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Best CAR CHASE Sequence Action Movies. Fast cars, memorable chase scenes.Dec 02 '10 (Updated Dec 21 '10) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Good Action Movies with GREAT CAR CHASE sequences. Here's a list... Best Car Chase Action Movies. My criteria: the top movies here have to be above average and the car chase has to be mostly or completely organic (no CGI) and last longer than 3 minutes. And car RACE sequences don't count for the main list. A couple of cool car stunts won't cut it, nor will a short but good car chase in an otherwise lousy movie. I'm writing this in a loose almost conversational style. Most of the movies mentioned are available on DVD. No list or article can possibly include everything. Hopefully I've touched on the majority of the better ones. I mention at least 25 must-sees and another dozen or so contenders. Enjoy. 18. Smokey and The Bandit (1977)- Hal Needham coordinated several cool chase scenes in lots of movies before hitting the big time with this 1977 ‘classic' comedy chase movie. Needham was even seriously injured creating a memorable car roll in John Wayne's McQ. But who can forget some of the chases and stunts involving that infamous 1977 Transam and cop cars? Smokey and the Bandit had some decent car chase sequences in it and lots of ridiculous and comic over-the top, gravity and logic defying moments too. It worked pretty well and made so much money at the box-office there were dozens of cheaply made Smokey knock-offs and a couple of them had some neat car stunts, but few put together genuinely exciting car chase sequences. After Smokey and the Bandit cars flying into the air and crashing into water seemed to be part of every other action movie released for several years. Hal Needham was a stunt guy and he directed several films (often with Burt Reynolds) that had one or two exciting stunts in them (and little else of interest). A car stunt however is not an exciting chase sequence. 17. POLICE STORY 1985; Jackie Chan's Who Am I, Full Alert, and other Hong Kong Action movies. In the mid 1980's and well into the 90's and beyond there were dozens of Hong Kong Crime and Action movies that had crazy car driving stunts performed by stunt men who risked their lives for the effect. Look at Jackie Chan's Police Story movies (all 3) which have impressive stunts involving cars, motorcycles, and even helicopters, buses and trains. There's a wild through the streets chase in the 1997 Ringo Lam movie Full Alert that caused risk to who knows how many crew members and bystanders. Jackie Chan's Who Am I and Accidental Spy have memorable vehicle chase sequences too!!! And who remembers the Australian produced 1975 Man from Hong Kong aka Sky High that featured not just a memorable hang gliding sequence and a hit song by Jigsaw (You've blown it all) Sky High, but also a destructive car chase sequence? Lots of Hong Kong movies have little two and three minute chase scenes that are quite exciting and NOT CGI enhanced. Of course a lot of them employ the very low budget tricks of throwing together 30 seconds shots and creating what looks like a car chase scene out of almost nothing. Roger Corman, Biker Movie and Blaxploitation directors were masters of creating something from nothing, but you can usually tell from the lack of wide shots, use of wheel close-ups and driver's hands close ups and lots of smoke from tires and hands on the steering wheel shots. Some of the Biker movie had folks running around in circles in the desert on bikes and tried to cut it together to make it look like an exciting chase. I never bought it as anything but laughable and quickly repetitious and dull. 16. VANISHING POINT 1971 Barry Newman as Kowalski needs to deliver a 1970 Dodge Charger from Colorado to San Francisco and bets that he can do this in less than 15 hours. Soon after he starts, he has a run in with some motorcycle cops and we have various chase sequences throughout the rest of the movie. Some of them are quite exciting. 15. Spielberg! On Television Spielberg delivered some great car(Plymouth Valiant) versus truck (peterbilt 281) chase thrills in 1971's Duel . It's intense, dramatic and suspenseful stuff and deserves a mention here. At one point Dennis Weaver's car is losing speed and we know that giant truck is going to bear down on him at any moment. Gulp. Spielberg's best chase sequence in terms of thrills and coolness is still to be found in the original Raiders of the Lost Ark with Harrison Ford winding up UNDERNEATH that fast travelling Jeep. And he also has some good chase sequences in 1974 Sugarland Express. 14. Italian Job 1969 Pretty cool car chases with the original cooper mini's racing around and eventually over a unique airport building. The film is dated but still a pretty entertaining ‘heist film' with a very cool Michael Caine involved. The remake is much faster paced, a very entertaining film and it has a very neat car chase with Cooper Minis too but the original was the first time we saw cars driving INSIDE buildings. 13. The Driver (1978) Walter Hill's stylistically dead-pan styled crime film starring Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern. Some good driving and chase sequences though nothing outstanding. Has a good cool car chase movie groove throughout however. Somewhat dated. 12. Death Proof //Grindhouse (2007) Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof features the same kind of car used in Vanishing Point (a 1970 Dodge Charger) and delivers an exciting organic (no CGI) extended car chase finale. Even if you don't like the violent, mean spirited homage to dark 70s Grindhouse movies, if you're a car chase or car fanatic do watch the last 15 minutes of the movie for the exciting approximately 11 minute chase sequence. The movie which was originally approximately half of the Grindhouse movie was released on DVD as a stand-alone movie and is available for rental. 