/Response: Your Favorite Movie Vehicles

(Welcome to /Response, the companion piece to our /Answers series and a space where /Film readers can chime in and offer their two cents on a particular question.)

Earlier this week, the /Film team wrote about our favorite movie vehicles. We then opened the floor to our readers: what is your favorite cinematic mode of transportation? And you let us know!

We have collected our favorite answers (edited for length and clarity) below. Next week's question: who is your favorite movie mentor figure? Send your (at least one paragraph, please) answer to slashfilmpitches@gmail.com!

I saw Akira at what was probably too young of an age, but, I fell in love with the film and still have an undying passion for it to this day. That goes double for Kaneda's bike, which I used to have dreams of owning as a kid. For some reason, I think it is the most badass thing in the world. The design hits that perfect sweet spot of being futuristic but not overly designed to the point where it seems impractical to ride. It anything, it's a great representation of what the future might hold for motorcycles. I have actually developed a fear of riding a motorcycle as I have grown older, but I would still risk it all just to drive that bike if it was actually real. (Connor McBride)

There are plenty of iconic movie vehicles, but few make a statement like S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier. Iconic vehicles are all about making a big impact on the story and wowing audiences. The Helicarrier is able to accomplish both feats in spades. Making its first appearance in The Avengers, during a simple conversation, the transition from ship to air vessel is completed. It is a vehicle capable of supplying the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. operation if necessary, as well as a mobile base. Its size and scope are massive, but there's something believable about the whole aircraft base as well. Just maybe this could actually exist. The greatest superhero team deserves the greatest transportation and that is exactly what this is. (Max Covill)

The Avengers Helicarrier was the first movie vehicle that made my jaw drop. It's design when planted in the water is nothing special, but that completely changes when it's put into action! Steve Rogers veered our expectations by stating that he was standing on a submarine. Instead, the seemingly normal aircraft carrier flew into the sky. On top of that, it can cloak itself itself, only being known to the people aboard. Through design, ability, and use in The Avengers, the Helicarrier has become iconic! (Jace Diehl)

"If you're going to build a time machine, why not do it with a little style?" The DMC DeLorean was the absolute perfect choice to be featured as the time machine in 1985's Back to the Future. While time has passed and the car looks like an automotive fashion statement of the time, it has persevered over three decades and is now an iconic piece of cinema history. From its sharp angles to vertically opening doors, you can't see one of these beauties on the road without thinking that Doc or Marty may be inside.

The DeLorean is a character in its own right. It has as much to do with the plot of the film as the main actors do. It's as if it were a beaten down boxer needing to return to the ring for one final fight – it needs to get back into form to help Marty get back to his time. Substituting electricity for plutonium is the only way in 1955, so the odds are not in the favor of our heroes. After countless bouts of interference, everything aligns and Marty is able to take the DeLorean back to 1985. All thanks to Doc Brown and that beautiful silver winged machine. (Matthew Fiedler)

My favorite vehicle in any film has to be the Chevy Impala from Drive. The driver uses this car to stay under the radar during his getaways rather than to be flashy or show off like in a cheap action flick. Personally, I've never been one to think muscle cars or sports cars are that cool, which makes the Driver's vehicle so interesting to me. When the Driver is in his car, you only see things from his point of view rather than from the outside of the car. Seeing his perspective from the driver's seat throughout much of the story is what makes the movie so engaging. The Driver's Chevy Impala isn't supposed to be a cool looking car that makes you go "that's so badass!" Instead, this is a perfect vessel of perspective, something that the viewer almost gets to drive themselves, which is something most movie vehicles do not accomplish. (Trevor Babcock)

The question hit me like Lightning McQueen barreling out of Radiator Springs: "What's your favorite movie vehicle?" There were so many to choose from! So, I took my thoughts on a spin around the block and decided to go down a different road. My pick? The late 1940s model Hudson Commodore, seen in 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. I loved everything about this movie – in particular, the painstaking attention to detail, especially when it comes to automobiles. The Hudson seems tough but accessible, much like Jessica Tandy's Miss Daisy. With a solid exterior and chrome in all the right places, it seems powered by Hans Zimmer's jaunty, hypnotic score alone, no gas required! In a movie filled with classic cars, for me, the Hudson stands apart. And hey, it doesn't hurt to have Morgan Freeman behind the wheel. (Jody Smith)

The Fast and Furious movie series is built on cool cars. With eight movies and counting, the list of movie vehicles is quite long and always very impressive. There is one car for certain that stands above the rest. When lead actor Paul Walker tragically passed away in November of 2013, the question of how to close the chapter on one of the films' most important characters was a daunting task. The result was a beautiful send off to not only a great actor, but a character that will remain in the hearts of fans forever. When Dominic Toretto leaves for a drive at the end of Furious 7, he is met at a crossroad by Brian O'Conner, who is behind the wheel of a white Toyota Supra. Similar to his character's star vehicle in the latter half of the first film, we begin and end his journey in the same car. The ending is beautiful, as the car driven in this scene is a one-of-a-kind Toyota Supra that was part of Paul Walkers own private car collection. The image of this amazing white car driving off into the sun is the goodbye we all needed. (Kevin Lotito)

I got to see Mad Max: Fury Road under the best circumstances: a cheap little theater in a cheap little college town with my screenwriting professor and about 20 other movie nerds. Most of us had never seen any of the Mad Max films (I don't think I had even seen the trailer for Fury Road), but we were excited.

