In the comments for yesterday’s review of Baby Driver, a few people took umbrage with the excessively stylized nature of the car chases. Although the director took specific pains to avoid the kind of CGI cheese that keeps marring, say, the Fast and Furious franchise, there’s still an obvious and deliberate departure from reality in pretty much all of the film’s action shots.
Reading that comment made me think of another TTAC comment posted recently in which somebody expressed disappointment in Ronin, claiming that the car chases were both too long and too boring. This surprised me because Ronin, to my mind, is the absolute gold standard in automotive action filmmaking. It’s the only movie of that type I’ve ever watched where I agreed with the plotline, the physics of the various vehicular interactions, and the way the cars behaved. My only complaint was that the Citroen XM driven by the fellows with the suitcase seemed to have a whole lot of motor in it.
That’s my feeling, anyway. What’s yours?
Let’s start with the fact that no movie is going to do a perfect job of continuity in a car chase. Whether we’re talking the seven hubcaps coming off the Dodge Charger in Bullitt or the magical between-scenes dent repair that happens in damned near every movie you’ve ever watched, there are some things that are just not going to satisfy.
In that respect, it’s like fight scenes in movies. Most people need serious medical attention after just one solid hit to the face, and most people break their hands if they hit somebody in the head more than a few times. (Boxers wear gloves to protect their hands, not their opponents.) Yet it’s common in movies for people to endure the kind of punishment that would send 10 normal human beings to the hospital or the morgue and then jump right to the next action scene. So let’s not be too hard on filmmakers for not having the very first bump or scrape incapacitate a car the way it often does in real life.
I’m happy anytime I see cars driven in a realistic fashion that more or less obeys the laws of physics. I don’t want to see a lot of jumping, I don’t want to see cars up on two wheels or reversing at freeway speed. What will you accept? And what would you say is the greatest non-racing-related car movie of all time?
[Image: Ronin, United Artists via IMCDB]
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) does a pretty good job with a wide variety of cars.
I second that. One of the greatest films/comedies of all time.
The Wind in the Willows (1983 version)
It’s the only way to travel!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_in_the_Willows_(1983_film)
I’m glad somebody else noticed the XM power issue. Because in zero instances in life is the XM (3.0 V6 maximum) keeping up with a D2 Audi S8. Between shots the trim level on the XM changes, as I recall. The grille switches designs.
Speaking of that S8, the one in the movie for the city driving scenes (early on) appeared to be rear-drive.
Well, that, and didn’t they (supposedly) modify the S8 with bigger injectors and nitrous?
Yep, that sounds right when the guy is detailing what he needs to build it during the planning meeting.
Ronin IS the Gold Standard, as JB stated.
Not only did it best capture how vehicles react with their drivers, from the Audi S8 to the
Peugeot 406 or Peugeot 605, the BMW 535i, the Citroen XM, or Mercedes-Benz SW116, but the chase the wring way through the tunnel scene was epic.
Period.
The end,
Q.E.D
This man is correct !
Live and Die in L.A.
This man is correct !
I agree on Ronin, especially if you pay attention to the facial expression of the drivers in those cars, they were stressed out, arms stiff as can be from the tension, they were bracing their body hard against the momentum/inertia of their car motion and how the cars didn’t hit the apex of the curves perfectly like other movies.
And if you want to see a truly realistic car case scene, it’s the one in the yet to be released movie where the star of the movies (good guy, bad guy, cops, anybody) flip their cars 15 seconds into the car chase and crush their brain … end of movie. Haven’t seen that movie yet.
French Connection
Good film, good drama. I would add Bullitt.
Drive, Vanishing Point and Ronin, not necessarily in that order….
Drive and Vanishing Point – those are hardcore.
Ronin has arguably the best collection of chase scenes ever.
Here are a few more slight diversions from reality in that movie:
Right before the M5 careens of the bridge, you can see the gauge needles at 0. The car was being towed.
When Jean Reno reverses the big Benz out of its’ spot, the tire smoke is very fake.
Also – in the nighttime exchange under the bridge, I found the Volvo V60R to be a slightly odd choice. If a getaway was expected, the V70R was fast but not the fastest car at the time. With the shooters in place, I guess they never expected a chase to begin with.
OK, if your going that way, I’m adding Initial D.
Don’t forget that when the actors are exiting the overturned wreckage of the M5, it clearly is a non M5 alloy wheel that is spinning in the background.
