Occasionally I enjoy watching those TV programmes such as Stop Police Action which will always include a mad, real-life car chase (usually from the US). They normally take the same format. They start with a helicopter view of a car, containing some miscreant driving recklessly up the motorway, ignoring speed limits, traffic signals, rules of the road or in some cases the correct flow of traffic.
Often the criminal will show great skill in what is usually an impromptu bit of untutored stunt driving with some truly amazing bits of off-the-cuff improvisation. Inevitably they always get stingered off the road by high-speed pursuit vehicles and the driver, after a brief pursuit over rough ground, ends up face down, getting cuffed with a copper’s knee grinding the small of their back. I wonder in the aftermath and all the criminal proceedings that follow their brief moment of TV fame it was worth it?
Often the criminal will show great skill in what is usually an impromptu bit of untutored stunt driving with some truly amazing bits of off-the-cuff improvisation. Inevitably they always get stingered off the road by high-speed pursuit vehicles and the driver, after a brief pursuit over rough ground, ends up face down, getting cuffed with a copper’s knee grinding the small of their back. I wonder in the aftermath and all the criminal proceedings that follow their brief moment of TV fame it was worth it?
I also wonder what it must be like to be them. To suddenly lose the plot and with a strong surge of adrenaline to just go for it. Maybe one night should you see blue lights flashing in your rear view mirror and instead of pulling over and enquiring: ‘How can I help you officer?’ you slam your pedal to the metal and indulge in some balls-out car insanity whilst being chased by the slightly surprised rozzers. Imagine at a later date watching your moment of TV infamy as your thermal image is wrestled to the ground soon after you make your final futile run for freedom whilst your crumpled car lies steaming in the hedge where you left it.
What great fun that would be. Obviously, it’d also make you an anti-social risk to public safety deserving of the time in clink you’re likely to get and I, of course, can't condone such behaviour. So, if you can’t do it for real then vicariously will have to do via some of the fantastic classic car chases from the movies. Despite the fact that most are staged affairs, taking weeks of planning and filming there have been some excellent, heart-pumping examples over the years. Here are some of my favourites:
What great fun that would be. Obviously, it’d also make you an anti-social risk to public safety deserving of the time in clink you’re likely to get and I, of course, can't condone such behaviour. So, if you can’t do it for real then vicariously will have to do via some of the fantastic classic car chases from the movies. Despite the fact that most are staged affairs, taking weeks of planning and filming there have been some excellent, heart-pumping examples over the years. Here are some of my favourites:
The Italian Job (1969 original) - One of the sixties chase classics and one that made a star of the Mini Cooper. ‘We are the self-preservation soc-i-et-ee!’ Those puny Fiat police cars didn’t stand a chance against sublime British engineering buzzing around the streets and rooftops of Turin. I especially like the bit where they swing and sway (for no real reason) down that massive water pipe. Shame the cars had to be chucked off at the switchbacks of the mountain roads later on.
One thing to be confirmed (which they missed in the inadequate remake): when you see the cars doing their thing they always go in the order Red, White then Blue. Is that correct, or did I just imagine it?
One thing to be confirmed (which they missed in the inadequate remake): when you see the cars doing their thing they always go in the order Red, White then Blue. Is that correct, or did I just imagine it?
Bullitt (1968): The other sixties chase classic. Ford Mustang versus Dodge Charger on the iconic roads of San Fran. Ice-cool Steve McQueen is chasing the bad guys. This is American muscle cars going ‘mano e mano’ in a strategic, vehicular fandango on the dramatic swoops and dips of the roads in one of my favourite cities. Exhausts get scraped, hubcaps popped off and when Steve finally toasts his hands on the resulting fireball it’s all very satisfying indeed. Apparently the whole thing took three weeks to film and is riddled with continuity errors but you’ll never notice them unless you’re wearing your very best anorak.
Ronin (1998): A relatively low key art-house film starring Robert De Niro and Jan Reno. Set in France it’s a heist movie where a group of skilled mercenaries attempt to acquire the mysterious contents of a briefcase for some nefarious purpose or other. It’s worthy of our list in that it has two great chases but the second on the byways of Paris is a doozy. Driving a modest Peugeot 406 a grim faced De Niro skilfully chases the BMW of the lovely Natasha McElhone through the busy underpasses and ring roads of the French capital. And what chaos they cause. Eighty cars met their doom on this particular sequence but most were French makes so we shouldn’t worry too much.
