My Ten Favourite Cinematic Car Chases
An adrenaline-surging selection of high-octane vehicular thrills.
Snootier cineastes sometimes turn up their noses at the action genre, but a well-crafted chase sequence makes for great cinema. As a primarily visual medium, film is ideally suited for high-octane, adrenaline-pumping thrills, and always has been, ever since the first silent westerns and comedies (Buster Keaton’s lunatic stunts in The General, for instance). Yes, there are plenty of dull, cliched, weightless, incoherent chase sequences (anything directed by Michael Bay, for instance), but there are also plenty of dull, ponderous, pretentious, avant-garde snore fests, so the chin-stroking brigade haven’t a leg to stand on. Both are equally dull.
Dullness is in very short supply in this article, as I lay out my ten favourite car chases of all time. Technically that’s a bit of a cheat, as there are other vehicles besides cars involved in some of these, but “car chase” sounds better in a title than “vehicular chase”, so I’m sure you can find it within yourself to forgive me for stretching a point. The point being, these chase sequences all send excitement levels through the roof.
First, a word on criteria: I’ve deliberately omitted anything containing CGI, as I prefer real stunt work. That means no freeway chase from The Matrix Reloaded, no recent Marvel films, and — perhaps controversially — no Fast and Furious films. Some of these CGI-heavy chases can look impressive, but to my mind, they never have quite the same grounded, gritty feel as the real thing.
Other omissions include Duel and Speed, mainly because in both cases, the entire film is one big vehicular chase. I preferred this list to rather reflect individual sequences. Also, although I desperately wanted to include The Wages of Fear, with regret, I ruled it inadmissible. Although it is palm-sweatingly tense, technically that treacherous journey transporting nitro-glycerine via lethal mountain roads isn’t a chase. I’ve also kept to my ten-year rule, so with some misgivings, I’ve omitted films such as Baby Driver and Mission Impossible: Fallout (the latter being one of the most brilliant pure action films of recent years).
On to the list, in chronological order.
Goldfinger (1963)
James Bond’s gadget-laden Aston Martin gets a thorough workout in a thrilling mid-film chase. Machine guns, oil slicks, tyre-slashers, smoke screens, and so forth all feature, as well as an ejector seat. Hardly a discreet undercover investigation, but great fun to watch, with soon-to-die Bond girl Tania Mallet grinning at Sean Connery as he dispenses with their pesky pursuers.
Bullitt (1968)
Seasoned film buffs typically alternate between The French Connection and Peter Yates’s riveting neo-noir gem, for their choice of all-time greatest car chase. Featuring a nerve-shredding, insurance nightmare pursuit through the famously steep streets of San Francisco, you can practically smell the burning rubber on asphalt. What I particularly love about this chase sequence are the long shots, often sustained for some time before the image cuts, giving a real sense of speed and danger rather than the more modern whiplash music video style 18-frame cuts. Arguably Steve McQueen’s coolest hour, behind the wheel of his iconic Mustang.
The Italian Job (1969)
Peter Collinson’s much loved, quintessentially British heist caper features a splendid post-robbery escape sequence through Turin. Michael Caine and his crew drive three Mini Coopers (red, white, and blue, of course, reflecting the Union flag), zooming along streets, shopping arcades, down staircases, through tunnels, sewers, and more. Funny, thrilling, and with great use of locations, this iconic sequence has been endlessly parodied and copied. Tremendous fun.
The French Connection (1971)
William Friedkin’s Oscar-winning, tough-as-hell cop thriller features one of the most outstanding car chases of all time, as Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle hurtles beneath an elevated train at breakneck speed, pursuing a sniper. As with Bullitt, this chase feels genuinely dangerous, as though Doyle could crash at any second. Perhaps that’s because much of this sequence was shot guerrilla-style, as Friedkin didn’t have the required permits. The filming of the chase was as reckless as the chase itself. If I had to pick just one pursuit from this list as a top choice, it would be this.
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Dan Ackroyd and James Belushi wreak ridiculous levels of havoc in the various car chases in John Landis’s cult musical comedy gem, none more so than in the finale. Pursued by police, the army, and even Nazis from Illinois, the chase gets more outlandish and surreal with every passing minute. For sheer destruction in police car pile-ups alone, this deserves a spot on the list.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
It’s only fitting I include a sequence from what I consider the greatest adventure film of all time. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s masterful collaboration features a bravura, edge-of-the-seat truck chase, as Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) attempts to evade a seemingly unending pursuit of Nazi vehicles and soldiers, all of whom attempt to retake the truck and its precious cargo: The Ark of the Covenant. Fun fact: The bit where Indy crawls under the truck, is dragged along, and climbs on again to surprise the driver is directly inspired by a stunt during the Apache attack in Stagecoach.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
The final reel of George Miller’s Mad Max 2 (sometimes known as The Road Warrior in the US), is the best part of the best film in the Mad Max series. The demented, apocalyptic, high-speed finale features Mel Gibson driving a tanker, attempting to flee marauding petrol-coveting loonies in S&M gear. Given the limited budgets of both this film and its predecessor, there’s an astonishing amount of burning rubber bang-for-buck, with value for money up on screen ten times over. I like Fury Road too, but nothing tops the inventiveness and deranged thrills of the first two pictures, especially this one.
The Terminator (1984)
A plethora of chases populates James Cameron’s brutal time-travelling action thriller (still, I think, the best film he’s ever made). However, for this list, I’m including the chase that immediately follows the shoot-out in the Tech Noir nightclub. One “Come with me if you want to live” after nearly being gunned down by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s killer cyborg from the future, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is a reluctant car passenger next to Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier sent back from the future to protect her. For the next few minutes, he yells the film’s premise at her whilst evading pursuing vehicles with deftly thrilling aplomb. Now that’s how you deal with the thorny business of plot exposition. Great chase sequence too.
To Live and Die in LA (1985)
Normally, I try not to include the same director twice on these lists, but that would mean missing out the astonishing chase in this hugely underrated thriller from William Friedkin. Like the chase in The French Connection, it starts with a sniper and escalates from there, with William Petersen and John Pankow fleeing multiple foes via roads, backstreets, railway lines, concrete river beds, and, most dangerously, on the wrong side of a freeway. It doesn’t get more edge-of-the-seat than this. By the way, Petersen did all his own stunts and driving in this film.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Another chase involving a Mini Cooper, this time through the streets of Paris, with Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and Marie (Franka Potente) evading French police. Director Doug Liman keeps things fast and frantic, with don’t-try-this-at-home manoeuvres including driving along pavements, down stairs, and through tight-squeeze alleys. Liman even includes what I suspect is a To Live and Die in LA homage, with Bourne and Marie fleeing into the path of oncoming traffic.
A couple of honourable mentions are in order for Walter Hill’s The Driver and John Frankenheimer’s Ronin. Although the latter is a mess as a film, there are two hugely memorable car chases, both a deliberate move away from the incoherent Michael Bay-ish trends of the time, hearkening back to the great chases of the 1970s (Frankenheimer even throws in a couple of nod-wink crash zooms). Also, now I’m thinking I should have included Smokey and the Bandit somewhere. But enough of my enthusing. What did I miss? What are your favourite car chases? Let me know in the comments.
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