Comments on: Let's cut to the chase.

Let's cut to the chase.

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:28:47 -0800

Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. Chase scene. [more inside]

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:30:31 -0800

Note: I'm aware that many MeFiers may have seen some, most or all of these films: they are not new, nor are they obscure. So this post is, you know, for the children. But feel free to click on the links even if you're old and seen it all before. It's fun! Some information regarding routes and such: Bullitt and more Bullitt The French Connection The Blues Brothers and here's a handy, exhaustive reference for chase scenes: Greatest Classic Chase Scenes

By: autodidact

autodidact — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:32:56 -0800

No To Live and Die in LA? You fail at chase scenes!

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:33:31 -0800

No Bourne?

By: Prospero

Prospero — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:34:36 -0800

autodidact: though with The French Connection he does cite the work of William Friedkin--we'll let him off with a warning. (No mention of Ronin, though?)

By: Betmenko

Betmenko — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:35:51 -0800

Chase is cool :D

By: Prospero

Prospero — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:36:35 -0800

P.S. I'd like to take this moment to register my pre-emptive hatred of modern-day chase scenes that rely on digital tinkering for thrills--see Matrix Reloaded.

By: baker dave

baker dave — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:37:18 -0800

one of the first http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebmnCAHDdZvO

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:37:30 -0800

No To Live and Die in LA? No Bourne? (No mention of Ronin, though?) Kind sirs, alas, I am only one man, not a linking machine.

By: baker dave

baker dave — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:38:02 -0800

doh, fear is the key

By: DU

DU — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:38:06 -0800

There can be no doubt about the best chase scene of all time.

By: gwint

gwint — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:39:38 -0800

Point Break.

By: gwint

gwint — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:40:38 -0800

Oh, and DU: seen this?

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:41:16 -0800

Fun! Thanks!

By: muckster

muckster — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:41:47 -0800

Too bad Death Proof was such a disappointment.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:45:25 -0800

I actually have seen that, but I forgot about it. Nobody does movie parodii like FG.

By: Prospero

Prospero — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:47:15 -0800

Kind sirs, alas, I am only one man, not a linking machine. Making a comprehensive list of chase scenes that would satisfy everyone is an impossible task--I heartily applaud your attempt, though. Also: Ronin

By: nola

nola — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:49:14 -0800

That Seven-Ups car chase was awsome. I've seen the others but never that one. Ronin is really good as well.

By: neckro23

neckro23 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:49:21 -0800

To Live and Die in L.A.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:51:33 -0800

Chaise scene

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:52:16 -0800

I'll see your Ronin and raise you a Raiders

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:53:05 -0800

Many years ago, I took a BA in Film Theory and, after my third year (in which I took nothing but film theory courses), I was seriously burnt out on film overall. The solution? I started renting every film I could think of with a good car chase scene, and made a VHS comp of my faves. Somehow watching a whole bunch of car chases all in a row like that helped immensely in scrubbing my mind of Laura Mulvey, etc., etc. Also: That filmsite link is fantastic, thanks.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:53:56 -0800

Chaise scene Put some wheels on that thing and give it to Steve McQueen!

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:54:03 -0800

BTW if you've never seen the original 'Gone In 60 Seconds' (which I still cannot believe was actually remade), check it out. It's pretty insane.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:54:07 -0800

One of my all time favorite chase scenes if from What's Up, Doc, which is a surprisingly funny movie starting Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neil. It's much, much funnier than you'd expect, given the cast.

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:03:07 -0800

Road Warrior.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:05:29 -0800

Worst Chase Scene Ever!

By: squasha

squasha — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:05:30 -0800

Ah, you had me at Bullit.

Personal reasons abound: At the 0:52 mark, the corner store where I was able to "buy up" from the age of 16. At the 1:18 mark, the block where I lived after I moved out of the familial homestead (actually, the car is right in front of my apartment) (and no, I didn't choose that apartment because of it's proximity to the store...rilly) and learned to drive those mean streets. And by "mean", I mean steep! And who can forget that awesome continuity moments between 1:54 and 2:05 where the cars bounce seamlessly from Bernal Heights to Potrero Hill to...hey, let's get a shot of Coit Tower and throw in a cable car for good measure! Oh, yes, we San Franciscans have always been so smug about that...I remember acting it out years later on the schoolyard with my Matchbox Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car!

