Many directors have cited the film as a major influence including Satyajit Ray,[35] Ken Loach,[36] Giorgio Mangiamele,[37] Bimal Roy,[38] Anurag Kashyap,[39] Balu Mahendra,[40] Vetrimaaran and Basu Chatterjee.[41]
The film was noteworthy for film directors of the Iranian New Wave, such as Jafar Panahi and Dariush Mehrjui.[42][43]
The film was one of 39 foreign films recommended by Martin Scorsese to Colin Levy.[44]
It was parodied in the film The Icicle Thief (1989).
The film features in the 1992 Robert Altman film The Player. In this film Griffin Mill (played by Tim Robbins), a Hollywood studio executive, tracks screenwriter David Kahane (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) to a screening of Bicycle Thieves, and stages what he represents as a chance meeting with Kahane.
Norman Loftis's film Messenger (1994) is considered to be a remake of Bicycle Thieves.[45][46]
The episode "The Thief" from the American comedy-drama series Master of None is heavily influenced by Bicycle Thieves.
