Anatomy of a Movie #17: Car-Chase Scenes

What are your favorite car-chase movie scenes? Using no evaluative criteria whatsoever - except for what I like- here are my Top Ten with some Honorable Mentions:

  1. Seven Ups (1973) Roy Scheider in NYC. This one rarely gets mentioned.
  2. Bullitt (1968) Steve McQueen in San Francisco.
  3. To Live and Die in LA (1985) William Peterson.
  4. French Connection (1971) Gene Hackman in NYC.
  5. The Italian Job (2003) Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron in LA.
  6. Ronin (1998) Natasha McElhone and Robert DeNiro in Paris.
  7. The Rock (1996) Sean Connery in San Francisco.
  8. Lucy (2014) Scarlett Johansson in Paris.
  9. Wanted (2008) Angelina Jolie in Chicago.
  10. Bourne Supremacy (2004) Matt Damon in Moscow.

Honorable Mentions:

The Rhythm Section (2020) Blake Lively; Spectre (2015) Daniel Craig and Dave Bautista; and Thelma and Louise (1991), Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.


Some points:

  1. I watched all of these scenes and many others.
  2. Yes, there were many other actors and drivers in most of these scenes. 
  3. There are masterful car-chase scenes in movies I have not scene such as The Matrix Reloaded (2003). And I know the Fast and Furious franchise has many possible contributions here, but I've avoided those flicks. And besides, the focus is on films where chase scenes advance the plot or character development and not where they are, basically, the movie. That's why Steven Spielberg's classic Duel (1971) is not on this list. Most of the movie is a chase scene.
  4. I did not consider comedy chase scenes or those within comedy or adjacent films such as Blues Brothers (1980), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), or the Roger Moore lighthearted Bond movies such as The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
  5. This is a totally subjective notion with many variables including sound, music, length, number and type of vehicles, first-, second-, or third-person perspectives, context, mood, etc.
  6. The list should really delineate between pre- and post-CGI. This ranking is slightly biased toward pre-CGI scenes with real drivers, cars, and conditions. CGI sharply reduced the Chitwood Family Full Employment Act. 
  7. We appreciate when actors actually do some or all of the stunt driving, such as McQueen, Peterson, Wahlberg, and Theron
  8. It’s interesting to note that The Italian Job eschewed CGI and did everything manually.
  9. Angelina Jolie's scene in Wanted intentionally makes the CGI obvious.
  10. Driving into traffic and headlong toward oncoming cars is a staple, as are tunnels. 
  11. Many scenes are ecumenically intermodal with trains, trucks, motorcycles, buses, helicopters, forklifts, boats, and pedestrians involved . 
  12. Some of these films are bad, such as The Rhythm Section, but the chase scenes are good. 

Scene from Bullitt courtesy of Premium Beat.