The French Connection (1971): Coming in the wake of the genre defining Bullitt the producers of this film decided their car mayhem must be even crazier or not bother at all. Luckily for us they decided to go ahead and gave us probably the best ever. The innovation is that Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) is actually chasing a subway train by travelling at insane speeds under the elevated sections of the tracks in downtown Brooklyn. The claim is that for some parts they are racing along in real, un-staged traffic and endangering un-briefed pedestrians.
Some go so far as to state the nearly flattened woman-with-pram was not in fact a stunt person just some poor mother in the wrong place at the wrong time; hard to believe so I’ll let you decide. In whatever case, as celluloid, high-speed pursuits go this one really is still the benchmark IMHO.
Some go so far as to state the nearly flattened woman-with-pram was not in fact a stunt person just some poor mother in the wrong place at the wrong time; hard to believe so I’ll let you decide. In whatever case, as celluloid, high-speed pursuits go this one really is still the benchmark IMHO.
The Transporter (2002): Jason Statham as ‘Frank’, strong of jaw and exacting of requirements is an unquestioning driver for hire. Early in the first film he acts as a getaway driver for a bank robbery refusing to move until the unspecified extra passenger is removed from his carefully set up BMW 5 series. There then ensues a chase around the town in which the steadfast Frank makes good on his contract and outwits the hordes of police which some extremely nifty car capering.
Admittedly, it does get a bit cartoony especially the part where he drives off bridge onto the top tier of a car transporter but I can forgive that as it’s so well-conceived and filmed. You might disagree.
Admittedly, it does get a bit cartoony especially the part where he drives off bridge onto the top tier of a car transporter but I can forgive that as it’s so well-conceived and filmed. You might disagree.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971): Sean Connery returned to the role of James Bond when George Lazenby decided to call it a day after just one outing. Some may not rate the chase scene or indeed the film that highly but I really like the stop-start action against a neon lit Freemont Street in old Las Vegas and as memories go it was the first Bond film I ever saw.
Of course, it also contains one of the all-time notorious film bloopers where the Ford Mustang Mach 1 flipping onto two wheels enters an alley on its right wheels and exits on the left. What’s wrong with that I ask? You’re forgetting, this is JAMES BOND we’re talking about, the British super-spy, he can do anything! Haven’t you been watching?
Of course, it also contains one of the all-time notorious film bloopers where the Ford Mustang Mach 1 flipping onto two wheels enters an alley on its right wheels and exits on the left. What’s wrong with that I ask? You’re forgetting, this is JAMES BOND we’re talking about, the British super-spy, he can do anything! Haven’t you been watching?
‘C’etait Un Rendez-vous’ (1976): A weird one this. Made by French Film Director Claude Lelouch it features an anonymous man driving a V8 Mercedes (perhaps) at lunatic speeds through Paris to rendezvous with his girlfriend at Montmartre.
Along the way many Parisian landmarks can be seen as road signs are ignored, one way systems breached and white lines crossed. That’s it, no other plot just mad driving filmed in cinema-verité style; sound tracked by the angry growl of a V8 engine and squealing tyres. It was filmed totally un-staged and lasts a mere 8½ minutes. It’s only the relative peace of the early morning filming that cuts down to amount of potential collisions as it was all done totally illegally. The legend goes that Lelouch was arrested after the film’s first screening and fined for such a reckless course of action.
Along the way many Parisian landmarks can be seen as road signs are ignored, one way systems breached and white lines crossed. That’s it, no other plot just mad driving filmed in cinema-verité style; sound tracked by the angry growl of a V8 engine and squealing tyres. It was filmed totally un-staged and lasts a mere 8½ minutes. It’s only the relative peace of the early morning filming that cuts down to amount of potential collisions as it was all done totally illegally. The legend goes that Lelouch was arrested after the film’s first screening and fined for such a reckless course of action.
The Bourne Identity (2002): Yet another Mini, this time a battered, bog-standard example which required the highly honed skills of Jason Bourne to get the most out of what most would say was a car not really up to the job. Despite this, with some ingenious road acrobatics, a highly effective chase ensues proving that it’s not necessarily horsepower that counts you simply need to be a bewildered but highly efficient killing machine to deliver high quality road mayhem. Anyone out there fit the profile?
So that’s it. What more could you want? It goes without saying there are many others I might have included; Vanishing Point, Duel, Death Proof and any number of other Bond films. I certainly wouldn’t recommend you watching them all back-to-back as you might just go out there and have a go yourselves after that much adrenaline! But if this piece has inspired you to go and watch some of these great film sequences may I wish you happy viewing and, more important, safe motoring.
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