Ah ha.
youtube.com/watch?v=4Wo99w9UlS8
I was remembering the chase wrongly.
Herbie the Love Bug…
Okay, I’ll see myself out for excessive stupidity.
You got it all wrong.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
@PrincipalDan
That’s a good choice too.
@1998S90
It was very good.
Yeah, Ronin is the bar. That being said, the live action iteration of Initial D does put in a good effort.
Non fiction: John Landis’ Documentary “Slasher” – no, not a horror movie, a movie about a guy who does those deep discount sales at Franchised Used Car Lots all around the country. Its oldish (early 2000’s) – Make an effort to see it. You will understand a lot about the car business. Thank me later
Fiction: Stephen King’s ‘Christine’ – I’m sure everyone here has had an unnatural affection/obsession for a car, and that obsession got out of control. Guilty as charged.
We covered Slasher in 2015.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/05/ttac-movies-slasher-2/
Also, it’s on YouTube.
youtube.com/watch?v=wyJDAPjbzRY&t=4s
Sweet – That movie taught me a lot. Not only car sales, but its a true gem to show future Marketing MBAs.
Also, I used to live in Memphis, about a mile away from that dealership. So it was very familiar territory!
Maximum Overdrive
Gumball Rally close 2nd
I guess I would add Mad Max for my dystopian blood lust fix.
Came here to say Maximum Overdrive. Although the trucks have too much power I’m very willing to suspend disbelief.
Although I no longer care, especially for many years now, movie directors have utterly thrown out the laws of physics in action films, so I would have to say 1971’s “Vanishing Point”.
Would I still enjoy that movie now? Perhaps not, but at the time when I was 20 years old, it was super!
There was driving in that movie? I just remember some girl on a motorcycle. :)
The original was much better than the remake, but I liked the cars in the remake better.
Ronin. It was even better for me because at the time I had an A8 4.2 and wished it was an S8.
I nominate the movie Target with Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon. It is what Ronin was before Ronin.
Two Lane Blacktop was pretty realistic, although it was about a cross country race of sorts. I was reading some behind the scenes commentary where it said James Taylor couldn’t even drive a 4-speed when the movie started. Also, the racing scenes at the first of the movie was put on by real street racers in L.A.
Two Lane Blacktop. A cult classic that you either love or hate. I fall into the first group. Glad that you mentioned it.
I would say that Bullitt set the bar. Even with its continuity flaws the chase still holds up.
Ronin set the new threshold but had much better technology to work with.
What Arthur said. Have not seen Ronin, but after this article I plan to do so. Vanishing Point and Gone in 60 Seconds were good also.
I think it is interesting that for auto movies you have to add “non-racing” because Grand Prix and Le Mans are superior to all the others with the exception, of course, of The Blues Brothers.
Yes, I appreciated how Blues Brothers accurately portrayed the handling of a 1974 Dodge Monaco while inside a Toys ‘R Us.
The Seven-Ups (1973).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vACWV5sRcY
Another vote for Ronin. However the worst continuity error in that film takes place in the scene with the SWEET Jeep Cherokee XJ (can’t find a clip of the scene yet). Anyway, the Gregor character parks the Jeep and very obviously slams the automatic transmission shifter all the way forward into park. Then moments later, after the passenger pulls a gun on him, he hits the gas and brake in quick succession to make the jeep jump forward (even though it is still in park)…
All the XJs they sent over there were of Limited trim variety as well. No fair.
There’s a C3 Audi shown right before that scene as I recall.
That Jeep must have had the troublesome Monostable shifter. It worked to Gregor’s advantage in this case.
Huge Tom Hardy fan so it probably colors my choice, but I’ll have to say Locke which is little known and was even lesser seen. Just a man on the mobile in his X5 on the M6 trying to keep his life from falling apart.
Fantastic movie…but I suspect it’s a little closer to “reality” than what the QOTD was asking for. :)
For me, a person who drove an ex-race 1966 Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 GT at the time, the Italian Job is still my all-time favorite car-chase movie.
The conclusion of the getaway — where they drive the cars up into the moving transporter — still amazes me when I think of the difficulty level.
In the non-race category, the prize has to go to the XKE hearse in Harold & Maude.
