Movies Like Running on Empty
If you were moved by Running on Empty, are likely to find resonance in stories that questions the purpose and weight of our choices while delivering targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a perfect follow-up for your next session.
Standard feature-length experiences.
Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.
★ Top Picks
Days of Thunder
Talented but unproven stock car driver Cole Trickle gets a break and with the guidance of veteran Harry Hogge turns heads on the track. The young hotshot develops a rivalry with a fellow racer that threatens his career when the two smash their cars. But with the help of his doctor, Cole just might overcome his injuries-- and his fear.
Gran Turismo
The ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.
Dirt
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Winning
Frank Capua is a rising star on the race circuit who dreams of winning the big one - the Indianapolis 500. But to get there he runs the risk of losing his wife Elora to his rival, Luther Erding, and strains the relationship with his stepson.
Supercross
Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.
The Ring
Both Jack Sander and Bob Corby are boxers in love with Mabel. Jack and Mabel wed, but their marriage is flat. The young wife looks to Bob for comfort.
Speed Racer
Speed Racer is a young and brilliant racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the police and the mysterious Racer X to bring an end to the corruption and criminal activities.
More Movies Like Running on Empty
F9
Dominic Toretto and his crew battle the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered: his forsaken brother.
Birth of the Dragon
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.
Born to Race: Fast Track
Danny Krueger is a twenty-year old drag racer who plays by his own rules. After winning a scholarship to the prestigious Fast Lane Racing Academy, Danny finds himself competing against some of the fiercest young drivers in the world. Tension soars on and off the track, and a terrible incident leaves Danny without a racing partner. Facing dismissal from the academy, Danny is forced to team up with an old rival. The pair must learn to set aside their differences as they vie for rookie spots on a professional racing team.
I Still Believe
The true-life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and his journey of love and loss that looks to prove there is always hope.
Purple Hearts
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Black Beauty
The fates of horses, and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life.
Twelfth Night
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Hitch
Dating coach Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens mentors a bumbling client, Albert, who hopes to win the heart of the glamorous Allegra Cole. While Albert makes progress, Hitch faces his own romantic setbacks when proven techniques fail to work on Sara Melas, a tabloid reporter digging for dirt on Allegra Cole's love life. When Sara discovers Hitch's connection to Albert – now Allegra's boyfriend – it threatens to destroy both relationships.
The Yellow Handkerchief
A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.
Raintree County
In 1859, idealist John Wickliff Shawnessey, a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither by Susanna Drake, a rich New Orleans girl. This love triangle is further complicated by the American Civil War, and dark family history.
Love Everlasting
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
A Valentine's Match
Fired from her job as a reality TV host, Natalie returns home for Valentine's Day, only to find herself running the town festival's auction with her ex-fiancé thanks to two scheming mothers.
Why These Movies Are Similar
These recommendations share core qualities with Running on Empty (1982): Action and Drama themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Running on Empty.
See full details for Running on Empty (1982)Expand Your Discovery
Hand-picked cinematic matches with highest ratings.
Similarity EngineRunning on Empty Similar MoviesFocus on thematic and structural narrative overlaps.
Next WatchWhat to Watch After Running on EmptyPerfect follow-up titles to keep the momentum going.
Deep RecsRunning on Empty RecommendationsComprehensive breakdown for true fans of the title.
