Best CAR CHASE scenes in movies!

March-27th-2003, 01:19 PM

mention of "To Live and Die in LA" in the movie thread made me want to start this thread and see if there are any I'm missing, because I have to admit, I love car chases (except the real ones on local news broadcasts and FOX tv shows).

My faves in order:

"Bullit"
"French Connection"
"To Live and Die in LA"
"Seven-Ups"
"Ronin"

moneyp · March-27th-2003, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by achilles
My faves in order:

"Bullit"
"French Connection"
"To Live and Die in LA"
"Seven-Ups"
"Ronin"

All good, and my favorite of the lot is Ronin, which made excellent use of the advances in stunt driving and camerawork.

The best car chase I've ever seen was in a Hong Kong film (the name of which is now lost to me). It was like live-action Speed Racer on acid, things like cars getting flipped, flying into the sides of buildings and causing the buildings to collapse. Insane stuff.

The movie, aside from the great car chase and some other explosive pyrotechnics, wasn't much however.

Brian Olewnick · March-27th-2003, 01:44 PM

The one that springs to mind is the ultra-slow car chase through the fog in DePalma's "The Fury". It's the eai of car chases!

Squaredancecalling Steve · March-27th-2003, 01:50 PM

I generally hate car chase scenes in movies, mostly because I'd be satisfied with a few seconds worth and they seem to go on forever.

THE WRONG BOX -- Very funny movie based on a R.L Stevenson story, with a very British, very slow chase involving many vehicles around a small circular park.

AMORES PERROS -- Because the chase and the crash are absolutely central to the movie, as the movie unfolds out of the chase/crash into the future and the past, and returns to it repeatedly as a common reference point. (One of the best movies I've seen in recent years! Rec from one of the junior members of Yells At Eels.)

RETURN OF THE JEDI -- Those little Wookie scooters zipping through the Redwoods!

al j · March-27th-2003, 02:04 PM

Adam, great list. But you should be punished in some way or another for omitting The Blues Brothers.

cookie · March-27th-2003, 02:07 PM

The one at the end of THE BLUES BROTHERS.

Whoops. I see I agree with Joe Christmas!

RBS · March-27th-2003, 02:21 PM

"The Love Bug"
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

March-27th-2003, 02:24 PM

Al,
forgot about that one--hard to think of many comedies with
car chases--there are a few in older Eddie Murphy movies (@4 HOurs, Bev Hills Cop), but the chases weren't funny. So yeah, the Blue Brothers could have started a whole new genre--the comic car chase scene--are there others worth mentioning?

PS: there's a great car-chase/ending to the classic French gangster film "Rififfi" anyone know it?

graypencil · March-28th-2003, 01:03 AM

The one in the new version of the "Bourne Identity " is quite well shot and edited as well..

still, it's hard to beat that old undercranked, low level bolt on sequence in the "French Connection 1 "

Gary Sisco · March-28th-2003, 10:34 AM

Ronin.

One of my very top alltime favorite movies. I love the whole atmosphere of it. Seen it probably six times now, and have it my private stash.

patricia · March-28th-2003, 11:29 AM

Speaking of French films, "Diva" has a great chase scenes.

Of course, "Bullit" is my favourite. It seems to me that Steve McQueen did the scenes, himself. Better, IMO, than "The French Connection".

I agree that "To Live and Die in L.A." has terrific action scenes, as well as a first, for me, look at William Peterson, now in "CSI", as well as John Pankow, who was the cousin, Ira, in "Mad About You", in a dramatic role. Worth seeing the video and I wish that I could see it again in a theatre. Willem Dafoe was a very effective villian.

Squaredancecalling Steve · March-28th-2003, 04:29 PM

Keystone Kops had some good ones.

graypencil · March-28th-2003, 08:09 PM

Speaking of Keystoned Kops ..

According to our whiz bang cable news feeds ( where if it bleeds , it leads ) LA seems to have great car chases every day ..according to the news choppers.

too bad this damn war of DUBByas has to get in theway of our domestic pictorial carnage ...

moneyp · March-28th-2003, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by graypencil
Speaking of Keystoned Kops ..

According to our whiz bang cable news feeds ( where if it bleeds , it leads ) LA seems to have great car chases every day ..according to the news choppers.

too bad this damn war of DUBByas has to get in theway of our domestic pictorial carnage ...

GP: The L.A. Police have asked the local news stations to stop covering car chases, as they feel that the prospect of being on television actually encourages some of these goofballs to actually START them.

Given that several news stations reported the request, I think they might actually comply!

graypencil · March-28th-2003, 08:31 PM

BTW:

Mone ..since there isn't a place to comment on it, I really like the new nice clean web page design!!

my complimentiums

March-29th-2003, 03:19 AM

Chronologically, wasn't "Bullitt" the seminal major motion picture auto chase? I seem to recall a chase from "Bonnie And Clyde" but not in the class of the others mentioned.

How about McQueen's "Great Escape" motorcycle chase? As an old biker I loved that one. Was that the only "chase movie" involving bikes?

graypencil · March-29th-2003, 03:39 AM

I think one of the things that set the "Bullit" chase scenes apart ( aside from the fact that I guess McQueen did his own driving ) is the wonderfully compressed ultra super long lens telephoto shots of the cars on the hills ...

if you look carefully, the giveaway is the fact that the trailing car is a bit larger than the front one ..much like the batter is always bigger than the pitcher in the long lens center field shot @ baseball games ..

Nathaniel Catchpole · March-29th-2003, 04:03 AM

The Italian Job

The Herbie films.

March-30th-2003, 07:24 AM

How about all these "today!" auto commercials with the drivers having chase scenes with no one chasing them???

And the following disclaimers: "Of course, YOU wouldn't drive like this, but you could if you WANTED to!"

The building were I once worked had a long entrance incline, and was often borrowed to shoot TV movies or series. There was one wherein the hero was a biker, and the producers always had the stuntman rider pop a "wheelie", wherein the front wheel leaves the ground, coming up the incline. My fondest hope was that he just once dump the bike doing that bit. That crap, wheelies and car chases etc inspires every immature teen ager idiot to do those things, disclaimers or no.

patricia · March-30th-2003, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by FredC
Chronologically, wasn't "Bullitt" the seminal major motion picture auto chase? I seem to recall a chase from "Bonnie And Clyde" but not in the class of the others mentioned.

How about McQueen's "Great Escape" motorcycle chase? As an old biker I loved that one. Was that the only "chase movie" involving bikes?

Not quite. "Diva" 's chase scenes were remarkable that they involved a motorcycle and car. Very effective.

jesus marion joseph · March-30th-2003, 12:04 PM

Quote:

the comic car chase scene--are there others worth mentioning

One of the Pink Panther movies (can't remember which one) had a pretty amusing scene at a small traffic rotary with two cars chasing each other.