Top 10 Most Powerful Movie Vehicles

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at movie vehicles that are among the most powerful to grace the silver screen. These vehicles are ranked relative to the worlds they inhabit. Also, we are deliberately excluding space ships.

#10: Light Cycles & Light Runners

“Tron” franchise (1982-)

Years before “The Matrix,” Jeff Bridges starred in “Tron,” one of the first major films that imagined entering the digital world of computers. There, vehicles are limited only by their coding. The original “Tron” featured light cycles: digital motorcycles that create impassable walls. When other cycles crashed in these walls, they and their program drivers are obliterated. The 2010 sequel, “Tron Legacy” expanded the franchise’s stable of deadly vehicles. Olivia Wilde’s character, Quorra, drives a light runner. In addition to its unique digital off-roading abilities, it sported both program-destroying mines and missiles. Later, she pilots a light jet: a fighter jet armed with both weapons and a deadly light trail.

#9: Christine

“Christine” (1983)

It’s hard to picture a 1958 Plymouth Fury competing with vehicles decked out with the best weapons a fictional world has to offer. But what if that car were possessed by an invincible, immortal, and malevolent spirit? The 1983 classic Stephen King adaptation “Christine” features just such a Fury. Not only does Christine have the ability to forge powerful psychic bonds with her owners, but her jealousy of that bond knows no bounds. Anyone who threatens it is immediately at risk of a gruesome demise. Worse yet, the stronger Christine’s bond gets, the harder it is to hurt her. She possesses a supernatural ability to instantly self-repair any damage she suffers. Short of a volcano, it’s hard to imagine a permanent way to destroy her.

#8: War Rig

“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)

In 1979, Australian filmmaker George Miller introduced the world to Mad Max: a road warrior seeking a violent form of justice in post-apocalyptic Australia. Max’s baby, The Pursuit Special, is a souped up Ford Falcon XB GT. It sported both heavy armor and a Weiand 6-71 supercharger popping out the roof, providing both horsepower and intimidation. In the 2015 follow up, “Fury Road,” Max’s enemies rock one of the most terrifying vehicles put to film: Immortan Joe’s War Rig. The War Rig was a tremendous truck festooned with heavy armor. It was both a defensive tank and an offensive powerhouse. When sent out on runs for fuel and ammo, the rig demolishes all enemies, and is only eventually destroyed intentionally by its own driver.

#7: Ectomobile

“Ghostbusters” franchise (1984-)

It may be hard to recognize today, but the famous ride of New York’s favorite ghost-busting team is actually a modified ambulance. Not only that, but it’s a Cadillac! Egon Spangler and company took a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinel and converted it into the bane of the undead. Equipped with sirens, ghost fighting gear and storage for the team's proton packs, the Ecto-1 was primarily a transport vehicle. Between “Ghostbusters II” and the 2021 sequel “Afterlife,” Spangler converted the Ecto-1 into a ghost-fighting machine. It’s now equipped with a gunner seat so that proton packs can be used on the go. In the 2024 sequel “Frozen Empire,” the former ambulance was further upgraded with a deployment apparatus for a ghost-trapping drone.

#6: Batmobile a.k.a. The Tumbler

“The Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-12)

The 1990s Batmobiles were as progressively campy as each successive sequel. In 2005, when Christopher Nolan took the wheel, his Batmobile was adapted to fit his more gritty, realistic Batman. He eschewed a more traditional, sleek vehicle for a literal tank. The Tumbler started out as a military vehicle, equipped with armor, rocket booster, and forward cannon. Its matte black finish helped it blend into the night. In the 2008 sequel, it was upgraded with the ability to spin off two tires into a motorcycle: the Batpod. "The Dark Knight Rises" unveiled an even more powerful iteration: The Bat. A jet-powered urban combat vehicle, The Bat was armed with machine guns and a cannon strong enough to take out a Tumbler with a single volley.

#5: Aston Martin DB5

“James Bond” franchise (1965-)

The James Bond series has almost featured as many gadget-filled cars as there are actors who played the British Super-spy. That being said, one car has been featured in many different Bond iterations: The Aston Martin DB5. First introduced in “Goldfinger,” the MI6 super-car has been, at times, nigh-on invulnerable. Over the course of the franchise, the car has been equipped with a plethora of gadgets. The changeable license plates, oil slicks, and smoke screen all allowed Bond to evade his enemies. When that didn’t suffice, the bullet-proof chassis and glass protected Bond while his machine guns and tire shredders took them out. In a worst case scenario, the car was also equipped with an ejector seat.

#4: Snowpiercer

“Snowpiercer” (2013)

In the world of “Snowpiercer,” humanity’s failed attempt to stop climate change ends in a frozen apocalypse. The last remnants of humanity are relegated to life aboard a single, self-perpetuating, train. The Snowpiercer spends all day and night roaming an icy wasteland. Heavily-armored and insulated, the train managed to keep humanity afloat for almost two decades after the apocalypse. Its hydrogen-powered engine can only be stopped by sabotage. It’s not just a vehicle, but an ecosystem. Heat, water, and power are distributed throughout the train unequally; the rich and powerful live in luxury while the poor barely scrape by.

#3: S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

“The Avengers” franchise (2012-)

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier is as iconic as its leader, Nick Fury. At first blush, the Helicarrier seems to be a standard, albeit decked-out, aircraft carrier. Unlike its sea-born brethren, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s version is equipped with special engines, allowing it to fly. Its underbelly is plated with special stealth panels that allow it to be completely camouflaged from the ground. Just as with a standard aircraft carrier, the Helicarrier is a small city, full of agents and equipped with fighter jets. Thanks to the secret influence of H.Y.D.R.A., a trio of Helicarriers were built with access to Project Insight: a series of spy satellites able to locate and predict potential threats.

#2: Nautilus

“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954)

While this list consists mainly of vehicles from the era of mechanization, many movies take place before the invention of the engine. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, for example, takes place in the 18th century. Jack Sparrow’s “Black Pearl” is the bane of the seven seas, able to outrun any ship at sea - even those crewed by the supernatural. “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” takes place a century later, where the seas are still traversed by sailing vessels and steamer ships. In that era, Captain Nemo’s Nautilus submarine was so advanced, it's thought to be more sea monster than ship. Its metal hull was used to ram enemy vessels, easily sinking them. Electric currents ran through the hull, repelling boarders and sea-life alike.

#1: The DeLorean Time Machine

“Back to the Future” franchise (1985-99)

What is more powerful than control over time? In the “Back to the Future” series, Dr. Emmett L. Brown manages to convert a unique but fairly unpopular car - a DMC DeLorean - into a time machine. By traveling 88 miles per hour, the DeLorean can travel to a fixed point in time. Though it’s not equipped with any weaponry whatsoever, this power is unparalleled in film. By traveling to the past, both Doc and Marty discover the power to completely rewrite history. They’re even able to utterly erase people from time altogether. As Marty learns in the first film, this power is incredibly dangerous. A single action in the past reverberates throughout the decades.