TOP 10 BEST CAR CHASES IN FILMS
Who does not love a good car chase? A typical ingredient in action cinema since the early black and white days, humans have always been fascinated with high speeds and slick vehicles. Hell, some even enjoyed cruising due to the joy being behind the wheel of a nice four-wheeled machine (and to pick up girls of course).
However, when it comes to thrills involving this major means of transportation, few filmmakers understood how important editing is when it comes to crushing metal, squeaking tires, broken windows and death defying stunts. While chases in “Bullitt” (1968) offered for that era spectacular high octane automobile action, as the years passed, distinct directors began to incorporate more destruction and outrageous car flipping in an attempt to outdo each other (e.g., “Blues Brothers“ (1980), “Ronin” (1998), “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)). But as the directional ambition got bigger, so did the technological advancements. What initially required superb coordinating skills, careful planning and individuals who sought thrills and hearty dosages of adrenaline paved the way for cinematic abominations like “Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019) that betrayed not only their roots but the point of filmmaking in the first place, assimilating CGI cars and co in order to serve soulless and boring spectacle.
Now with the release of the much anticipated “John Wick Chapter 4” (2023), it is only appropriate to make a top ten of the best car chases in cinema history.
*If obvious choices are missing from this list, it might be for two reasons: either I have not seen the films (I know sacrilege!) or I prefer the below moments more.
10. The island (2005)
Standout moment: After the train wheels run out, sharp metal squares start do the trick in spectacular fashion.
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Science fiction action
Country: USA
Perhaps one of the most underrated works of the renowned and critically proof action maestro, “The Island” features a terrific chase sequence that sees Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson avoiding several vehicles by … dropping train wheels (and co) at them in the middle of a highway. While this is not a pure car chase (our heroes do not drive), it is more of a poetically destructive sequence where automobiles flip left, right and center irrelevant of their weight or protective metal infrastructure; Bays displays to the audience a variety of outrageous and beautiful ways in which a car can be demolished that should have earned him a spot in the Guinness Records.
9. Baby driver (2017)
Standout moment: Baby avoids crushing his shiny red Subaru into a parked truck by performing an 180 U-turn in one take and without losing speed much to the gasp of viewers!
Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Action
Country: USA
Venturing towards full blown action, Wright’s vehicle showstopper “Baby Driver” demonstrated that the beloved UK director has tremendous versatility across various genres. Moving away from his quirky outputs like “Scott Pilgrim Vs the World” (2010) and “The World’s End” (2013), “Baby Driver” is his most mainstream film to date. Conceived, written and executed in sync with its groovy soundtrack, Wright’s talent to stage a car chase is undeniable. Opening under the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms”, Ansel Elgort’s getaway driver is a force to be reckoned behind the wheel performing god like precision feats in the busy streets of Atlanta without breaking any sweat (or tears). The sharp and trademark editing of Wright favors glorious maneuvers in an era where similar flicks have lost their edge in a sea of cheap CGI shots.
8. The Rock (1996)
Standout moment: Seeing a Ferrari being crushed for the sake of movie making is glorious.
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Action thriller
Country: USA
One of the best action movies of all time naturally has one of the best car chases of all time during Bay’s second and more confident output after his “Bad Boys” (1995). This out of nowhere and unexpected Ferrari chase in the hilly roads of San Francisco remains a classic scene for several reasons. It’s the birth moment for Michael Bay’s MTV style editing a big budget action sequence showcasing his ability to unfold vehicular chaos in a thousand of ways catapulting him into the Hollywood stratosphere and setting a benchmark for American films since then. Populated by the likeable characters of Stanley Goodspeed and John Mason, this five minute scene is an example of Bay’s skills to practically craft mayhem in real locations. Only he would have thought to include a Ferrari chasing down a Humvee alongside an incoming tram, police cars, trucks, pedestrians, electricity poles and water bottles. And only he could make it work.
7. Fast Five (2011)
Standout moment: One bridge, a vault(!) and several cars. Mayhem ensures.
Director: Justin Lin
Genre: Action
Country: USA
After two stale additions in the “Fast and the Furious” (2001-2023) (now…) saga, “Fast Five” felt like a breath of fresh air. Boasting a gorgeous location, pretty much every character from the previous films and Dwayne Johnson’s charisma as the main antagonist, the climatic heist/car chase sequence in Rio is phenomenal. While most of the editing is distracting and the proceedings require a tremendous amount of belief suspension (i.e., cars running at full speed with a cable attached vault, complete disregard for bystanders and police officers), you have to admire the staging complexity of the crashes. This sequence alone converted “Fast and the Furious” into the box office behemoth that is today. While there is not much style, it is quite bombastic and a high note which unfortunately has not been recaptured ever since.
6. Bad Boys II (2003)
Standout moment: A boat enters the freeway chase. Yes! You read that right.
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Buddy cop action comedy
Country: USA
It goes without saying: “Bad Boys II” might not be the easiest or most subtle film to watch. It is filled with teenage profanity, mean spirited humor and gratuitous violence. With 2003 featuring some of the most expensive car chases ever filmed (i.e., “The Matrix Reloaded”, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”), out of the three, “Bad Boys II” remains the most practical one; a cacophonous symphony of twisted metal, gun play, shuttered glass and explosions stretched across a Miami highway involving a vehicle transport carrier and a boat among other things because Bay cannot execute such a sequence with only few automobiles. Technically exquisite, Bay’s outstanding ability to upscale his carnage renders this moment an all time great action scene. As for Smith and Lawrence, it does not matter what they do; it’s their reactions which get the most attention.
