Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

The Last American Hero (1973)

The Last American Hero poster
Directed by
Lamont Johnson
Genre
drama film, action film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
PG
Rating
5.7 of 10 from 41 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

A young moonshiner from North Carolina becomes a stock car racing champion. The film follows his rise from illegal runs to professional tracks.

upbeatgrittynostalgicdrivenunderdogexcitingearthyblue-collar

What happens

The Last American Hero (also known as Hard Driver) is a 1973 American sports drama film based on the true story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. Directed by Lamont Johnson (no relation), the film stars Jeff Bridges as Junior Jackson, a character based on Johnson. It is based on Tom Wolfe's essay "The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!", which was first published in Esquire magazine in March 1965 and included in his debut collection of essays, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, later that year. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?