Military vehicles are just plain cool. It’s no surprise that they find their way into civilian life through government auctions, historical collectors and pop culture references. Aside from the ubiquitous Jeep, there might be no better military-to-civilian crossover than the mighty Humvee.
Of course, the Humvee has appeared in more war movies than I can keep track of. What’s more interesting is the way this military vehicle has infiltrated pop culture at large and worked its way into movies that have nothing to do with convoys, mounted patrols or screaming, “RPG!”
The boxy High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, has a face the camera can’t get enough of. Here are some of our favorite non-military surprise appearances.
“The Rock”
Oh, to be a kid in the 1990s again. Few are the thrills that can match a Friday night trip to Blockbuster to rent a brainchild of Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. The filmmaking juggernauts might have been at their best when they unleashed “The Rock” on audiences in 1996.
Diabolical plots: check. Snappy one-liners: check. The incomprehensible awesomeness of Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris sharing the screen: check, check, check. And to top it all off, the movie gave us the chase scene we didn’t know we needed: a Ferrari F355 versus a Hummer.
The Hummer H1 was the first civilian adaptation of the military-spec Humvee. “The Rock” would have us believe that it was a fire-breathing war machine loosed from the bowels of the military-industrial complex -- free to mow down every fruit stand, taxi cab, water-delivery truck, telephone pole and VW Beetle (maybe especially the Beetles) in San Francisco.
But according to a 1995 review in Car and Driver, the H1 was far from the war wagon the public hoped or feared it would be. Plush seats and a decent air conditioner might have been welcome changes, but the gas-chugging (think 7-9 miles per gallon) Chevy 350 that replaced the Humvee’s turbo-diesel engine needed more than 18 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph.
Fortunately for us, we’ll probably never encounter an H1 in person. In our imaginations, it can remain the snarling beast that Sean Connery used to rampage an entire city in the process of escaping his captors -- Ferrari-commandeering scientist included.
“Gone in Sixty Seconds”
How sad; Nicolas Cage appears twice on this list, and he didn’t get to drive either Humvee.
In the 2000 masterpiece “Gone in 60 Seconds,” a tricked-out Hummer H1 appears alongside a star-studded automotive cast that includes a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB4, a 1988 Porsche 959, a 1999 Toyota Supra and -- of course -- Eleanor herself, the legendary 1967 Ford Mustang GT500 built by Chip Foose.
The H1 doesn’t get much screen time, but it makes a big impression. Sphinx (Vinnie Jones) and Mirror Man (TJ Cross) steal the pickup truck configuration H1 from a parking garage and predictably smash their way out, leaving nothing but automotive carnage and the pet python that had been sleeping under the seat in their wake.
In retrospect, it’s funny to see the H1 alongside such an illustrious array of collectibles. It just goes to show how sure people were in 2000 that the tamed military truck would become an enduring status symbol.
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
In 2015, “Mad Max: Fury Road” was a freak show of chop-shop horrors and rusty redneck engineering, just as the original movie was in 1979.
The film's prop department must have had a field day welding together all kinds of nightmarish contraptions that were half vehicles, half acid-inspired sculptures fit for Burning Man.
Amid all of the scrap-metal chaos is one vehicle that looks like it took almost no effort to create. If you look closely, you’ll see what appears to be a military surplus Humvee stripped of sheet metal to create a skeletonized dune buggy capable of delivering freedom to anyone, whether they want it or not.
It makes sense. The Humvee was born for such a role; crashing across open desert is one of the things it does best. It’s also a great way to bump up the number of vehicles in this chase scene without blowing the budget. It’s one silver-screen vehicle you can scoop up for just a few grand.
“Bad Boys II”
Who doesn’t love a good buddy cop movie? “Bad Boys II” has action, infinitely quotable jokes and flashy cars. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence strike a perfect balance of hilarious and cool. And the soundtrack slaps.
The movie’s action-packed chase scene took the characters inside a mansion, down a dirt road in the jungle and through a hillside favela where everything -- and I mean everything -- was explosive.
