éX-Driver the Movie

Autonomous vehicles have taken over everything — which sounds convenient until one goes rogue and starts tearing through Los Angeles at full speed. That's where the eX-Drivers come in: Lorna, Lisa, and Sōichi are a Japanese team who specialize in driving the old-fashioned way, using actual gasoline-powered cars with human hands on the wheel. They're in LA to compete in a global eX-Driver racing championship, but within hours of landing, they're already chasing down a malfunctioning AI vehicle through city streets. They stop it, which should be a win — except the local police aren't exactly grateful and confiscate their car overnight. Classic. This is a 2002 movie from Actas, running about an hour, and it hits that sweet spot of high-speed car action with a relaxed, comedic energy between the three leads. The premise is genuinely interesting — skilled human drivers as a specialized force in a world that's forgotten how to drive manually. The car chase sequences blend hand-drawn animation with CGI in a way that still holds up, and the Los Angeles setting gives it a different flavor than the usual Japanese racing backdrop. If you've watched Initial D and wanted something lighter in tone, or if Redline scratched that itch for stylized automotive action, this fits comfortably in that space. It's not trying to be deep — it's a racing movie with a fun sci-fi twist and good character chemistry.