Summary

• Sons of Anarchy continues to be iconic, with fans discovering the show on streaming services and enjoying its action-filled sequences and beautiful landscapes.
• Biker movies have experienced a surge in popularity, with some of the best ones featuring motorcycles and exploring the criminal aspects of biker culture.
• From sports movies like Biker Boyz to revenge stories like The Wild One, there is a wide variety of biker movies available for fans of motorcycles and the madness surrounding them.

The FX series Sons of Anarchy ended in 2014 and set the template for what the best biker movies should look like. Those who love motorcycles as a whole might also be yearning for feature films that portray the love for bikes or the madness surrounding them. Some of the best biker movies have been made over the past few years, shooting up in popularity due to Sons of Anarchy. From movies that share the love of motorcycles to those that add the criminal aspects, there are plenty to choose from.

Even though Sons of Anarchy has been off the air for years, it continues to be iconic as people discover the show on streaming services like Hulu and fans watch and re-watch the series. Although the most popular movies about bikers – and films that heavily featured motorcycles – were released in the 1960s and have a different feeling than the modern Sons of Anarchy, they're still popular today and are just as engaging as the series with their action-filled sequences, beautiful landscapes, and bikes. Often, the characters drift into violent criminal activity too.

20 Biker Boyz (2003)

• Stream now on Amazon Prime Video

Biker Boyz is a 2023 sports movie set in the world of underground motorcycle racing. This is basically the best biker movie for fans who want something in the vein of Fast & Furious. Much like Sons of Anarchy, this movie takes the bikes as seriously as the cast itself. The cast is top-notch, with Laurence Fishburne, Derek Luke, Orlando Jones, Djimon Honsou, Lisa Bonet, Meagan Good, Terrence Howard, and even Kid Rock. The movie tells the story of underground biker drag racers and the rivalry between an iconic racer and a young prodigy who started his own biker club.

19 Beyond The Law (1993)

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Fans of Sons of Anarchy who wondered what it would look like if Charlie Sheen was a biker should watch the 1993 movie Beyond the Law, where Sheen stars as an undercover cop named Dan Saxon who joins a group of outlaw bikers to stop a drug-smuggling and arms-dealing operation. However, to get as deep as possible, he has to commit more dangerous crimes, pushing him to the edge and almost resulting in no way back. The movie also stars Linda Fiorentino (The Last Seduction) and Michael Madsen (Kill Bill).

18 Torque (2004)

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In 2004, Ice Cube starred in his own biker movie with Torque, a movie directed by long-time music video director Joseph Kahn. The movie shares a lot in common with the stories told in Sons of Anarchy, especially the criminal elements and the movement into the illegal drug trade. In the movie, Martin Henderson is Cary Ford, a biker who finds some motorcycles filled with crystal meth, so he stows them away. However, a gangster (played by Matt Schulze) wants them back. He frames Cary for the murder of the brother of a biker game leader named Trey (Ice Cube), who sets out to get revenge.

17 The Wild Angels (1966)

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The Wild Angels has a close-knit motorcycle gang called Heavenly Blues at its center that comes together when one of their own has his motorcycle stolen. Peter Fonda stars as the gang leader who gets everyone to go on a mission to find the bike and get revenge on the thieves. There are several fights between motorcycle gangs and run-ins with the police with motorcycles being displayed and ridden in the movie constantly. The movie also shares something in common with Sons of Anarchy, as both had real members of Hells Angels involved in the cast.

16 Run, Angel, Run! (1969)

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Run, Angel, Run! follows an outlaw biker (William Smith) who tries to leave his biker gang with his partner (Valerie Starrett) but the gang decides to chase after them and try to force him back into their ranks instead of letting them go freely. It turns into a cat-and-mouse chase as the ex-outlaw biker and his partner try to outrun the motorcycle gang members who were once his closest brothers. This was a success, with a budget of only $96,000 but a box office take of $13 million.

15 Road To Paloma (2014)

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Although Road to Paloma isn't about motorcycle gangs, it does feature a lone biker on a mission and on the run from the law. Jason Momoa stars as badass Robert Wolf who gets revenge by killing the man who raped and murdered his mother. Wolf goes on the run after and flees the law hoping to be able to spread his mother's ashes. He goes on a long bike ride searching for his sister's property to spread the ashes while also avoiding the law. The movie received mixed to positive reviews and Momoa's Robert Wolf could have fit in perfectly with Sons of Anarchy​​​​​​.

14 Angel Unchained (1970)

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Angel Unchained has a somewhat similar plot to Run, Angel, Run! where the main character decides he wants to leave his biker gang. In Angel Unchained the main character, Angel, joins a commune to live a simpler and more peaceful life other than the gang. Though the gang doesn't hunt him, a new group of cowboys decides to harass the commune and Angel has to fight back. The movie might not be as well known as Easy Rider and The Wild Angels, but the idea of a man wanting to escape his past is one that Sons of Anarchy fans should enjoy.

13 Hell's Belles (1969)

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Hell's Belles is another movie that centers on a revenge plot after a bike is stolen, like The Wild Angels. Dan (Jeremy Slate) wins a new motorcycle and plans to sell it, so he can have enough money to buy a ranch, but it's stolen by a man. Dan decides to hunt down the new owner of the bike, Tampa (Adam Roarke), and his partner Cathy (Jocelyn Lane) joins him in the violent revenge story. This is more of an exploitation movie than a tale like Sons of Anarchy but the idea of a man fighting a biker gang plays in well with the popular TV show.