Oh that’s a good one, the original Italian Job movie I mean. Good fun, great cars in great European setting. And how can you not love Benny Hill :-)
American Graffiti 1 and 2. Harrison Ford’s 55 Chevy Rat is obviously not the same car that rolls during the drag race, and the chain around the cop rear axle would not have taken the axle out of the car, but otherwise it pretty accurately portrayed the cruise scene and street racing/drag racing of the 1960s.
Actually, the chain around the axle will take the rear axle out of a car with leaf springs. I know this from first hand experience. Somewhere I still have the newspaper article from the Johnstown Leader-Herald.
As to how we accomplished this, I’m not saying. Younger people may read this site.
Bob
Has everyone forgotten Mad Max? That’s my pick.
“Do you see me toecutter? Do you see me man???”
No question.
Can a car chase be too long? How? I guess too boring can happen, strangely enough I feel that happens mostly when they pile on too much otherwordly destruction in a chase, like in some FnF movies, and some Michael Bay movies.
Most people seem to agree that Ronin has some of the best realistic car chases in a mainstream film, but if we’re talking realism, the opening chase of the first Mad Max definitely should be counted, even if it ends a bit spectacularly and the footage was sped up some times. Unlike most other films mentioned here it was after all basically a ‘no-budget’ film.
Christine should get a mention for most realistic portrayal of the feelings that occur naturally between a bullied teen and his first car project.
HB Halicki’s original Gone in 60 Seconds. I saw it on the big screen during its original release. Being car guys we were all geeked about the movie and we were not disappointed.
No CGI in that. All the chases and stunts were done in real time. The original Eleanor was completely trashed by the end of filming.
How realistic the stunts were is another question, but they used real cars and real drivers to do them.
Finally got it on Blueray just a few weeks ago :) And yeah, the filming had to be stopped a few times while Halicki was recovering from injuries sustained in some of the ‘stunts\'(or actual accidents as we call them sometimes XD)
Best car movie that understands cars – My cousin Vinny.
Worst – murder at sunshine menor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ETWPj71yLg
Here is what happened. Movie starts with – He gets into Volvo, they ride for awhile. But when they arrive, they arrive in Toyota.
Fast & The Furious.
Hear me out.
Why do hundreds of thousands of people buy Jeeps?
Of course, to offroad and live the offroad lifestyle.
Why do so many people buy corvettes?
To have a super fast car they can race.
Why do people buy Mustangs and Camaros?
So they can have a fast race car.
My point is that, Fast & Furious is the reality. People buy into a reality that will never exist, not for them, or few of the followers. Heck, it wasn’t until I got into racing myself that I realized most of the top race cars were cars normal people wouldn’t bat an eye at (miata, Older beemers, even CRVs), but CAMARO…
You see the Fast & The Furious is hyperbole but it echos the truth. That is the world car buyers think they live in, despite the fact that it isn’t realistic… but the car world is NOT realistic.
How do top speeds matter when its illegal everywhere you drive?
How do 0-60 times translate to car sales when you’d get wreckelss op for trying?
How do Trail-rated ratings matter, when the car never leaves the mall parking lot?
Its because the car industry does NOT LIVE IN REALITY.
Cars are all about irrationality, dreaming, and lacking reality.
So if thats what cars really are all about- dreams- and pretending we’ll do things we’ll never do…
There’s no movie that hits that quite like the Fast and the Furious.
Bourne Supremacy…Karl Urban as a bada$$ KGB’sh assassin in the G Benz versus Matt Damon in a Volga taxi. Some inconsistencies have been noted in various other dissections of this long scene, however it’s still fun for me to watch, with fair representations for the drivers getting tossed about, injured, etc.
The Paris chase scene in Bourne Identity had some of the same feel as Ronin, although it wasn’t central to the plot in the same way. +1 for Mini Cooper, +1 more for driving Mini Cooper down stairs. The end scene where he slagged off on the car and asked her “Do you maintain this thing?” was fun too.
“Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry” has to be one of the best. A cult classic for gear heads with stunts as au-natural as a hippy girls hemp slippers.
Ronin really worked for me, due to the long, narrow and tight European roads/streets. As noted earlier, the facial expressions added realism to the film (I find it odd that Gregor DIDN’t fasten his seatbelt UNTIL the wrong way tunnel run, LOL!!) Also, I find it odd, that NO ONE has mentioned Steven Spielberg’s “Duel”, definitely an extended , (but not boring) chase IMO! :-) High marks to the Seven Ups, The French Connection, Vanishing Point, the original Gone in 60 Seconds, and the one that started it all, Bullitt! I also seem torecall a Jackie Chan movie in which motorcycles were utilized IIRC, which presented a unique perspective on a chase, but I can’t think of the name?! :-)
Speaking of Jackie Chan movies (maybe same one you were thinking of?) – Who Am I? has a pretty damn good car chase scene, complete with wild handbrake turn maneuvers and typical Jackie Chan over-the-top stuff.
