We talk a lot about the most stylish films in existence, but rarely do we ever bring up the best trainers in movie history. Whether it's a multi-million dollar sci-fi blockbuster or a quiet, coming-of-age story, over the past three or four decades, we've seen more golden grails on the silver screen that we can count.
So, if you're looking for some solid films to add to your Letterboxd so that everyone thinks that you're more cultured than you actually are, or you just want to beef up your sneaker knowledge, we've compiled 20 of the best trainers in cinematic history all in one place. From Michael J Fox's Nike Mag in Back to the Future Part II to Uma Thurman's Onitsuka Tiger in Kill Bill, this is the ultimate list for fans of both flicks and kicks.
Most sneakers that you see on the big screen can be bought without any dramas. But when Sigourney Weaver's character Ellen Ripley was ready to beat the living shit out of some extraterrestrial monstrosity in James Cameron's Aliens, she wore a pair of Reebok Alien Stompers that were specially made for the film. Trainer fans loved them so much that they actually dropped them IRL, so even if you can't act like Ripley and you can't fight like Ripley, at least you can dress like Ripley, which is good enough.
Ask anyone what the greatest trainer in movie history is, and they'll probably bring up the Nike Mag from Back to the Future Part II. Designed by Tinker Hatfield (the mind behind other Swoosh icons like the Air Max 1 and the Air Jordan 3), again, these were made just for the film. But in 2011, Nike decided to make them a reality, and they quickly became some of the priciest kicks on the planet. To put that into context, a size 12 will set you back around £60k on StockX right now.
Basketball Diaries details the troublesome, drug-addled teen years of Jim Carroll as his dreams of becoming an athelete fade. The mighty and humble Converse Chuck Taylor got more screen time here than ever before, and each member of Carroll's gang of NYC kids wore a pair. They also serve as an important symbol: as the cast fall further wayward (spoiler alert!), the state of their Converses also takes a beating. By the end, they’re scuffed and ruined beyond repair.
Tim Burton's Batman might seem kinda camp especially when compared to the moodiness of Christopher Nolan's vision. But it's got one thing that no other Batman film has: great sneakers. Every single version of the caped crusader wears a pair of big and rugged boots as part of their suit, but Michael Keaton rocked a heavily-modified version of the Nike Air Trainer 3 instead. It's difficult to see at first, but if you squint your eyes, you'll actually see the “Nike Air” logo around the heel.
Everyone talks about the Air Force 1 these days, but its oft-overlooked sequel, the Air Force 2, was the star of the show in this Penny Marshall-directed film. Worn during the scene at FAO Schwarz by Tom Hanks, who plays Josh Baskin, the AF2 makes its big-screen debut. It originally released in 1986, and was retro'd (meaning it was brought back in its original form) for the first time in 2002. It had its moment, for sure, but sadly it was just never as popular as its predecessor.
Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing released in '89 and was an instant hit with early sneakerheads (and everyone else, to be honest). In the film, Lee – who has an unrivalled collection himself – shone the spotlight on the Air Jordan 4. You might (and you should) recognise the line “He stepped on my brand new white Jordans!,” which is uttered by Buggin Out, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who scuffs his ‘White Cements.’
The Vans Slip-On (specifically the checkerboard pair) was already pretty popular among skaters around this time, but when Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out in 1982, it quickly became one of the most hyped trainers. Worn by stoner-surfer Jeff Spicoli, this is one of the most accurate depictions of the early days of SoCal style, and it's also one of the best representations of how a niche model, like the Slip-On, can become a pop culture icon almost overnight.
Not only did Forrest Gump score Tom Hanks his second Oscar for Best Actor (he won his first just the year before), it was also a major moment for the Nike Cortez. Designed by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman in 1972, this was the company's first track shoe ever. Hanks' character receives the OG ‘White’ colourway from his childhood friend Jenny, and with so much running done in the movie (3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours, to be exact), it's safe to say that she chose well.
There's no beating around the bush, but George of the Jungle was a wild, wild movie. While it doesn't really have the most memorable plot in the history of cinema, one scene that everyone always recalls is the one where Brendan Fraser’s character arrives back to his African homeland, unboxes a fresh pair of Nike Air More Uptempos, laces up, and immediately begins to run into the plains ahead. The '90s was a weird time, man.