Awestruck by the vibrant post-apocalyptic landscape, we whispered in hushed reverent tones about how each shot could be framed and hung up in a museum. Then, as Immortan Joe unleashed his War Boys after Furiosa, our collective experience went from great to straight-up religious.

As a raucous guitar solo grew in the distance, all of us, every film nerd and amateur screenwriter in the room, met the Doof Warrior and his Doof Wagon. Embodied by that pale, flamethrower guitar-wielding, psychopath and his rig built of war drums and amplifiers were all of our hopes for our screenplays; weird, impractical, unbridled musings that would touch the cinema screen. I'll never forget the rush of inspiration I felt when I first saw the Doof Wagon. Truly inspirational. (Zack Peercy)

Big rigs are undesirables, personally – threatening on freeways, fortune-thinning maintenance work, and the most soul-draining honk-honk should your moving marshmallow be deemed unworthy to share the lane. But just like George Miller was able to convince the world in 2006 that penguins will sweep "So You Think You Can Dance?" if they had the chance, he refreshed the stance on 18-wheelers. Not only does The War Rig have more carrying capacity than any pre-apocalypse counterpart – transporting guzzoline, greens, water and wives – it is also the embodiment of power and versatility.

That might explain why Miller invested a significant amount of time on the vehicle in Fury Road's most gratifying sequence – escaping the Rock Riders – and tossed in some righteous slo-mo when the cowcatcher-slash-fire extinguisher is in effect. Want a happier place or, alternatively, a perfect sniper's nest? There is a Beetle down the back of the rig for that. At the same time, take advantage of the truck's length to perfect your fighting, jumping and machete-dodging space. The only complaint here is a better name than "The War Rig" is needed; after all, a dedicated shot of its "breathing" supercharger suggests there is more than metal under the hood. But should the vehicle ever give out, know that it will not sputter. Becoming a barricade – after a half-flip, no less – is more like it. Now there is a vehicle that deserves to be in Auto-Valhalla. (Nguyen Le)

The Tatra T815, more commonly called The War Rig, from Mad Max: Fury Road, is the best movie vehicle. Fury Road is such a progressive film and this huge cylindrical car-traption (see what I did there?), which looks like it can barely run, paired with an endless unpaved desert road that it needs to trek across, symbolizes the horrific and difficult journey that our society is currently on to create better lives for ourselves; a life that has opportunity, freedom, democracy, and equal rights. The truck is beautiful for how ugly it is, and how that ugliness captures the tone and message of the whole film. This machine is basically the setting for the entirety of Fury Road (the best action film of all time) and I'll never forget it. (Michael Squirrel)

When I was a kid, my parents let me have my very own video store rental card. A few times a week, I'd ride my ratty old BMX up to our local "Pick-A-Flic" (yes, that really was the name of our rental store). Apparently, my folks had an agreement with the store owner, because he let me (a seven-year-old) rent whatever smut I wanted to watch. I'll never forget the day I picked up the box for Maximum Overdrive. If memory serves, the VHS box featured a badass Emilio Estevez, clad in 1980s denim, standing above a semi-truck which happened to be wearing the face of Spiderman's greatest Foe, The Green Goblin. This box art also had the tag line "Who Made Who?" It was the holy grail. Over the next several years, I'd rent Maximum Overdrive dozens of times. My friends and I would "play" Maximum Overdrive while pretending to outrun phantom semis on our bikes. Without a doubt, the Green Goblin Semi Truck is the greatest, and perhaps the most terrifying, movie vehicle of all time. I'm still scared to death of it. (Ash Sevilla)

I'm going to take some liberties here. A partial definition of vehicle reads "any means in or by which someone travels." That's good enough for me to include Falkor from The Neverending Story and its sequel. He's pretty different than most other vehicles on the /Answers post because he is ALIVE and HAIRY and SCALY. He's like some mix of the DeLorean (flight), Batmobile (firepower), and your best bud.

Falkor can fly, which is boss. He can help protect you with some fire-breathing abilities, and he generally seems like a good hang. And then there's his incredible luck, given that he is, well, a LUCK dragon. You guys can all have your high-powered automobiles and methods of conveyance, I'll take the fluffy, flying pillow dragon. (Seth Finck)

There were many iconic images that appeared in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailers. From Kylo's lightsaber to BB-8, there was a sense of newness to the saga. Then, in flew a classic image: X-Wing fighters stirred over a lake and I was a child all over again, full of hope and wonder. Praises are continually sung, and rightly so, about the Millennium Falcon, probably one of the most iconic spaceships in the history of cinema. But while the Falcon is so famous, it's hard to deny the elegance, simplicity, and sheer fun of an X-Wing.

These humble little fighters contributed to the destruction of an entire evil empire. One of them alone – with a little help from the Force – blew up the most fearsome weapon in the galaxy, the Death Star. To me, the X-Wing is the best symbol of the Rebel Alliance – a makeshift vehicle with dedicated crew that will win the day.

When I was a child, I dreamed of being Red or Gold Leader as much as I dreamed about being a Jedi. When those agile and hopeful X-Wings flew into The Force Awakens, I was dreaming all over again. (Kevin Kelly)