Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Half the reviews are like "this is a great movie" and I can't help but wonder why so many people think this is good. I'll admit, considering that it probably had a budget of a penny and a piece of string, the production value is okay, and the screenwriter clearly knows his car jargon. The story is where things fall apart for me. Its like the first 5 minutes of Tokyo Drift (but even stupider) stretched out to 90 minutes. Who would want to watch that? A lot of the characters are unlikable and don't act logically. Why would Danny risk ruining his image with a sponsored racing company and his professional future by intentionally bringing their car to an illegal street race knowing there's a risk of wrecking it? I guess the movie wouldn't have a plot if he didn't. Jake is an egotistical jerk with an asshole father. Why would Danny's father let him compete in the drag race if he was caught street racing and he said earlier that he wouldn't sign him up for the race if he was caught street racing?There are some technical flaws, too. In one scene a 2011 car is shown about to crash, but the car in the actual crash is a 2004-06 car of the same model (and its pretty obvious, too). I guess they couldn't afford a newer one or even a bodykit for the crash car. There's also a shot of Danny's Subaru at a stop sign with his turn signal on and you hear the clicking of the turn signal even though we're outside of the car. Why would they put that in?There are other Fast & Furious ripoffs out there like Redline (which is also terrible) but those movies are at least fun popcorn entertainment with characters you can route for. I'm giving Born To Race such a low rating because it plays up this dumb high school drama with characters I want to punch in the face (played by actors who all look like they're 25) and tries to make it more serious than it is.

This film really drives home how good low budget films can be. Watching this movie, and then looking at the garbage that the ScyFy channel makes, it's really a no-brainer. For starters, the story, while not very original works very well, and even the borderline cliché characters are pretty likable and even realistic. You find yourself understand how the characters feel, rather than them having a larger than life element. The dialogues does fall on its face a few times, but no film is perfect. There's plenty of action, which is clearly where most of this film's budget went. Plenty of car crashes, maybe an explosion or two. The real thing that drives this movie home is the cars - rather you're an import or tuner guy, or even if you like old school muscle, there's plenty of eye candy in this film. The racing itself is also pretty realistic, unlike The Fast and the Furious (TFATF) films which often feature shifting through 17 gears in a 5 speed car during a drag race. There's real car talk, that real car guys will get. Go into this movie open minded and you'll enjoy it. It tries to steal some of TFATF franchise's lightning in a bottle, but it does well standing on its own. I didn't have very high expectations, but even if I did, this film wouldn't have disappointed me. A great film for guys who like cars. I wouldn't mind watching it again.

Ever since the mainstream success of 2001's "The Fast and the Furious", street racing movies have been a recurring subject for big and small film studios alike. Despite the relative popularity of movies in this vein, they tend to draw the ire of "gearheads" (or petrolheads, for those across the pond) due to their questionable representation of cars, car culture, racing, and automotive technology. Whether it be nonsensical techno-babble, or impossible-to-reconcile vehicle physics, there tends to be a deluge of blind idiot errors or silly oversights that annoy those of us whose hearts pump synthetic oil rather than blood.No movie is wholly immune to such things, but thankfully, "Born to Race" averts the aforementioned TFATF-esque ludicrousness. The research has clearly been done when it comes to the techno-babble strewn throughout the film. Moreover, car culture and drag racing is more or less accurately represented where other movies fall flat. The American muscle cars shown aren't the typical triumvirate of Mustang, Camaro, and Charger/Challenger (though these are certainly featured within). A Buick Grand National plays a significant role in the film, and is a recurring sight throughout, and there are scenes exhibiting an Oldsmobile 442, Chevrolet Bel Air and Nova, and even the Lil' Red Express 1979 Dodge D150 drag truck. In summation, the cars, car jargon, and car culture has a greater, more accurate representation than most Hollywood racer films.The other large failing of many street racing-genre films is the catastrophically canned acting the leads and support dole out. While the script is nothing short of generic high school hero stuff, the acting is of an unusually high caliber. Lead Joseph Cross, of "Running With Scissors" fame, delivers a solid, if slightly weedy performance, and the big bad bully, played by Brando Eaton, does well with what he's given to work with. My personal favorite character, the father of the protagonist, played by veteran John Pyper-Ferguson, puts forth an excellent effort, managing to be lovable, despicable, and humorous all at once.Where other street racer movies are a complete mess of poor acting and Wikipedia knowledge, Born to Race manages a solid cinema experience for a fraction of the cost of the big boys. I would recommend this film to any street racing/drag racing aficionados, as well as anyone who likes a decent high school hero drama-type story.

My late teens were all about import street racing. I have been a consultant for the media on Illegal Street racing so I really know the ins and outs of the culture.I saw this on Netflix and thought I'd give it a whirl. I've seen a ton of cheesy racing / drift videos before so I did not expect much. The racing scenes were actually pretty realistic. There was only one goofy line after the first race where some guy boast what's under his hood about his turbo and exhaust. That was the only unrealistic part in the movie.Other than that I though the story line was decent, the racing was a lot of fun and the cars seemed realistic as well. Mostly everyone is on NOS so you can expect to see that but this movie had a nice touch to it. So if you like racing check it out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.