11. 1974's Gone in 60 Seconds has more than 40 minutes worth of car chases and famously wrecks lots of old cars. - the original film has all kinds of cars smashing up in pretty far-fetched ways (you know cars leaping into the air in physics and logic defying ways) but there's a lot of cars and a lot of smash-ups and there's a good making of feature on the DVD. AND there is one excellent 8 minute sequence where Eleanor the Mach 1 Mustang careens through the streets of Long Beach, California pursued by police cars, setting up the big 34 minute chase scene. It's a keeper. Most of the set-up and acting in the film is pretty awful. H.B. Toby Halicki had some success with the movie and he amassed an incredible collection of cars and car parts. He followed up this movie with 1982's The Junkman, which wrecked even more than 93 cars but was a far cheesier movie with even more bad acting and badly constructed scenes. Halicki tragically dies in August of 1989 as he began to film one of the big car stunts for Gone in 60 Seconds 2. 10. Mad Max (1979) and 9. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) The original low budget 1979 movie has an on again off again final hour of chase. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) chase sequences are crazy and loaded with crazy stunts. Both are essential viewing for car chase, car stunt lovers and not to be missed. I'm including both. . 8. 1968's Bullitt is always mentioned whenever anyone does a list of great car chases. Peter Yates turned things over to his assistant and stunt director and Steve McQueen who created a dangerous high speed chase sequence with authentic cars at very high speeds through Hilly San Francisco neighborhoods. It's shot and edited superbly. 7. 1971's French Connection has a couple of short chase sequences but the one everyone still talks about is the one where a bystander almost got themselves and the stunt driver killed. Friedkin was not as safe and cautious about the New York City chase sequence as he should have been and several minor accidents occurred, but thankfully no one was killed or severely injured in the chase. It's not a very long chase but if you remember it's the real deal and lots of people risked their lives to put it on screen, you should be able to appreciate it. It's 3 minutes of some of the most intense gripping car chase footage you've ever seen (with a car racing down a street to catch up with an elevated subway train). 6. Friedkin topped himself with the wrong way chase sequence in 1985's To Live andDie In L.A. It's a pretty amazing sequence that has since been copied several times. It wasn't the first time for a wrong way car chase but it was the first time it was done on a crowded freeway and seemingly very high speeds and unlike previous wrong way sequences, this one was filmed with a large amount of cars and lots of split second stunt choreography employed so that no one was seriously injured when it was filmed. 5. Bond movies have lots of car chase sequences in them. Some include cars outfitted with cool gadgets and add-ons. Probably the best car chase in a Bond movie is the ‘mostly' organic (a few CGI shots) short chase in 2008's Quantum of Solace where Daniel Craig in his Aston Martin takes on two Alfa Romeos along the banks of Lake Garda. Good 4 minute sequence. 4. 2001's The Fast and the Furious has several nifty chase sequences, the best one features customized old school cars that include Honda Civics, Mazda RX7 and even a classic Dodge Charger. The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift has cars sliding in exciting ways but uses a little too much CGI to create the effects. 3. 2002's The Transporter has a few high speed chases to be excited about. The best is a nearly 6 minute sequence where Jason Statham puts his BMW series 7 to the test out driving the French police through Cannes streets. He's mostly driving in REVERSE. Very cool. 2. 2002's Bourne Identity Arguably the best of the car chases in the three Bourne movies (though all three have excellent car chase sequences in them) is from the first one where watch Bourne outrun police cars in Paris while driving an old classic Mini. 1. Ronin (1998) John (Grand Prix) Frankenheimer delivered a decent spy movie with a memorable Robert DeNiro performance but the highlight is a superb extended chase sequence that's one of the best ever put on film and takes place in the same tunnel where Princess Dianna met her untimely demise shortly after this was filmed. The film has a couple of smaller car chases in it too. You'll also get some great ‘car talk' when modifications to the Audi are discussed. I'm giving it the top spot because it's an intense exciting chase sequence that lasts more than 10 minutes AND you also get some superb facial expressions from DeNiro. Others: 1994's Speed doesn't have one strong sequence in particular but rather has a suspenseful build and several mini sequences of interest. It goes to over the top at the end...but you almost go along with it after the build-up. 1974's Freebie and the Bean with James Caan and Alan Arkin is a loud mess of a movie with lots of destructive car chases and is almost as sloppily directed as The Blues Brothers but years before... 