I registered just to make this comment. I may never make another.
Duel
You can’t beat me on the grade!
Everything I can remember about that movie was true to life.
Blues Brothers.
How can you go wrong with a hydrogen bomb air raid siren mounted on the roof as a megaphone.
;-)
….and it’s ladies’ night at the Palace Hotel and Ballroom…
“That’s a lot of entertainment!”
“For two dollars.”
“For two dollars!”
Yes to this.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
It’s admittedly bad, and kinda hard to find, but if you’re looking for the origin of “Fast and Furious” including a young, blonde undercover cop infiltrating a criminal automotive ring and “going native” including dating the sister of the anti-hero, that movie exists. It’s 80’s kitsch, synth-montages, unnecessary love scene, male bonding, and stars Porsches, DB Sweeney and Charlie Sheen.
No Man’s Land (1987). Writer was the same Dick Wolf of Law and Order.
The chases (mostly Camaro on 911 kind of stuff) are a little sped up, but damage remains and no one jumps off of buildings or bridges. The one-liners are decent. Example: [the car phone in the Porsche rings]
Benjy Taylor: Hello? No, Rick is not here. Who am I? The guy stealing Rick’s car…
The ending sucks, but really it’s just Porsche Porn. For a kid of the eighties, these were THE cars of their time. I was so smitten, my dentist let me take my 16th birthday photo in his green 912. Stationary, of course.
Not even close – Used Cars with Kurt Russell and Jack Warden. Everything you could want in a car movie.
I know where the f**k Miami Beach is, dummy…
“Hi friends! Marshal Lucky for New Deal Used Cars!”
I was thinking Used Cars also!
The foley work can be just as frustrating as the visuals. How many times have you seen a car careening down a highway at 60-70 mph, only to hear it revving though 2 more upshifts?
The only part that disappointed about Ronin was never finding out what was in that briefcase . I’d have to say Vanishing Point was my favorite car chase movie . Some others I like – Elmore Leonard’s Mr. Majestyk (Ford used that beat up F series truck Charles Bronson drove in it’s commercials later on), Dirty Mary Crazy Larry , Race with the Devil (although an R.V. isn’t technically a car), tv movie The California Kid as well as Steven Spielberg’s Duel , and the comedy Used Cars from 1980 which still makes me laugh every time I see it !
The briefcase was the very definition of a MacGuffin. The contents are unimportant to the story, only its desirability is significant.
I’m thinking there was something good to eat in that case . Like a delicious bass !
Ohh mr majestic. Good one.
Y’all already got one of my answers: Maximum Overdrive.
But you missed the best one: DUEL.
The whole movie is a terrifying car chase.
“But you missed the best one: DUEL.”
Yeah, right – Dennis Weaver practically panics as he floors his Valiant/Dart/whatever and he’s only going 55 mph! I laughed pretty good at that one.
Have you driven a late slant six Valiant? Seems credible to me.
I actually would include “Duel” with any list of Spielberg’s best. Just a tight, nasty little piece of work.
(And if you want to know where the inspiration for the blown-up shark sinking to bottom of the ocean in “Jaws” came from, look no further…)
My problem with “Duel” is that the truck was modified so that it could accelerate faster and keep up with the car that Weaver was driving. If Spielberg had stuck to realism then Weaver could easily have lost the insane trucker by out-accelerating it. But then we wouldn’t have a movie…
It was faster than your usual 1955 Pete, but it would have been left in the dust by modern trucks. It had a ~300hp Cat 1674, and today’s O/Os are pushing 650hp ISXes.
A Valiant of the era was a very slow car.
Part of the plot of duel is that Weaver is nervous guy not comfortable driving fast. He does outrun the truck several times only to slow down and have it catch up.
Also while they modified the truck for the movie there is nothing to say the trucker in the story wasn’t running a modified truck either. A big rig can be shockingly quick unloaded I have been over 100 in a late 90`s logging rig (passenger).
Yes, good points, Dal and Mopar.
