the lists - best car chases

Since High Fidelity came out, everyone seems to be obsessed with lists. But there seems to come some sort of weird satisfaction from affirming your definitive 'best' of lists.

I will start with my list of favourite car chase sequences.

20) WHO AM I?

Jackie Chan choreographs this edge of the seat chase from a hotel on foot which ends up in a car chase, which is action packed, funny and entertaining, with some sooper stunt driving. Although he has done cool car chases before in police story and operation condor, this is probably his best effort and I just had to add something in here that had Jackie in it.




19) TAXI

Taxi! is a fun buddy movie, which has some spectacular stunt driving. Also the Peugeot taxi getting tricked out in mid run is like some sort of adolescent wet dream come true.




18) THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

A movie that was made solely for the purpose of pitting muscle cars against each other in underground street races, it contributes almost nothing to cinema, except for some cool races and some slick engine section CGI.




17) CRANK

The movie is about adrenaline. Period. It features the rather short car chase scene where Jason Statham and Amy Smart are shot at and chased by baddies, and in the middle of it all Smart gives Statham a blow job. No way this could not be included in here....although it does lose points for being too short.





18) BAD BOYS II

Remember when Will Smith made fun movies? Sigh....I would be willing to sit through even a shitty Bad Boys 3, to hear Will Smith curse on screen again, instead of subjecting us to i-Robots and Hancocks.




17) HOT FUZZ

The brilliant Brit satire of buddy cop movies, has the most hilarious car chases ever filmed full to the brim with knocked off doors, geese and a miniature town.


16) DEATH PROOF

Tarantino makes brilliant pop culture flicks. Death Proof is nothing more than a tribute to Vanishing Point and the Dodge Challenger from the movie, and has managed to make an entertaining B-movie style gore fest with an excellent car chase with the spectacular Zoe Bell strapped to the hood of the Challenger.




15) THE ROAD WARRIOR

One of the best post apocalyptic sci-fi flicks ever made, the desperate scramble for 'juice' involving an oil tanker filled with sand is probably one of the most brilliant set pieces ever filmed. Although both Mad Max and The Road Warrior are filled with great chases, this climatic chase is what can be called epic.




14) TERMINATOR 2

Although not technically a car chase, the fact that it is from one of the most brilliant and entertaining action films ever committed to celluloid, and had a flying truck and Arnie on a Harley make it a shoo in.




13) GONE IN 60 SECONDS - 1974

Filmed as a series of car chase set pieces, it starred the director and stunt choreographer H.B.Halicki. It was pretty much B grades crappiness with amazing chases involving the stunning Mustang GT500.




12) MATRIX RELOADED

Although filled with CGI, the effort that went into making this chase sequence was a project by itself. An entire stretch of freeway was created for the movie and GM provided over 300 cars to the Wachowski brothers, who went on to wreck them all. Also it has Trinity on a Ducati....what more can we ask for.




11) GONE IN 60 SECONDS - 2000

Although the movie was ridiculous, and it starred an improbable Nick Cage as grease monkey and booster extraordinaire, the final car chase involving the Mustang GT 500 is pretty much edge of the seat stuff. Take away all the actors and we have a veritable classic.




10) TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA

A surprisingly well made cop drama, ed by the brilliant William Friedkin, features a slick, well edited and intense car chase scene.




9) THE DARK KNIGHT

One of the best crime thrillers ever made, and hands down the most brilliant Batman movie, thanks to the defenitive Joker rendition of Heath Ledger, the chase is also classic stuff, with trailers and bazookas and the Tumbler which when wrecked detatches the most hunky bat pod ever.




8) RONIN

The chase scene in Ronin probably set the standard for all modern car chase scenes, it features innovative use of the roads and has the car running through actual traffic. Wonderfully detailed and edge of the seat stuff, it is one of the most intense car chase sequences ever filmed.




7) VANISHING POINT

Its a road movie, and more than half the movie is inside cars, and probably all the time theres is driving, theres chasing. Its an awful movie with some brilliant chase scenes.




7) QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Although James bond always has the sexiest cars, the bond films have very few really good car chases. The directors always manage to add a specific amount of improbable gadgetry cheese to the scenes, making them laugh worthy. The chase in QOS is wonderfully kinetic and extremely well edited and detailed. Also Daniel Craig looks extremely comfortable and believable behind the wheel of the jaw droppingly beautiful Aston Martin DBS.




5) THE BOURNE IDENTITY/ SUPREMACY

The bourne series is filled with brilliant chase sequences, starting with the Mini Cooper chase in Identity, the chase through the narrow streets and fields of Goa and the crackling run through the streets of Moscow, the jerky camera and the hurried editing all adding to the intensity of the sequences.




4) THE ITALIAN JOB

This is one of the finest Brit comedy capers of all time. It stars a brilliant ensemble cast, with the always wonderful Michael Caine and the unstoppable fleet of Minis tearing through Turin. It must have been a logistical nightmare and would have taken point precision planning, intricate coordination and excellent timing.




3) THE HIRE - BMW

A set of eight short films dedicated to the car chase and the Beemer, directed by the best in the business and starring Clive Owen as 'Driver'. Although not technically full length films or all car chases, these shorts feature some cool car chase scenes, and some of the best short films involving cars, and Clive Owen is the defenitive chase god.




2) THE FRENCH CONNECTION

This is the most brilliant raw chase sequence ever filmed. Gene Hackman is like a mad animal chasing a prey, single minded and determined not to lose his man, he tears through the narrow streets at one point ramming into a car by mistake, which was left uncut to keep the authenticity of the scene. What we get is an unbeatable combination of realism and intensity.




1) BULLITT

The God of all chase scenes, the one that started it all, it is wonderful because of the minimalistic quality of the chase. Starting slowly and with McQueen being followed by a couple of hitmen, he turns the tables on them and chases them through the terraced roads of San Fransisco. Shot from every concievable angle, it changed the way chase scenes were choreographed and filmed forever.