But really, it's at the 2:50 mark, when the roar of the engine begins, that I still catch myself (an ocean away, past my bedtime, and well past my car chase days) holding my breath.

Like I expect it to end differently *this* time.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:10:25 -0800

I'm fond of the awkwardly slow and tense chase scene in Way of the Gun. Wasn't able to find it on youtube/google videos however. And pretty much the entirety of Taxi. And yes, the ultimate chase scene is on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:12:07 -0800

Homer: I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around a city, keeping its speed over fifty and if its speed dropped, it would explode! I think it was called ... "The Bus That Couldnt Slow Down."

By: imperium

imperium — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:13:28 -0800

Raising Arizona, and (only slightly off-topic) C'etait un rendezvous, which has been here previously.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:14:31 -0800

Best 167 minute chase film featuring Ethel Merman.

By: kosem

kosem — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:14:33 -0800

The French Connection chase is still totally riveting. And for sheer ridiculousness plus hovercrafts, bad dubbing and water skiing: Rumble in the Bronx.

By: steef

steef — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:15:53 -0800

I'm a fuel-injected suicide machine!

By: CrunchyFrog

CrunchyFrog — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:16:51 -0800

Chase (?) scene

By: Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:20:52 -0800

Worst Chase Scene Ever! Fletch!

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:21:43 -0800

I have nightmares sometimes that ol' Ethel is chasing me. Advise?

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:31:29 -0800

Chase scene

By: Midnight Creeper

Midnight Creeper — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:39:37 -0800

Seconding Road Warrior. Awesome chase greatness with tactical aerial support, crossbows, warrior chicks, Molotov cocktails, and mohawks. And the Feral Kid, of course. The entire movie represents one of Australia's greatest contributions to modern civilization.

By: nola

nola — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:41:14 -0800

There is no stopping the Ethel , not once she has fixed her eyes on you.

By: anthill

anthill — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:54:26 -0800

The 7-Ups car chase is fantastic and terrifying - the more so because they're both driving chaise lounges on pogo-stick suspension...

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:55:13 -0800

A more conventional chase scene.

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:01:51 -0800

Terminator II. (Digital trickery notwithstanding)

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:06:50 -0800

Well I'm sorry I couldn't find a link to the chase scenes in question, but let's not forget "The Triplettes of Bellevue". Two good chase scenes actually. If someone can track them down, I'm sure they will be most appreciated here.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:07:24 -0800

Chase scenes are just so Hollywood. I've seen them on reality TV and it's just a disaster. I love you dearly flapjax at midnite but what is the point of this post other than glorification of speeding? I recognise that all of your cites are movies but... Sorry to be a bummer but I think it needs to be said. This is far from real life and a large percentage of youth die on the road due to this sort of Romanticism

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:14:04 -0800

And no chase scene thread in The Blue would be complete without MITCHELL! The most fascinating and intense chase scene ever to happen at twenty-five miles an hour. Be sure to check out the end of part four, also. You can't miss the merging scene! It's classic! It's larger than life! Just like MITCHELL.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:14:11 -0800

And in the interests of more animated goodness, I present the (sort of) chase scene from Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:14:44 -0800