The Valiant may have been a slow car, but it was certainly fast enough to permanently outrun the truck in a real-world situation (acceleration and top speed).
“Duel” is certainly a classic and enjoyable film, but for me personally the fact that the truck was modified will always linger in the back of my head when watching it. It takes away a little something from the experience. Maybe I am weird…
I’ll offer up a list, in no particular order:
-Thelma and Louise (to my thinking, the quintessential American Road Trip movie)
-Tucker: The Man and His Dream
-Bonnie and Clyde
-American Graffiti
-Christine
-Smokey and the Bandit
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the Transporter movies with Jason Statham, especially the first one. Even Audi made commercials using him. Also The Driver with George C Scott driving a 1957 BMW 507.roadster
Really only the first one. Good choice though…that’s my #2 behind Ronin.
Fairly obscure, but one of the best in terms of continuity and realism when it comes to car destruction – ‘Fear is the key’ staring Barry Newman and a 1972 Ford Grand Torino. Barry drives the sh#t out of that thing..
Along the same theme with many more continuity issues – ‘White Lightning’ with Burt Reynolds and a 1971(?) Ford LTD 429 that pretended to have a 4 speed..fun movie for big ford fans..
Suckers. At least the first half to three quarters before it gets all tied up in plot. The sales scenes and meetings are dead on from what happened in dealerships in the 1990’s and even today. I’ve sat through Reggie’s sales meetings–I’ve given his meetings. The negotiation scenes are my favorite parts though.
“To Live and Die in LA” still remains unbeaten. Much of it’s car chase stunts were original at the time (’85, pre CGI), but common to TV and movies since.
The movie isn’t shy about making it clear (actor) William Petersen does most of his driving/stunts himself, with in-car and hood mounted cams, with co-star/co-pilot (Pankow) wanting to throw up the whole time (probably for real).
Not surprising, the car chase was *filmed last*.
One of the greatest movies of all time, “car chase” or no.
youtube.com/watch?v=VOK9QW21VPo
A Citroen with its superior suspension is always going to have an unfair advantage on road and especially offroad. See also ‘The Longest Yard’ and ‘For Your Eyes Only.’
Gumball Rally, “what’s behind me is of no concern” that and the fact the Jaquar didn’t start.
“Can you imagine making this trip at 55 mph?”
“Of course not, it’d be unsafe!”
“Exactly! 55 mph is fast enough to kill you, but slow enough to make you think you’re safe!”
“We don’t even have a fixed wing that goes that fast.”
Car chase scenes in cinema mean nothing to me because I feel there is never a purely realistic element to them. When I watch movies, I expect realism. This is why I have never watched any of the “Fast and Furious” films after seeing the first film. The trailer for “Tokyo Drift” also told me all I needed to know.
Realism in film makes them enjoyable, and, well, realistic for me. But all too often something is done which ruins the realism factor for me personally. For example (using the movies that were mentioned)…
The Citroen 2CV in “For Your Eyes Only” was modified so that it could keep up with or escape the chasing Peugeots.
The truck in “Duel” received a powerful gasoline engine so that it could keep up with a slant-6 Plymouth Valiant.
As several people have mentioned, the cushy cruising-oriented Citroen XM V6 would never be able to keep up with an Audi S8.
The “Transporter” movies with Jason Statham appear to use a RWD S8…
The Volga/Lada driven by Jason Bourne can follow/escape from a V8-powered Mercedes G500? Sure…
It’s the “little things” like this which ruin almost every car chase scene for me.
Part of the fun of movies is suspending disbelief and escaping reality. That said they really did the mall scene in blues Brothers.
Indeed, you have a point. I certainly enjoyed some of the films listed above, but in the back of my mind I could not shake the knowledge that this and that car had been modified in such a way specifically for a scene.
Don’t misunderstand me, I can enjoy such films, but I think they can also create more suspense and action if the cars were not modified. Would it not have been interesting if Bond couldn’t escape or chase after the Peugeots in “For Your Eyes Only” for example?
Again, I’m probably just weird…
Yeah, I’d definitely say that realism has its place, but movies are supposed to ENTERTAIN, not INFORM.
Realism is a secondary concern to the main purpose of presenting a good show.
Remember, movies are about increasing drama, while real life focuses on reducing it.