12 Easy Rider (1969)

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Easy Rider follows two bikers named Billy (Dennis Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda) as they ride from Los Angeles to New Orleans to find clients and discover more of America. Dennis Hopper also directed the film and brought Jack Nicholson on board. Nicholson plays a free-spirited attorney who the bikers bond with along the way. This is the role that is also credited for changing Jack Nicholson's career trajectory, plucking him from B-list status into the A-list. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Aside from Nicholson's standout performance, the film's amazing score and beautiful motorcycles also add to its appeal.

11 Ghost Rider (2007)

• Stream now on AMC+

There is also a biker movie in the realm of superhero entertainment. Before getting the rights to Ghost Rider back, Marvel licensed out the property to Sony and the company released two Ghost Rider movies, with the first gaining more appreciation than the sequel. In the movie, Nicolas Cage starred as Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who learns his mentor is dying and makes a deal with the devil to save his life. This devil, Mephisto, delivers his promise but with a twist, and soon Blaze has to repay the debt when he becomes the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider. Alas, Ghost Rider 3 isn't in the cards.

10 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man (1991)

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Here's a movie where four characters are named after motorcycle brands. In it, two childhood friends, Harley Davidson (Mickey Rourke) and Marlboro (Don Jonhson) give themselves the mission to save their once-favorite hangout joint when they become aware that it's facing closure over unpaid loans to a bank. They go ahead hijack the bank's armored vehicle. However, shock lands on them when they discover that the vehicle contains a new street drug called the Crystal Dream and not money. It turns out the bank's owners are corrupt drug leaders and now they want their product back.

9 Hells Angels On Wheels (1967)

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Before Easy Rider, Jack Nicholson also starred in this biker film that is actually the most similar to Sons of Anarchy. Nicholson plays a gas station attendant named Poet who impresses the Hells Angels biker gang and ends up being absorbed into their circle. Since Poet has spent most of his life in solitude, he is initially glad to be part of a group of tough guys. However, his conscience soon kicks in when he witnesses the gang's brutal crimes, including robbery and murder. The motorcycles are a joy to watch and so is the often worried young Nicholson as Poet.

8 The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

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Directed by popular Brazilian director Walter Salles, The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie about Che Guevera, but it isn't a movie about revolution. Based on the revolutionary leader's own memoirs, the movie is about his experiences traveling through South America in the 1950s as a medical student. The adrenaline of most biker films is lacking here, but the movie slowly takes you through the little events that shaped the iconic leader's mind. When his bike breaks down, he interacts with people, thus realizing how much they are suffering from poverty and political oppression.

7 The Wild One (1953)

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Marlon Brando already looked too cool by just standing and The Wild One upped the cool factor by adding a motorcycle. This movie is often credited for popularizing the idea of motorcycle gangs in Hollywood movies. Soon after it came out, many more followed. Brando plays Johnny Strabler, the cop-hating leader of the Black Rebels biker gang. The British Board of Film Classification banned the movie for its glorification of crime and violence. Later on, some local councils in the UK overturned the ban.

6 Eye Of The Tiger (1986)

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Imagine Rambo: First Blood with biker gang members substituting the cops and fans can get an idea of what this movie is about. Eye Of The Tiger stars Gary Busey, back when his characters didn't die in every movie. He is Buck, a military veteran who comes back home from Vietnam to find that his town is being colonized by a biker gang. Buck becomes Super Buck and decides to fight the bikers and drive them away. There's no shortage of action, with fistfights and motorcycle chases happening every few minutes. And what would a movie called Eye Of The Tiger be without the classic song by the band Survivor?

5 Akira (1988)

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Akira is not necessarily a movie like Sons of Anarchy, but its story shares much in common with the themes in SoA, and thanks to the motorcycles in the story, it is one of the best anime biker movies ever made. The story follows Shōtarō Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang whose best friend gains telekinetic abilities after an accident. This soon threatens the dystopian world in which they live, the metropolis known as Neo-Tokyo. The movie has a massive cult following and is widely considered one of the greatest animes ever made.

4 Hell Ride (2008)

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Hell Ride was directed by Larry Bishop who also stars as Prez, the leader of a South California gang known as the Victors. The plot revolves around the gang's efforts to avenge the killing of a fellow gang member and how motorcycle gang members stand up for each other and take revenge is something that Sons of Anarchy fans are very familiar with. This movie also picked up a good person to promote the movie as it was listed under a "Quentin Tarantino Presents" banner and its an homage to the best biker movies of the 1960s and 70s.

3 Stone Cold (1991)

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Stone Cold is a movie packed with 90s action movie tropes about a cop from Alabama who takes an undercover gig for the FBI. The gig involves infiltrating a murderous biker gang in the south of Mississippi. The gang is not only involved in drugs but also plans to murder the District Attorney and free a member who has been arrested. William Forsythe plays Ice, the most psychotic member of the gang while Lance Henriksen plays Chains Cooper, the gang’s leader.

2 The Loveless (1981)

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In one of Willem Dafoe's first-ever roles, he starred as the motorcycle gang member Vance. The movie sees a group of bikers congregating in a roadside diner on their way to the Daytona race. The diner's management starts getting nervous, and a customer even becomes hostile towards them. The hostility soon leads to an endless string of violence. The movie was filmed on a tight budget and when it came out, it quickly became a cult favorite, becoming one of the highest-rated biker films of all time among critics.

1 The World's Fastest Indian (2001)

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This movie revolves around bike racer Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) and his obsession with making his old Indian Scout motorcycle, the fastest bike in the world. He spends a lot of time modifying the bike. Initially, the bike has a top speed of 58 mph but after the modifications, the speed shoots to 201 mph. Munro ends up winning a race with the bike and setting a world speed record.