NEED FOR SPEED (Rated PG-13)

The American car-culture of the 1960s and 1970s was the best, with awesome muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Charger, Plymouth Road Runner, and of course, the Ford Mustang customized into a Shelby Cobra.

The latter hotrod car is the vehicular centerpiece in “Need for Speed,” a visceral and evocative sentimental automotive journey tapping into the thrilling adventure that is the staple of the open road cinema.

Though based on the eponymous car-racing videogame franchise, “Need for Speed” captures the freedom and excitement of fast cars we’ve enjoyed more recently in the “Fast and Furious” pictures.

And yet, “Need for Speed,” even as it evokes digital thrills, is also a throwback to such iconic road films as “Cannonball Run,” “Vanishing Point,” and “Gone in 60 Seconds,” the original B-movie, not the inadequate Nicolas Cage version.

Not surprisingly, the namesake video game, which involves players as active participants in the intense action of street racing, is nonexistent on story and plot development necessary for a feature-length film.

The story, such as it is, had to be fleshed out by the sibling writing team of George Gatins and John Gatins, who are so enamored with the culture of cars that they own an auto shop where classic cars are restored.

Much like the difficulty of locating original body parts for a 1964 Mustang, the challenge for the writers and director Scott Waugh was to adapt a story of honor, loyalty and friendship to the world of street racing.

The central character is Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), who runs the family auto shop in the upstate New York village of Mt. Kisco and races the underground street circuit with his buddies on weekends in his 1969 Ford Gran Torino.

Paul, who made his acting mark as Jesse Pinkman in the AMC drama “Breaking Bad,” carries himself like a young Steve McQueen, which is, to say, handsome, masculine, dangerous and loveable all at the same time. Like the star of “Bullitt,” Paul’s believable behind the wheel of a fast car.

Tobey’s an honest, hard-working auto mechanic in a sleepy blue-collar town, where he’s trying to keep the family business afloat after the death of his father, who left behind a pile of delinquent bills.

Along comes his former nemesis, the arrogant Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), now a wealthy professional racer who also just happened to abscond with Tobey’s old flame, Anita (Dakota Johnson), sister of one of his friends.

Dino dangles a tantalizing business proposition to Tobey, an opportunity to build the hottest Mustang that Carroll Shelby was working on at the time of his death. The financial windfall could save the auto shop.

Following the big sale, Tobey agrees to an impromptu race with Dino and Tobey’s close friend and protégé Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson). When the race turns deadly, Dino flees the scene, framing Tobey and sending him to prison.

Two years later he is out, and while Dino has been thriving in the auto business out West, Tobey has been plotting his revenge. His best chance comes by getting invited into the exclusive high-stakes race known as The De Leon, an elite underground race held only once a year.

To get to the race, Tobey will definitely have a need for speed since he will have to break parole and travel from New York to San Francisco in under 48 hours, driving the Shelby Mustang on loan from the British investor.

Accompanying Tobey on the trip is the pretty but opinionated British colleague Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots), who seeks to protect her boss’ investment. It turns out that Julia is surprisingly resourceful on the cross-country trek.

In a mad dash across the United States, the duo get help from Tobey’s Army Reserve pilot buddy Benny (Scott Mescudi) and from Finn (Rami Malek), an office worker overly eager to ditch his cubicle as well as business clothes in a most unusual manner.

The mysterious force behind The De Leon race is The Monarch (Michael Keaton), the soul of street racing who narrates the affair similar to what the voices of Wolfman Jack did in “American Graffiti” and Supersoul in “Vanishing Point.”

Along the dusty highways of Middle America and rugged Western states, Tobey and Julia must dodge the occasional state trooper, and then later roving bands of thugs seeking to cash in on a bounty offered up by a nervous Dino.

The essence of “Need for Speed” is exactly what the title suggests, namely there is a need for speed to deliver the vehicular bedlam that follows from a series of spectacular car stunts.

Indeed, the adrenaline fix comes fast and furious in daring chase sequences and even more so when some fancy European race cars, like the illegal-for-street-use Swedish Koennigsegg sleek racers, tear up the back roads.

“Need for Speed” succeeds mostly as an extended joyride, where the action swiftly moves from one thrilling chase to another. It’s an action movie to please racing junkies.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.