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The 25 best car chases in movie history
- Thread starter jw5
- Start date
Bullit (1968)
We kick off our list with what is widely considered the gold standard for car chases. The legendary showdown between Steve McQueen's Ford Mustang and the bad guy's Dodge Charger is 10-minutes of pure, unadulterated action. It starts on the hilly streets of San Francisco and ends on the open roads of Santa Cruz. Everything in between is sheer greatness.
Fast Five (2011)
The car chase in F5 is pretty insane. They kind of wrote themselves into a corner by not ending with it, because how the hell is anything supposed to top it? After watching Vin Diesel and Paul Walker drive a bank vault through Rio de Janeiro, everything else feels like it's on cruise control.
Mission Impossible-Fallout (2018)
Speaking of cruise control, nobody does a chase better than Tom Cruise. He does all the stunt work himself, and in Mission Impossible-Fallout, he zips through Paris on a motorcycle while being hounded by dozens of cops. While there are plenty of Cruise chases to choose from, you really can't go wrong with this one.
Baby Driver (2017)
Many films incorporate pop music into their action sequences, but few have done it as effectively as Baby Driver. Edgar Wright's action film about a getaway driver opens with a car chase set to Jon Spencer's Bellbottoms, a Subaru gliding in and out of traffic as effortlessly as a dancer moves to a beat.
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
When you think of car chases, Smokey and the Bandit is one of the first ones you think of, right? It's fun, breezy, filled with great music and even better characters. One of the best moments sees Smokey hiding behind a "convoy" of truckers while the cops drive by, unaware that he is just a few yards away. Not only is it brilliant; it's a hoot.
Vanishing Point (1971)
For some time in the late '60s and early '70s, it was cool to make depressing road movies. It started with Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Aventura, then became a thing in America with Easy Rider, Two Lane Blacktop, and The Last Detail. The concept being: A country tries to find itself on the road, only to be turned back by those in power. Vanishing Point is the ultimate example of this kind of movie--a two-hour car chase in which a man searches for freedom, only to find sublimation and subjection.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
After the incredible success of Terminator, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger went back to the Terminator well. With a bigger budget and better effects, they gave the material a serious upgrade, embellishing it with all the bells and whistles and explosions and car chases anyone could ever dream of. The main chase, involving a truck, a motorcycle, a couple of shotguns, and the L.A. channel, is proof that sometimes bigger really does mean better.
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Comedies and car chases don't usually mesh. But this chase on the streets of San Francisco, between a gang of crooks and Barbara Streisand on a bike, actually works. Peter Bogdonavich said he wanted to "combine Buster Keaton and Bullit...to make something thrilling and funny." Somehow, he pulls it off.
Ronin (1998)
What's better than one car chase? Three car chases! Ronin boasts three of the greatest car chases of all time, but if we had to pick one--and we do--it would be the final one, which features 300 stunt drivers, a Paris backdrop, and cars going up to 125mph.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Matt Damon completely demolishes Moscow in this much-imitated, much-maligned wrecking ball of a sequence. It delivers on everything we want from a car chase: high stakes, snappy editing, put-you-there camerawork, and a movie star behind the wheel. All that's missing? A sense of fun.
Violent Rome (1975)
A slice of Italian exploitation from the director of Zombie Holocaust, the chase scene in Violent Rome is seriously shocking. The fact that they were allowed to shoot such carnage and put Rome's name on it makes me question who was running the city's PR and how they got their job?
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
George Miller will always be remembered for Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but his best work is in Mad Max: Fury Road. As a dust storm looms in the distance, throwing shadows on the cars below, the only natural response is to drop your jaw in awe, open your eyes in fear and kick your legs up in anticipation. There's never been anything quite like it.
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The oldest release on our list is also the most impressive. Because it was made in 1924, Buster Keaton had to do all the stunts himself without any special effects, and the effect is closer to watching a circus act than watching a movie. Just when you think he can't jump to a higher wire, he jumps a 20-foot gap on his motorcycle.