5. Ronin (1998)
Stand out moment: To escape our heroic pursuers, McElhone’s driver goes into heavy incoming traffic.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Genre: Action thriller
Country: USA
A relatively mild hit (which makes no sense considering the star power and intricate storytelling quality involved here), John Frankeheimer’s “Ronin” has several high octane, jaw dropping car chases. Shot in real locations throughout Europe and wrecking a total of 80+ cars in the process, Frankeheimer captures a thrilling Parisian pursuit with a modernized (for the 90s) panache; his cameras are mounted on the vehicles to display efficiently the achieving high speeds. There is no trickery or emphasis to flashier (call me Michael Bay) styles that will become prevalent in the years to come but old school filmmaking with mastery involved behind and front of the camera while highlighting authentic segments of exciting vehicular action. Only recently “Ronin” started getting the recognition it deserves. It’s about damn time.
4. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Standout moment: An agent jumps from car to car to get Trinity and Morpheus. It is still a jaw dropping moment after two decades.
Director: Lana and Lilly Watchowski
Genre: Science fiction action
Country: USA
Judging “The Matrix Reloaded” in terms of action, it can be described as an all time great featuring plenty of shoot outs, explosions, hand to hand combat and for the first time ever (in the franchise), an extended car/motorbike chase. A magnum opus moment, its freeway sequence was and remains to this day a hugely ambitious and flat out extravagant set piece with only a handful of films having something similar in terms of scale and effort to compare against. Although sometimes it feels like an excuse to craft elaborate action around a human (or AI depending your point of view) McGuffin (i.e., Keymaker), it does not disappoint; there is slow-motion, 300 destroyed cars and trucks, shooting, explosions, fights inside and outside vehicles at high speeds, crashes, bullet time, Agents and those shoddy Twins whom should have had more screentime because they are so damn cool. Don Davis’ strings and Juno Reactor’s beats (“Mona Lisa Overdrive“) give a techno sense of urgency and coolness to all this mayhem. And to this day no one has attempted to either match or outdo this.
3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Stand out moment: Destroying the chopper does absolutely nothing to stop T-1000.
Director: James Cameron
Genre: Science fiction action
Country: USA
“Terminator 2": Judgement Day” is the ultimate blockbuster with an enduring legacy after three decades as an original-surpassing-sequel, a landmark in science fiction action and a benchmark of cutting-edge special effects. Its exquisite action, anti-corp message and sharply defined characters work to service a compelling story. Cameron’s eye for breathtaking moments is undeniable and until “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), its car chases were the golden standard. The final chopper/truck chase is the reason why you go to the movies in the first place. Sarah, John and T-800 attempt to (inevitably) escape via a SWAT truck and subsequently a gardening shed car only to meet the fierce determination of Robert Patrick’s T-1000 terminator that demolishes anything in its (his) way with any vehicle it (he) can get his liquid metal hands on (i.e., motorbike, chopper, truck). The simple but highly effective score of Brad Fiedel and its “metallic” blue cinematography give this sequence momentum and strong visual flair separating the Cameron film from the rest of the pile.
2. Death Proof (2007)
Standout moment: Zoe Bell’s stunt should be studied and immortalized. Simultaneously breathtaking and excruciating to watch.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Black comedy action thriller
Country: USA
Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse tribute in the form of the much underrated “Death Proof” might see the auteur filmmaker at his most chattiest. Yet its final sixteen minutes are some amongst the most thrilling ever put into celluloid. As Stuntman Mike attempts to kill the second girl group, Tarantino films this climatic scene more like a duel between two muscle cars and less of a chase. “Death Proof” features one of the best stunts ever captured by a camera from danger-is-my-middle-name Zoe Bell (playing herself) under an amazing sound mixing of brakes, roaring engines, clashing metal and a sublime groovy soundtrack in the empty country side roads of Tennessee. Until the roles of predator and prey are reversed that is which sees spectacular maneuvers between the black and white vehicles in a nerve-cracking and subverted ending where evil has nowhere left to run or hide.
Mad Max Fury Road (2015)
Standout moment: The whole film is one grandiose standout moment but witnessing for the first time the Doof Warrior and his flame-thrower guitar is truly a sight to behold.
Director: George Miller
Genre: Post apocalyptic action
Country: Australia
It’s been 30 years since George Miller last visited the world of “Mad Max”. Yet, the massive gap between “Thunderdome” (1985) and “Fury Road” did not prevent him from crafting not only one of the best actioners in recent memory but one of the best films of all time. Conceived as an extended two hour car chase with occasional pit stops of visual and stoic storytelling, “Fury Road” is a rollercoaster ride of vehicular mayhem, its style strongly contrasting the pyrotechnic effect style of Michael Bay. Sporting a center frame, static long takes between various types of post-apocalyptic road carnage, old school editing that favors content and not style and supported by all types of performers, “Fury Road” features an outrageous amount of edge-of-your-seat zero-CGI assisted stunts to a jaw dropping effect. The now six times Oscar winner film is a testament to Miller’s skills; he demonstrates that with age does not come creative saturation but maturity and wisdom for cinematic experiences. A masterpiece in every possible way.