If you’ve read many of my reviews here, you know that I’m a big fan of action flicks. And every proper action flick needs at least one car chase. The car chase is one of the oldest tropes in movies, dating back to at least 1903’s Runaway Match. (That’s the oldest filmed car chase known to still exist, anyway.) But the chase being used as a hyped-up, highly choreographed, and integral part of the modern action movie didn’t really kick in until the late 1960s. Director Peter Yates should get a lot of the credit, as his gripping chases in Robbery (1967) and Bullitt (1968) showed what a skilled director could do with a couple of fast cars.
The early 1970s saw a boom in on-screen car chases, from A-list features like The French Connection to exploitation flicks like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. As the modern action flick evolved into a genre of its own, the spectacular car chase became a staple. You couldn’t really call yourself an action movie if you didn’t have at least one good car chase. This was as true in Hollywood blockbusters like Raiders of the Lost Ark as it was in low-budget Italian cop capers like Shadows in an Empty Room. These days, the best car chases have become intricate automotive ballets, with cars and people flying back and forth in ways that early action filmmakers couldn’t have imagined. There are some things that CGI can never really replicate or replace, and that’s a big reason that the visceral thrills of a great car chase will never go out of style.
With that said, here are my five personal favorite movie car chases.
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) – The final chase. The original Gone in 60 Seconds was a low-budget exploitation flick produced squarely in the middle of the 1970s car crash movie boom. Drive-in movie-goers everywhere were thrilling to the automotive antics of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry and Grand Theft Auto. In this grand tradition, Gone in 60 Seconds told the story of a master car thief tasked with stealing 48 cars. When he finally finds the rarest car on his list – a yellow 1973 Mustang named Eleanor – his attempt to steal it results in one of the longest, wildest chase scenes in 70s movies. Clocking in at over 42 minutes long, the chase is an epic thrill ride through the streets of Southern California’s South Bay. As the thief wends his way through Long Beach and Carson, the trail of police cars gets longer and the crashes pile up. One of the things I love about this chase (which was also noted in Thom Andersen’s Los Angeles Plays Itself) is that it absolutely respects the geography of the area. There are no jump cuts where a car is driving down a street in Long Beach and turns a corner into downtown L.A. You can almost follow the progress of the chase on a map, as the radio commentator keeps running down the names of the streets they’re on. As a longtime Long Beach resident, I love that I can follow the cars as they go block by block down Ocean Boulevard. It’s a great chase regardless, but it’s the insane attention to the real layout of Southern California that makes it one of my favorites.
The Blues Brothers (1980) – The final chase. Driving 106 miles to Chicago on a half-tank of gas wearing sunglasses has never been so much fun. The epic finale of the 1980 comedy hit features Jake and Elwood Blues on the run from police, Nazis, country musicians, and ultimately the U.S. Army. Having secured the cash they need to save the orphanage they grew up in, the Blue Brothers have to get from their rural Illinois gig to downtown Chicago before the assessor’s office closes. The result is one of the most chaotic, destructive chase scenes ever. Director John Landis and the cast clearly relished the opportunity to smash up police cars, and they did so in pretty much every way you can think of. This is the most over-the-top destruction derby of any flick on my list, with an absolutely ridiculous number of cop cars flying into, over, and through one another. As if the police mayhem wasn’t enough, they also toss in Henry Gibson, his cadre of “Illinois Nazis,” and the angry country musicians piled into the Good Ol’ Boys tour bus. Great stuff, all the way through Steven Spielberg’s cameo as the sandwich-eating tax assessor.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) – The final chase. The Road Warrior was the movie that turned me into an action film fan. When I walked into the theater at the age of 13, I was already a big sci-fi fan, but I had never experienced anything quite like this. Director George Miller dropped me into a grimy, post-apocalyptic world where wild gangs of vehicular maniacs roamed the open roads, preying on all who passed by. The Road Warrior moved at a lightning pace, barely pausing between action set-pieces to catch its breath before revving right back up. For a long time, I held up The Road Warrior as the Platonic Ideal of an action movie, a film that was as close to being pure action as possible. (Who knew that Miller had an even wilder ace up his sleeve?) The chases throughout the movie are truly impressive, especially Mel Gibson’s Max trying to drive the tanker truck back to the safety of the gas compound. But it’s in the climactic twenty-minute chase scene that The Road Warrior reaches classic status. As Max pilots his heavily-armed tanker truck through the Aussie flatlands, he’s pursued by a teeming sea of cars, trucks, and motorcycles dedicated to stopping him. Miller’s total mastery of the car chase is on full display, as his team of stuntmen and drivers create an amazing, propulsive scene that builds in intensity throughout. One of the most important things about a good car chase is the practical stunt work, and Miller showcases some incredible stuff as his people jump, fight, and shoot at one another while careening down the highway at top speed. The bait-and-switch ending is also fantastic, leaving Max to simply give a wry shrug and wander off into the desert again. So great.
Fast Five (2011) – The vault heist. When it comes to the modern car chase, the Fast & Furious franchise has become the gold standard. Every new film features at least one show-stopping chase scene, involving everything from skydiving cars to submarines. And while the gas tanker heist that opens Fast & Furious ranks as an all-time classic, the best of the bunch has got to be this insane romp through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The idea is that the crew has to steal a drug kingpin’s cash – so of course, they blast their way into his bank and drive off with the entire vault. Dom and Brian hook the vault up to their souped-up cars and tear off through the city, pursued by a cadre of crooked cops and drug dealers. The resulting chase is a masterpiece of ridiculous mayhem, as the guys pull the giant safe through the city’s heavily populated downtown district. As the cars fly down the street, the vault destroys everything in its path, from bus stops and light poles to banks and police cars. A lot of police cars. This scene features some of the most violent crashes you’ll ever see, as cars get absolutely pummeled by the massive vault. I’m not sure about the physics of the whole thing, but this scene is a blast right through the finale, a crazy game of chicken in which Dom and his vault go head-up with about twenty cop cars. If you don’t like this scene, you probably have no business watching action flicks.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Furiosa flees the Citadel. And then there’s George Miller’s true masterpiece, which might just be the definitive statement on what can be done with a bunch of cars and an open road. The whole flick moves at breakneck speed from one action set-piece to the next, pausing just long enough to set the stage for what’s to come. While the closing chase back to the Citadel is pretty awesome, it’s the chase away from Immortan Joe’s hideaway that ranks as my favorite. Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) has secreted away Joe’s stash of breeding women and plans to head out for greener pastures. Of course, Joe and his army of War Boys aren’t too keen on her plan, so they set out to catch her in a wild array of souped-up, heavily armed cars and trucks. Max gets strapped to the front of one of the War Boys’ cars so that he can continue to have his blood transfused. The resulting chase is the ultimate expression of Miller’s skills as an action filmmaker. Furiosa’s big rig hurtles down the road, with flying motorcycle bombers, War Boys on long, flexible poles, and even a giant Marshall stack in pursuit. The practical stunt work on display is amazing. Miller’s visceral shooting style puts the camera right in the middle of the mayhem, with Max a fairly helpless observer for most of the scene. Once he does spring into action, the scene builds to a head-spinning finale as they all head into the biggest sandstorm in cinema history. This is action filmmaking at its best, with the stunts, camerawork, sound, and editing all contributing to a sequence that will be dissected by directors and fans for years to come.
Leave a Reply