The General. Keaton does all his own stunts. And no CGI. And it's a true story (mostly). The Dead Pool. Which is sort of a parody of car chases, particularly Bullitt, but actually scary. C'etait un rendez-vous One of the things to appreciate about car chases, watching these for technique, is how hard it is to make a good one without resorting to gags. You have the truck backing into traffic, you have the lady with the stroller, you have the sidewalk detour, you have the boxes of fruit, you have the pedestrians scattering. Even in the good ones, like French Connection. French Connection and C'etait... use the camera-low-to-the-ground trick, which makes everything seem faster and every potential collision scarier. Bullitt cheats, notoriously -- count how many times they pass the green Beetle, or how many hubcaps are lost, and a few shots are sped up. But it has a great narrative tension throughout and the lack of soundtrack beyond car sounds is brilliant. And French Connection has a great -- I call it action logic. Where you always know where somebody is in relation to where you are, it's not just random montage of guys shooting machine guns or whatever. At the end, especially, it works so well because you have a three-dimensional scene. I love The Dead Pool because it brilliantly uses all the standard gags, like pedestrians scattering. In The Seven-Ups, I'm surprised to see the director resorting to tthe kids scattering gag twice in a row, but hey.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:23:45 -0800

The Rumble in the Bronx chase scene is hillarious if you know Vancouver at all. For the first 3/4 of the movie, the sets are carefully chosen to be Generic North American City locations. This is harder than it sounds in Vancouver, every horizon has the ocean or or a mountain in it. For the last 1/4 of the movie though, it's like the directors said: "You know what? We've got some of the best scenery in NA here. Screw it!" Mountains and fir trees begin to creap into the backgrounds. The 1990s Vancouver skyscape appears, complete with Science World. They joyfully end on Kits beach with the Cyprus Bowl/Grouse Moutain ski slopes in the background (are there any white sand beaches in downtown New York?). It's one of the best "screw continuity" decisions evar.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:24:01 -0800

Classic scene in McQueen's 'Bullitt' unreal as ever Bullitt Locations in San Francisco: April 1968, July 2002

By: machaus

machaus — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:29:21 -0800

Italian Job

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:31:47 -0800

muckster typed "Too bad Death Proof was such a disappointment." Was it really? Say what you will about the silliness of the full 3+ hours, but I dug that chase seen a lot. I wouldn't be ashamed to list it next to Bullitt Does that make me a tool?

By: spock

spock — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 09:41:23 -0800

And, from real life: Stormchase Scene (this past Saturday, Tulia, TX) where a couple of stormchasers got a wee bit close to the action. Chaser's account (via Stormtrack Forum:

Eric and I were in the Xterra. We observed four tornadoes tonight including an approximately thirty minute (or longer) tornado that crossed SR 70 and struck homes on the eastern edge of Olton. But the one we'll always remember was Tulia, where we were struck by the compact but vigorous initial circulation as it entered town. We were repositioning on the storm and observed what we both agreed was, at the time, an elevated and ragged updraft base. Moments before entering the city, we observed small lowerings but each weakened and the rotation lost focus. When we were in the center of Tulia, neither of us imagined anything like what was about to happen. I was scouting navigational options on StreetAtlas, with my camcorder turned OFF (that's how nontornadic it appeared at that moment) when Eric shouted "tornado." Imagine looking over your left shoulder to see, about 100 yards away, a tornado that looked like nothing if not Chuck Doswell's and Al Moller's Pampa video: a violent circulation swirling with industrial debris. We accelerated, our ears popping, but the inflow jet tugged us off the road and we came to a stop in front of a small brick building, what might have once been a gas station or a general store. When the tornado reached us, it collapsed the building, blew out our windows, and tipped a parked semi tractor trailer onto the driver side front of Eric's Xterra. We huddled in the center of the truck and shut our eyes. When it was over, we climbed out to find a scene straight out of the movies, a wasteland of debris and downed power lines. A police officer passed us and we waved for him to keep going; we didn't need help and were already feeling the guilt of potentially distracting emergency services. Our friends from OU took us to Amarillo where we're spending the night. We're neither proud nor ashamed of our actions. I've taken some calculated risks in ten years of chasing; this wasn't one of them. We thought we were repositioning between tornadoes. We had talked about how the storm had crossed the baroclinic boundary oriented northwest to southeast and might have become fully outflow dominated. I was wondering if it would produce another tornado at all. We both regret that it happened, that we put our own lives in jeopardy and threatened to distract emergency personnel. Tonight, I'm glad that I'm alive and uninjured, that my friend is alive and uninjured, and that, from what I have read, the residents of Tulia are mostly safe. I'll never release the videotape of this incident, publicize or profit from it in any way. If there's any lesson it might only be that life is precious. We've ransacked our minds for the tiny detail or decision that might have kept us safer, and found nothing. What we did I would likely do again, because there seemed nothing unsafe about where we were at the time. Obviously we were wrong. Our choice was a mistake and we paid for it. __________________ Amos Magliocco