Luckily, they had a Hummer H2 that was up to the task. Not only did it complete the journey, but it looked fly as hell doing it.
We’ll just ignore the fact that our heroes destroyed an entire low-income neighborhood with their lead-slinging SUV chase.
“The Lost World: Jurassic Park”
The Humvee has taken many forms throughout its tenure as America’s fighting troop carrier. You probably know about the lightweight original configuration, the up-armored versions, the ambulances and maybe even the one equipped with an Avenger weapon system, but what about the one used to nab velociraptors at full speed?
In 1997, near the height of Humvee celebrity, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” gave audiences this gem. The capture vehicle was a big step up from the Jeep Wranglers and Ford Explorers of 1993’s “Jurassic Park.” It came equipped with a pair of front-mounted arms to grab a running dinosaur and boom-mounted seats where crew members could sit and administer medicated darts.
Back then, you could even get a toy version of this Humvee. The iPad generation will never know the thrill of playing with one of these.
“Lilo & Stitch”
I bet you didn’t expect to find a Humvee in a children’s cartoon about a young girl befriending an alien, but here we are.
Walt Disney Pictures wasn’t just making things up when the studio put a bright red Humvee in the Hawaiian storyline. Humvees are popular among rural and wildland fire departments that need a brush truck capable of covering rugged terrain in a hurry to stop the spread of wildfires and forest fires.
The same capabilities that made the Humvee so formidable on the battlefield made it a huge asset in the fight against wildland fires. A 1993 report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources commended the vehicle’s ability to transport a 300-gallon water tank and foam fire suppression system anywhere the job required.
Not everyone is thrilled, though. Leave it to Redditors to kick up a controversy about a government agency using a vehicle created for use by government agencies.
So Many Music Videos
One of the cool tricks record labels kept in their back pocket during the early 2000s was the ability to instantly make any music video more popular by adding a Hummer to it.
It started with rap videos, including what feels like every Biggie video ever made, but the trend quickly worked its way into pop and rock, as well. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Tupac appeared alongside a Humvee in the video for “California Love.” The Notorious B.I.G. used Hummer H1s in the videos for “Only You,” “Been Around the World” and “Hypnotize.” Mariah Carey sang from an open-top H1 in the video for “Fantasy.” AC/DC got in on the action with the video for “Stiff Upper Lip.”
The Hummer H2 even got time in the limelight with 50 Cent (“Wanksta”) and Ludacris (“Stand Up”) in 2003.
“She’s the Man”
The Hummer H2 only gets a quick glance in a background shot during “She’s the Man,” but it’s a surprisingly appropriate metaphor in the movie.
Sebastian isn’t really the new boy in school; that’s his sister, Viola (Amanda Bynes), in disguise. Likewise, the H2 isn’t really a Humvee; it’s a Frankenstein-esque combination of Chevy truck parts wrapped in trendy bodywork with abysmal quality control to make suburban housewives and teenage girls feel edgy while they drive to Pilates and eat brunch at the local Starbucks.
Rumor has it that the H2 is actually fairly capable off-road, but it’s hard to get anyone on record about that, because they’d have to publicly admit to driving one.
Bonus: “The Girl Next Door”
What? You don’t remember this one?
Don’t worry, your memory isn’t failing you. According to the Internet Movie Car Database, multiple versions of “The Girl Next Door” exist, and in at least one, the shot of the Humvee was cut to save time.
Who knew? Now, you can use this trivia to impress your Humvee-fan friends -- and no one else.
Here’s to Camo Crossovers
We love a good mash-up of military and civilian culture. Just like the peace sign on Joker’s helmet in “Full Metal Jacket” and the Jeeps that occupy every parking lot in America, there’s something cool about transporting something from one world to the other.
The Humvee’s aura was too big to be limited to military use. Sure, the civilian-spec Hummers might not be everything we want them to be, but they’re a testament to the power military tech has on our collective psyche. Deep down, some small part of all of us wants a Humvee -- even if we never admit it.
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