Cinema's 11 Coolest Leather Jackets Ever

An obvious choice? Yes, but absolutely necessary. This movie thrust the leather jacket into popular consciousness as the de facto bad boy totem, a spot it hasn't left ever since. Brando's biker king Strabler gets extra credit for customizing his trademark Perfecto with a scripted "Johnny" on the right shoulder, starting a trend that continues to this day.

You should already know that everything looks better worn and roughed up (If not, see rule no. 19), and nothing illustrates this better than Indy's battered bomber jacket. If you decide go the brown bomber route, get a vintage one and make sure it's plenty broken in. If not, you'll look like a suburban dad in the midst of a mid-life crisis. And that's never a good look.

Donald Sutherland's countercultural hero in this unjustly forgotten Clint Eastwood flick lives up to his name, bringing the bomber out of the B-17 and right into the famed Sherman tank. This one's beat up too, but it's best characteristic is the sergeant stripes on the sleeve, which we're pretty sure is against regulation, not that it matters to a soldier with a beard.

If The Wild One placed the leather jacket in the cultural pantheon, then punk rockers tore it down and made it their own (which only strengthened its spot after a little chaos was sorted out). The Ramones basically invented punk rock and brought the Perfecto with them, after purportedly copping the look from NYC's male hustlers and rent boys (who of course got it from Brando). They all wore the same jacket, but Joey gets the call here, because he's the lead singer.

Costume designer Michael Kaplan killed it in Fight Club, creating a ramshackle '70s-trash style that looked cool and somehow perfectly captured the spirit of the film and the late '90s zeitgeist. Tyler Durden's leather car coat is grimy and audacious, giving him a fun, sleazy vibe that edges out other cinematic leather car coat enthusiasts like Donnie Brasco.

Animal House is one of the best-dressed movies of all time, and because it's mostly all '60s Ivy League looks and togas, Bluto's black car coat stands out. Even though he dons it for practical reasons (burglary) it still shows that he's a stylish bad boy who doesn't limit himself to just iconic sweatshirts.

The Navy commissioned the G-1 bomber jacket in 1940 and it's remained a staple ever since. It's mostly recognized for it's shearling collar and the patches pilots sew allover them to commemorate missions and look cool as fk. Maverick's got both covered here and even used the jacket on his motorcycle, a move that unleashed a million mall bomber jackets on America throughout the '80s.

This modified lancer-front biker jacket had a massive cultural impact, defining the menacing, jerry-rigged look of the apocalypse to this day. While a plastic shoulder pad might not hold up on the streets, it was perfect on film, visually encapsulating Max Rockatansky's resourceful badassness.

This one's brand new to film, but it serves the same purpose as the other jackets on this list. Its leather identifies Star-Killer as a rogue, while it's gridded texture places it firmly in the intergalactic sci-fi cannon, all while looking super cool. What else do you want from a leather jacket?

Ah yes, Cruising, the awesome if oft ignored Pacino flick that has his detective Steve Burns going undercover in the New York leather daddy scene to bust a serial killer. Blending in, of course, requires a leather jacket, and Burns' vintage style motorcycle style totally works, mostly due to its aggressive (and sexy) chest zippers.

The G-1 is the most famous bomber in the world, but that doesn't mean its predecessor A-2 jacket doesn't look amazing on Gregory Peck's General Savage in Twelve O'clock High. This thing is a little beaten in too, and what it lacks in a shearling collar it makes up for by featuring the completely amazing Army Air Force's dote star insignia, a badge they unfortunately abandoned in May 1942.