Another Spike Lee masterpiece, He Got Game is, again, a celebration of sneakers. Featuring the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Lows, the Nike Air Foamposite One, the Nike Air More Uptempo, the Nike Total Max Uptempo, to name a few, the Air Jordan 13 even has its own scene. The latter shoe was significant because it only dropped a few weeks before filming began, so credit goes to Lee for getting them in the movie so quickly.
A cinematic great, Kill Bill: Volume 1 is Quentin Tarantino's fourth film. Starring Uma Thurman as a nameless woman seeking revenge on her former hit squad, the film also has another major star: the Onitsuka Tiger Tai Chi. This bright yellow design matches Thurman's beehive-esque fit, which is in itself a nod to Bruce Lee's jumpsuit that he wore in his final film, Game of Death. Oh, and they have “Fuck U” moulded onto the bottom of the soles, too.
While you might think of Like Mike for Bow Wow's surprise casting, it deserves remembering as a culturally iconic film thanks to its inclusion of the Nike Blazer. Finding Michael Jordan's old pair, Bow Wow's character Calvin becomes an epic basketball player. These white trainers with a blue Swoosh were a unique take on one of Nike's oldest designs, which first saw the light of day in 1973 and were worn by basketball legend George Gervin, aka, “the Iceman.”
Widely-regarded as one of the greatest pieces of cinema of all-time, Lost in Translation also happens to have one of the best trainers in movie history. In a scene with Bill Murray's character Bob Harris, he's seen in a waiting area wearing the HTM x Nike Air Woven – one of the rarest shoe collabs ever. Short for Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tinker Hatfield, and Mark Parker (who was then the CEO of Nike), these were three of the brightest minds in the footwear industry at the time. What a grail.
If Jordan Brand wasn't a household name before the release of Space Jam, it definitely was afterwards. In Michael Jordan's big screen blockbuster, as well as seeing Air Jordan 2s on Bill Murray, we are given a glimpse of the Air Jordan 11 ‘Space Jam’ in the final play of the film. Featuring a ballistic mesh base, glossy patent overlays, and an icy blue sole, this exact pair re-released in 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Joe Pytka-directed flick.
A truly legendary movie made only better by the inclusion of an epic pair of kicks, The Goonies features Data (played by a very young Ke Huy Quan) in a pair of a customised Nike Sky Force High. Always with a trick up his sleeves, these trainers were no different and came complete with hollowed-out heels that were fitted with a spring and a latch. Sky Forces came out the same year as the first Air Jordan in 1984, but fell to the wayside due to the Jordan Brand's insane popularity.
Wes Anderson's movies have always had a distinct aesthetic to ‘em, so for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, rather than just picking any sneaker and running with it, Adidas actually created the Adidas Rom ‘Zissou’ just for the flick. Ever since it hit theatres in 2004, fans of the film have been eager to get their hands on a pair. But the German sportswear giant waited until 2017 to bring them back. And to add fuel to the fire, they were limited to only one hundred pairs worldwide. Sad!
When Kyle Reese faces Terminator, before doing so he needs to be kitted out in, well… clothes. To get them, he robs a department store and leaves with a pair of Nike Vandals. Launched back in the early '80s when leg warmers were a national craze and synth-pop dominated airwaves, the Vandal came complete with a removable ankle strap on the high-top version and adopted a very similar silhouette to that of the Air Force 1.
Although a relatively recent release especially when compared to some of the other movies in this article, The Wolf of Wall Street was filled to the brim with iconic moments, and lest we forget when a drug-filled Jordan Belfort has a run-in with his Lamborghini Countach. During the scene, which sees Leonardo DiCaprio essentially wreck a supercar worth $118,000 (when it went on sale in 1985), we are given a flash of a pair of Nike Cortez in a white and black colour combo.
Based on Irvine Welsh's novel, Danny Boyle's Trainspotting is set among working men's clubs and council estates in Edinburgh. Mark Renton, played masterfully by Ewan McGregor, and his junkie pals embody '90s grunge, with his own look consisting of a buzz cut, torn cropped T-shirts, drainpipe denim, and the Adidas Samba Super. Before this model became the go-to for Lost Mary-wielding millennials, it was often spotted on the terraces of big football matches alongside other sneakers like the Gazelle, automatically making it one of the best trainers in movie history.
There's an action-packed scene in 2013's White House Down when a terrorist grabs the President of the United States' trainers (played by Jamie Foxx), and he screams, “Get your hands off my Jordans!” Considering they were the ‘Fire Red’ colourway, we'd say this reaction was justifiable. And judging by how many times it's been memed over the past 11 years, a lot of sneakerheads can probably relate to it.
