25 best motorcycle movies ever

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt dukes it out with Dougray Scott's rogue IMF agent astride a pair of Triumph superbikes in ludicrously macho fashion. Director John Woo throws in every cliché in the book – though to be fair he invented many of them. Slo-mo? Check. Pumping rock guitars? Check. Explosions? Check. Pulling a stoppie for no very obvious reason? Check. Watch closely and you'll see that the bikes tyres change from slicks to off-road halfway through the chase.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Apart from The Dude, a badass Daft Punk soundtrack and flying discs of doom, the best thing about Tron: Legacy has to be the Lightcycle bikes. These light-lined beasts produce a destructive field making their gaming arena lethally entertaining. The real-world version might not be so dangerous but its looks are still killer. To get an idea of the effort that went into creating spectacular CGI sequences like the lightcycle battle: this film was shot in 64 days, the special effects took 68 weeks.

Choppertown: The Sinners (2005)

A multi-award winning documentary about The Sinners, a South California bike gang who love building their custom choppers, this is a refreshing look at the positive ethos that underpins the biker lifestyle – brotherhood and never having to grow up. We can relate, even if our tattoos are few and our bikes are all electric.

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Before he was a revolutionary icon, Che Guevara – played here by Gael Garcia Bernal – was just a newly-qualified doctor with a motorbike and a hankering for the open road. His trusty Norton 500 motorcycle, christened La Poderosa (The Mighty One) lived up to its name – getting Che and his pal most of the way, until its breakdown slowed their schedule somewhat. But better late than never. After the film's release tour operators were inundated with travellers heading to Latin America.

Faster (2003)

The first film documentary to delve into the high-speed, high-risk world of MotoGP. Valentino Rossi dominates the proceedings as the 2001 and 2002 world champion. If you like competitive, adrenaline-fuelled films and enjoy  – or just want to learn about – the MotoGP, this is the best way you could do it.