1974's Dirty Mary Crazy Larry is a dated movie that is very repetitious and drags and quite frankly doesn't have interesting enough car chase sequences to recommend it beyond those looking for some nostalgia. This is the too tame chase movie featuring Peter Fonda and Susan George. It wasn't that great a film back in 1974 and time has not been kind to it. 1966's Grand Prix directed by John Frankenheimer and 1971's Le Mans are notable movies about car races that feature actual footage of real races, authentic cars and actors doing a lot of the driving themselves. Le Mans was Steve McQueen's pet project (and is production company went bankrupt because he was such a stickler for details and spent far too long making and editing the movie). Le Mans in particular was pretty much an accurate documentary of the race with almost of the details completely realistic and not fudged. Car buffs and lovers will want to be sure to catch these movies. Grand Prix was originally made for giant curved Cinerama screens and if you can ever experience it on a large screen with a good sound system, make sure you do it. 1976's Gumball Rally is such a fun slightly raunchy movie with lots of memorable comic bits and a few cool racing sequences involving some great cars that I've got to mention it. Turn up the sound when they show the Daytona Cobra vs. the Ferrari scenes-which is the real deal. You won't really find a great car CHASE in the movie but the whole movie is about a cross country RACE and it is still a lot of fun. (Raul Julia as the Italian driver is hilarious). This movie came before Paul Bartel's similar (rip-off) Cannonball (for Corman) and a few years before the utterly mediocre Cannonball Run and awful Cannonball Run 2. American Graffiti (1973) George Lucas' masterpiece of life in a 1962 California town has some car races and lots of cool cars and characters. There aren't really any bonafide extended car chases in the movie, but car lovers don't want to pass up this one. It's also a superb movie. 1973's The Seven Ups tries very hard to be another French Connection and stars Roy Scheider but most of the film is awful and often dull and boring. The car chase however is quite organic and memorable and has the often copied stunt of a car going underneath a large truck getting its top sheared off. It was one of the first and most effective times this was used. It has since been copied so many times the stunt does not have any effect whatsoever unless you can pretend you've never seen it before. The Blues Brothers big Mall chase scene is such an over the top poorly directed and edited mess, you really can't get all that excited about it, except when you realize lots of stunt drivers and no CGI was used to pull it off. It is chaotic, big, noisy and very silly. It's cartoonish even though it was done in what is now considered the old fashioned way. Same thing can be said for some of the big action sequences in Steven Spielberg's 1941. They are much better directed but don't really involve an extended car chases. Too much CGI is used in recent 2010's Knight and Day and 2009's Driven to make particularly mention of their somewhat exciting chase sequences. Over-rated is any chase sequence from a Michael Bay movie. He certainly over-does the CBI stuff in Bad Boys 2, The Island, Transformers 1 and 2, but even when he wasn't CGI happy, he was fast cut, money shot happy. Look at chaotic mess of a noisy chase in 1996's The Rock. Bay isn't interested in directing this kind of scene to give the audience an actual you are there kind of experience , he's just delivering over the top mayhem. Sure there are cool 2 and 3 second shots in the sequence but it's a headache he inducing mess of car rolls, crashes, insert shots of Cage and Connery and other actors reacting or spouting quick one liners. Ugh. There are also a lot of movies that have ‘gimmick chase moments' with cars doing leaps or jumps or flying between buildings (The Rookie). I also considered The Professional aka Leon; and Enemy of the State which have good intense chase sequences throughout. They aren't quite unique, historic or strong enough to replace the ones on my list though. Good comedic chase sequences can be found in The Hard Way with James Woods and Michael J. Fox, and the under-rated Short Time with Dabney Coleman. Others of some interest to car chase and car nut enthusiasts: Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) (more of a race than a chase and a not very intense one at that-although it's an interesting compelling movie); What's Up, Doc? (1972) -good old fashioned almost Buster Keaton/Keystone Cops sort of comic chase sequence in entertaining Ryan O'Neal Barbara Streisand movie. Magnum Force (1973)-Eastwood Dirty Harry movie has good old school chase sequence. Race with the Devil (1975) (over-rated chase sequence in dated forgettable film. Death Race 2000 (1975)--gimmick Corman movie that's still fun but the chase sequences aren't particularly well done. Eat My Dust (1976) (pretty good chase sequences but mostly of the cars going fast variety) Beverly Hills Cop (1984) has a fine mayhem causing car chase sequence. The Terminator (1984) the original and Terminator 2 both have good chase sequences in them. A shout out to Mack Sennett and the Keystone Cops for pretty much defining the chase sequence in movies and to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chase for making comedic art out of the chase nearly 100 years ago!!! And a very special mention of 1940's The Bank Dick, the 72 minute WC Field classic that has a very funny chase sequence toward the end of the movie when the bank robber takes Fields hostage and has him drive the getaway car which barely manages to avoid hitting all kinds of obstacles, other cars, street trolleys etc. The chase has lots of processed shots and is sometimes speeded up too, but is still fun to watch. Universal used the footage from the chase in several other films, most famously in the Abbott and Costello feature In Society (1944).  |
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