the cause, resulting in it being outfitted with rifle ports in its sides and its roof, and starring in several of the platoon's adventures.
   
9. Invisible Hand (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith): Site of Anakin's second and last duel with Count Dooku, the latter's death and a mark of Anakin's continued temptation by the Dark Side of the Force, with Darth Sidious watching, nay orchestrating, the whole thing - arguably one of the most important vehicles and locations in the Prequel Trilogy and the saga as a whole. Also the setting for another happy landing - "Don't worry, we're still flying half a ship!"
10. Mr Bean's Mini (Mr Bean): Another creation of a British comedy classic, most famous for being driven by its bumbling master while sitting on top of its roof wielding a mop.

Honourable Mentions: Any other Star Wars Prequel Trilogy vehicle, The Moon Rocket (Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out), Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), X-Wing Fighter and TIE Fighter (Star Wars Original Trilogy), Hoverboard (Back to the Future), Aston Martin DB5 (James Bond), Thunderbirds 1-5 (Thunderbirds), Postman Pat's Van (Postman Pat, a childhood favourite), Thomas the Tank Engine and the other engines on Sodor (Thomas the Tank Engine, another childhood favourite), Deep Space Nine (Star Trek DS9), U.S.S. Defiant (Star Trek DS9)

 

Agreed. Well, it is a pretty iconic pop-culture vehicle.

 

@Killer Angel, @NIGHTBRINGER, and @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl some really fun vehicle lists.

@Killer Angel, do you think anyone knows the tank image?

@NIGHTBRINGER, the Star Gate... love it.

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl, The Hogwarts Express! How could I forget?

 

Which is doubly impressive considering that most of the time we don't find such agreement across our lists.

 

It is. I was just joking and wondering if anyone else recognized it. Good times!

 

For the record, I did not recognize it.



We're just about done with this round, unless @Imrahil wants a go?! Otherwise, it's on to the next round. I've got quite a few topics to choose from.

 

I like most of Killer Angel's list. I have to add these two.

 

Topic #18 - Top Ten Female Characters in TV/Movies

This category is pretty straight forward.

I'll start us off with my list...

1. Toph [Avatar: The Last Airbender]
2. Azula [Avatar: The Last Airbender]
3. Lenore [Netflix's Castlevania]
4. Harley Quinn [Batman: The Animated Series]
5. Princess Leia [Star Wars]
6. Eleanor Arroway [Contact]
7. Cersei Lannister [Game of Thrones]
8. Ashi [Samurai Jack]
9. Seven of Nine [Star Trek Voyager]
10. Evelyn [The Mummy]

Honourable mentions: Mantis [Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2], Ripley [Alien franchise], Eliza Maza [Gargoyles], Elaine Benes [Seinfeld], Sarah Connor [Terminator 1 & 2], Clarice [Silence of the Lambs]

 

Ripley, Sarah Connor and Clarice?