Classic Movie Car Chases
Stay in and save some cash and get a good dose of cinematic experience. Put these films on your must see list for car chases and atmosphere and discover the oldies.
The debate as to which is the best ever movie car chase ever divides amateur film buffs as well as film critics. Here we look at some of the contenders for the title.
Bullitt (1968, Director: Peter Yates)
Many film enthusiasts agree that Bullitt is the gold standard in movie car chases. Just over halfway through Yates’ slick thriller, Steve McQueen’s San Francisco cop is being tailed by two hit-men. He quickly loses them and in one of cinema’s most iconic moments, emerges behind them as we realise that the hunters have now become the hunted. The next nine minutes of the movie is some of the most visceral, stunning cinema ever produced. Peter Yates spent over three weeks perfecting the sequence and worked in close harmony with stunt co-ordinator Carey Loftin. Together they captured a thrilling, 110mph, city-wide rollercoaster ride that many consider to be the best movie car chase of all time.
Duel (1971, Director: Steven Spielberg)
In 1971 Steven Spielberg was pretty much unknown when he was given the chance to direct this high-end TV movie. Dennis Weaver plays a travelling salesman who is pursued throughout the vast majority of the film by an unseen petrol-tanker driver intent on murder. Because we never see the driver’s face, the tanker itself becomes the villain and develops a personality of its own. Following the film’s thrilling climax, the truck is seen vanquished, lying on its side belching black fumes and groaning like a wounded animal.
The French Connection (1971, Director: William Friedkin)
Gene Hackman’s famously unhinged New York cop relentlessly chases a dangerous criminal across the city. The difference between this car chase and most others is the unfettered recklessness with which Popeye Doyle pursues his foe, taking chance after chance during one of the most suspenseful, adrenalin-pumping chases ever. The whole sequence is brilliantly edited and directed and designed to leave the viewer gripping their chair arms with fear and suspense.
To Live and Die in LA (1985, Director: William Friedkin)
Fourteen years after the French Connection, Friedkin made an even more elaborate chase in this brilliant thriller set in the murky world of money laundering. During the chase, LA cops William Petersen and John Pankow are pursued through the streets of the city, at first by just two gunmen but eventually by a whole succession of vehicles that appear as if from nowhere. Friedkin took the innovative step of mounting the camera low down and close to the road which serves to increase the sensation of velocity and exhilaration. The real genius of this particular car chase is its pinpoint choreography, and if any chase is capable of replacing Bullitt’s as the most-renowned, it is Friedkin’s masterpiece.
Ronin (1998, Director: John Frankenheimer)
This clever heist movie was at the forefront of a 1990’s renaissance in car chases. In many ways, Ronin paved the way for many derivative but inferior flicks such as Gone in 60 seconds and The Fast and the Furious franchise. Ronin boasts not one, but two car chases, the first of which is extremely good but really just serves as an appetiser for the main course. Ronin’s second chase is a nerve- wracking, bare knuckle sequence set on the roads of Paris. Over 80 vehicles were sacrificed to make the chase which sees Robert de Niro and Jean Reno hunting down their one-time partners in crime. The stand-out section of the chase involves a full-speed pursuit against the flow of traffic on the dual-carriageways of the French capital.
The Blues Brothers (1980, Director: John Landis)
Like Ronin, The Blues Brothers features two iconic car chases. The first sees Jake and Elwood escaping the law by driving through a shopping mall (literally). This chase is pretty much played for laughs as the brothers smash up the shops of the mall whilst taking note of the deals on offer. The real star of the show is the second chase, though. More than 100 vehicles were trashed as the brothers made their 106-mile journey back to Chicago to pay the man (played by Steven Spielberg) who can save the orphanage. They are chased by Illinois Nazis, angry hillbillies, the US army, the police and a jilted bride. Pure genius.
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