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:02:11 -0800

Bullitt cheats, notoriously -- count how many times they pass the green Beetle, or how many hubcaps are lost, I counted five hubcaps off the lead car when I watched it a year ago or so. They make a mention of that in the commentary for Starsky and Hutch as well.

By: schleppo

schleppo — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:04:09 -0800

Move chase scenes: more Wilhelms than a German phone book.

By: svenvog

svenvog — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:09:24 -0800

Very early chase seen

By: nola

nola — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:24:36 -0800

This is far from real life and a large percentage of youth die on the road due to this sort of Romanticism Won't someone think of the children ?

By: kosem

kosem — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:36:57 -0800

stinkycheese: BTW if you've never seen the original 'Gone In 60 Seconds' (which I still cannot believe was actually remade), check it out. It's pretty insane. Word.

By: schleppo

schleppo — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:39:18 -0800

^ "Movie", as it were.

By: kosem

kosem — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:44:25 -0800

This is far from real life and a large percentage of youth die on the road due to this sort of Romanticism If you play The French Connection backwards, Satan tells you to flip the Charger.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:02:05 -0800

To Live and Die in LA, Ronin

By: unsupervised

unsupervised — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:06:39 -0800

The podcast The Hollywood Saloon just did an episode on the greatest chase scenes of all time. On the episode page, they've compiled pretty much every youtube clip mentioned here as well as a ton more for your viewing pleasure. The episode's a good companion piece to all the clips. I'm about to embark on my own marathon based on (most of) their recommendations.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:19:21 -0800

Most of my favorites have already been mentioned; The Blues Brothers is fantastic in it's excess, and the chases from The Road Warrior trilogy are just amazing. Also worth commenting on is the chase from the end of The Dukes of Hazzard; it is an undeniably silly movie, but there was real skill in the way the action was filmed. Also the even more silly The Chase (the Charlie Sheen/ Kristy Swanson one) deserves mention as well, not for any real skill, but in that the the damn 'chase scene' lasts for 7/8ths of the movies running time. Still the one that I always think of when I think of the best has to go to The Bourne Identity. It's amazing and terrifying and it feels real.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:20:16 -0800

Come to think of it, the chase in Metro, while over the top, also had some good moments.

By: JT

JT — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:11:56 -0800

A guilty pleasure/personal favorite: the chase in the Dabney Coleman comedy Short Time, which I see is mentioned in the Hollywood Salon podcast. The brief motorcycle chase in The Great Escape also deserves a mention, if only for the great jump over the fence (not made by Steve McQueen, according to IMDB).

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:15:56 -0800

Some of the modern chase scenes that feature mini-cars were just phenomenal (Bourne, Italian Job). It's as if the directors decided to specifically cripple themselves for shear horse-power so that they could get scenes like launching the car down a flight of steps or hydroplaning through a sewer pipe. One of my guilty pleasures that hasn't been mentioned yet is Twister. Sure, it's a big digital-effects movie, but when we first saw that in the theater, the sound and fury of that movie were truly amazing. My son was yelling during the opening scene that the movie was "too loud!!!", but no one heard him. Another guilty pleasure is Enemy of the State. Sure, horrid general cinema, but scenes where Wil Smith fires a shotgun off right in Gene Hackman's face while his arm is on fire ...scenes like that need to be in more movies.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:29:41 -0800

What, no Diva?