I get your point but sadly you’re missing out on some great/fun movies. “Smokey and the Bandit” comes to mind. Clearly it was a 400+ hp *custom* stunt Trans Am. Sorry, it had to be done…
Although minus, or skipping the car chase in “Bullit”, it’s not worth watching.
But you gotta loosen you’re tough standards a bit. Or go ahead and Fast-Forward through the parts that annoy.
BTW the “sex scenes” are fake sex (for the most part!) and just the same, you can miss out on great movies (top notch directing/music-score/casting/acting/cinematography/locations/ect) if the movie it too “racy” for you…
“Porkys” comes to mind, also “Basic Instincts”, again that’s what the “FF” button is for. For your convenience, it’s right on the “remote”!
What struck me first and most about the realism in Gone in Sixty Seconds was the first scene where H.B. is cruising in that big Caddy down two lane roads at speed, and where you see the Caddy tracking straight he’s casually sawing at the wheel 90 degrees at a time at every crest and bump. Driving a Town Car, I can definitely relate.
Another one I liked for that big car action was Dolemite. There’s this one scene where Rudy Ray Moore does a three point parking job in an impossibly small alleyway with a 20′ long 74 Continental that just kills me. Single shot, perfect triangulation, not a scratch.
Cannonball Run, FFS.
Came here to say this. May not “understand” cars the most, but definitely a car movie that every car guy needs to see. I certainly wouldn’t say it’s more outlandish than any Fast/Furious movie.
Also, how have I scrolled this far and not seen a Smokey and the Bandit suggestion?
The bizarre to American eyes XM is exactly what made the chase in Ronin so cool. With say, another BMW or Benz, it would have been ordinary. A very underrated chase is the one in The 7-ups.
Ronin is the gold standard. I will say that that some of the chases in the Bourne movies are a close second.
Peacemaker. Lived the scene where Clooney’s character in an S Class destroys multiple 5 series BMWs
After some thought, one realizes movies are easy. You can wreck, fix, and edit your way to any degree of excitement/reality in post.
Therefore the genuine, real-as-it-gets-must-see-car-chase honor must go to O.J. Simpson.
Far too many car guys seem to think that a car-themed film is good or bad based on one factor – how closely said presentation resembles a fly-on-the-wall documentary or a how-to instructional video.
Movies are entertainment, and if the director must use artistic license to make the scene more exciting – and he usually has to – then so be it.
In this matter, car guys sound far too much like those people who insist that only certain kinds of music are “Real.”
Movies are art, and art bends rules.
Just as paintings and prose don’t necessarily conform to physics, neither should films.
If “Realistic” was the operating standard for action movies, chase scenes would be two meth heads fleeing a gas station holdup in a rusty, 200,000 mile Caravan before getting pitted by an Explorer and bum-rushed by Officer 82nd Airborne, his attack dog and a dozen of his “brothers.”
That’s not a movie – that’s COPS. No thanks.
Certainly a $200 million budget can make for a more interesting viewing experience.
Actually, I just thought of the lamest thing about car movies.
Not the liberties that’re taken with physics and laws, but the fact that so many of them employ the single biggest, hoariest, most aggravating cliche in all of action movie-dom.
They’re set in FUCKING California.
You want realism? How about this – there’s a whole wide world out there past the Arizona, Nevada and Oregon state lines and not everything on Earth happens in Los Angeles or Frisco.
At least use Chicago more often, for fuck’s sake.
Today I was reminded of what I consider the best movie car “chase” sequence I’ve seen, and I’ll be honest, I haven’t even seen the whole film. Not even sure if I should.
youtu.be/a27pCW2DPc0
I didn’t see this so I’ll add The Driver – a 1978 film.
A lot of malaise-era iron, though even back then the pickup truck would have to be modified to keep up with a Camaro (or was it a Firebird?)
Plot, character development, location, special effects? Why waste your time with any of that? I’m stunned that out of 112 responses no one has mentioned C’était un rendez-vous by Claude Lelouch. Rendezvous is an 8-minute masterpiece of film and love of driving. Think it’s not a car chase? Watch it all the way to the end.
Agree with Ronin for #1…How about Repo Man? “sometimes people just burst into flames” …
Ronin.
Didn’t see Baby Driver, saw Logan Lucky and liked it, even as a car movie. Not sure Bark will appreciate the car dealer being the butt of so many jokes, but the Stang certainly sees some love. Jeff Gordon cameo, old Ford trucks do all the work… it’s a car movie.