Comments on: Ask the Best and Brightest: Car Chase Scenes: Is McQueen Number One with a Bullitt?

By: niky

niky — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:47:02 +0000

Of my top three…

Rendezvous, though not a chase per se, is an amazing bit of in-car film… shot in real-time, without permission, hitting over 100 mph on the streets of pre-dawn Paris, on bias-ply tires… sublime.

Ronin’s three chase sequences were all good… of course, no list of best chase scenes would be complete without a mention of the highway chase… excellent driving, excellent choreography, lots of real tension. Many highway chase scenes, like the one in the Matrix, don’t have that level of driving finesse… Flying down a freeway… against traffic… (literally flying, mind you…) Great stuff.

The Bourne Supremacy deserves a nod as a terrific example of automotive ballet. The Bourne Identity had the memorable Mini chase scene, but the Supremacy chase scene was more frenetic, more brutal and one of the most amazing chase scenes on film. Sadly… the hyperkinetic camera work obscures most of the action… but you still get a gleaming of what’s happening, nonetheless… and are perhaps persuaded to buy or rent the DVD just so you can slow-mo it to figure out what’s going on.

—-

Honorable mentions go to Bullitt… the original “Gone in 60 Seconds”… though not for being a great film or especially well-filmed, but for the sheer endurance of both director/driver and hero car… a 1-hour chase scene? Madness.

Oh… and for sheer enjoyment, nothing beats the million car pile-ups of the Blues Brothers.

By: 2Goldens

2Goldens — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:52:51 +0000

Short Time, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE2i08S3YeY

By: 2Goldens

2Goldens — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:42:32 +0000

The part where the Bluesmobile goes off the bridge was shot in Milwaukee, prior to the Hoehn Bridge on-ramp’s completion. If you look in the background, you see the (now) U.S. Bank building.

By: 2Goldens

2Goldens — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:40:16 +0000

Vanishing Point. The entire movie is one big chase scene with a Hemi Challenger.

By: gslippy

gslippy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:36:42 +0000

There are many good/great ones, but Bullitt is the best overall.

McQueen, the cars, no dialogue, the music, plus the duration, all conspire to make it tops.

Ronin and Matrix Reloaded are awesome in their own way, but Bullitt beats them as the original.

By: jckirlan

jckirlan — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:09:19 +0000

I thought I saw John and Ponch near the end of the highway chase.
So many great classic cars in the whole chase though. Nice to try and pick them out.

BTW Ronin has that chase beat hands down.

By: SonicSteve

SonicSteve — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:28:49 +0000

Rendevous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gWpjvAyDZo

By: Michael in San Francisco

Michael in San Francisco — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:00:02 +0000

As great as the scene is, SF residents have to laugh at the chase route…. literally all over the map. Even What’s Up Doc with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neil got it better.

Joe Shpoilsport: Yes, it was a white ‘69 or ‘70 Cadillac and she, Billy’s wife, was sobbing repeatedly, “I’ll loose weight for you Billy” on the way to the hospital.

As an Audi driver, Ronin is may favorite.

By: Joe ShpoilShport

Joe ShpoilShport — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:13:42 +0000

Had to log back in for this one because I’ve got one no one else (I think?) would consider. The movie? Slaughterhouse Five. The scene: can’t remember names but the main character’s wife is on the way to the hospital to see husband who just barely survived a plane crash. She is driving approx. 1969 Cadillac. White. She’s screaming insanely during the whole thing. Ends up killing herself crashing into the hospital emergency room entrance.

Did I get any of that right? Been a while.

By: red60r

red60r — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:18:53 +0000

According to the extra features in the re-released DVD, the Blues Brothers downtown Chicago chase was also shot in real time at actual speed. Further car connection: the trashed mall was the old Ford City Mall, about to be “renovated”; it was formerly a Ford assembly plant that I once toured on a school field trip with my fellow 3rd graders. Also, as the car flies off the unfinished freeway ramp in the “Illinois Nazis” chase, you can see some extra underpinnings on the Bluesmobile that would have kept it from bottoming out. OK, the airborne bit had to be simulated…
Still my favorite after all these years. “We’re in a truck!”

By: Loser

Loser — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:47:08 +0000

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, can’t believe no one has mentioned this movie yet. Cheesy…. but 90% of the movie is a chase.

By: xyzzy

xyzzy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:25:56 +0000

Four words: Live and Let Die

By: texlovera

texlovera — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:59:11 +0000

As many of you may be aware, there are several continuity “errors” in the Bullitt chase scene (how amy times does the same VW bug show up?)

But it’s still my favorite. And no one could top McQueen.

By: another_pleb

another_pleb — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:27:28 +0000

I’m shocked that nobody has mentioned the 2CV chase in For Your Eyes Only.

Surely in the top 10 for comedy value at least.

I have always thought that there is far too much CGI gimmickery in today’s car chases. The Fast and the Furious series are particular culprits in my book.

For a good race sequence, try Grand Prix. Terrible film but the footage of the Monaco Grand Prix is amazing.

By: Blue387

Blue387 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:07:03 +0000

Someone mentioned Short Time with Dabney Coleman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE2i08S3YeY

By: willman

willman — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:05:24 +0000

Here’s a Video Link for C’etait Un Rendezvous, by Claude Lelouch

By: FreedMike

FreedMike — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:30:01 +0000

The freeway chase from “The Matrix Reloaded.” Hands down.

By: rudiger

rudiger — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:02:01 +0000

There are rumors of a Bullitt remake with Brad Pitt. A better choice would be William L. Peterson. From his movie roles, not only in To Live and Die in LA but also in Manhunter, he has more of a low-key ‘McQueen’-type persona.

I’m not saying Bullitt should be remade, but if it is, I’d much rather see Peterson in the lead role rather than Pitt.

By: jimmy2x

jimmy2x — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:01:57 +0000

Aside from “Bullitt” one of my other favorites was the McQueen’s motorcycle chase in “The Great Escape” – always thought that was great!

By: rpol35

rpol35 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:44:24 +0000

YES!

By: Robert.Walter

Robert.Walter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:37:41 +0000

Best “chase scene” may be the one that never was between two cars, never was part of a longer feature film, was filmed in real-time, and was itself the subject of a short French film called “C’etait un Rendezvous”.

By: scrubjay

scrubjay — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:45:07 +0000

Context is important – To Live and Die in LA has 2 treasury agents who have just robbed and accidentally killed an FBI undercover agent going the WRONG WAY down the LA freeway at RUSH HOUR while dozens of federal agents shoot at them with M16s. This is all in old American rear wheel drive 4 door sedans. They even have to bring the car back to the motor pool when done. Blues Brothers has excess and Bullitt has Steve McQueen and Bourne Identity has a Mini classic on sidewalks, but the most thrilling to me is To Live and Die in LA. You don’t even really want them to get away with it yet can’t help feeling relief at each escape. Then there is always the sense that they are just putting off the inevitable, which, at the end of the day, we all are.

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:43:54 +0000

fincar1:

Point taken. Headline amended.

By: Rod Panhard

Rod Panhard — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:40:34 +0000

The bad guys chasing the scooter kid in “Diva” is my favorite for thrills. For laughs, the fat guy chasing Wee Man in the Jackass films can’t be topped.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:25:17 +0000

I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned it, but “The Hidden” has a brilliant extended car chase between a Ferrari and a Porsche. Admittedly, we’re otherwise talking about bad 80’s sci-fi, but still…