By: JT

JT — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:48:48 -0800

I almost forgot the brutal chase in The Corruptor, although I don't seem to be able to find a clip of it anywhere. Apparently the sequence had to be trimmed in order to avoid an NC-17 rating. Stick it in your Netflix queue; it's worth checking out.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:06:40 -0800

He didn't do the big jump in The Great Escape, but Steve McQueen appears as a German motorcyclist chasing Steve McQueen.

By: blogenstock

blogenstock — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:00:46 -0800

As chase scenes go, the one in Atanarjuat is pretty low-tech but that's precisely what makes it so gripping and memorable.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:02:32 -0800

Batman Begins

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:17:28 -0800

For an example of how much the web has changed, see last summer's AskMe on this. No YouTube links in the thing at all, at all.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:29:26 -0800

see last summer's AskMe on this. Interesting, cgc373. I also noted that among the selections I made for this FPP, the only one mentioned in that AskMe thread was Bullitt. This reinforces my suspicion that many of the younger MeFiers are perhaps not so familiar with 70's cinema, which was part of my rationale for linking to the ones I did here. It's for the children!

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:45:42 -0800

Wait, flapjax at midnite—just Bullitt? The French Connection and The Blues Brothers are in the first half-dozen answers.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:46:48 -0800

Not to say I'm not happy to have these links here, 'cuz I am. This is a sweeeet post. With crashes!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:49:27 -0800

The French Connection and The Blues Brothers are in the first half-dozen answers. Aww, hell. I gotta work on my speed reading. How'd I miss those? Sorry...

By: mano

mano — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:53:29 -0800

not a chase scene, per se, but a must see. no tricks, no stunts, no permits, nothing. watch a short film of a ferrari speeding through paris at the butt crack of dawn.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:00:45 -0800

Thanks for the link, mano. I saw that several months back on Google video, where the image quality was, I think, a little better, but it seems to have been removed from there. The man responsible for that, by the way, is French director Claude Lelouch, best known for his distincly non-chase film, A Man and a Woman. This is from the Wikipedia link: "He was arrested after his 1976 film, C'était un rendez-vous, reportedly at the time featuring a Ferrari 275 GTB being illegally driven at speeds approaching 140mph through the streets of Paris by a Formula 1 driver, was first shown publicly. Recent claims made by the director himself, however, suggest he drove his own Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 in the film and dubbed the sound effects of a Ferrari 275GTB. Several independent groups have verified that the car in the film never reaches past 140 km/h (85mph)"

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:33:48 -0800

flapjax, gotta work on my speed reading, indeed. You got at least two links to C'était un rendez-vous already in this thread, pre-mano. Why I feel compelled to point out these things, I cannot say. Perhaps it is my total lack of vowels in-username. Or perhaps some other reason.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:46:23 -0800

You got at least two links to C'était un rendez-vous already in this thread Oh, christ, I give up! My brain is malfunctioning today. I'm gonna go back to bed.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:49:17 -0800

Watch out for Ethereal's thighs!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:53:28 -0800

Oh dear god, you're sure those aren't miss lynnster's?

By: furtive

furtive — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:57:30 -0800

I seem to recall a horror type movie of the 80s genre where they put the blood of a murderer in an ordinary guy... wasn't there a chase scene that involved a man handcuffed between two cars? I loved that scene.

By: furtive

furtive — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:59:24 -0800

...or was it a hand transplant. geez my memory isn't what it used to be.

By: furtive

furtive — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:59:25 -0800

...or was it a hand transplant. geez my memory isn't what it used to be.

By: mapalm

mapalm — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:42:16 -0800

roll chuck roll -- you nailed it: that chase scene in Death Proof is, I would say, the best I have ever seen...and look, Ma, no wires (or computers)!

By: rafter

rafter — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:54:26 -0800

Seconding Way of the Gun's slow, thoughtful chase scene. Wish I could find it online — it's a nice one, and quite unique.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:22:50 -0800

I'd like to think I'm too smart to be a chase scene nut, but damn I love a good chase scene. For my money they get no better than French Connection, Ronin, and 7-Ups. Hell, I even like a mediocre chase scene.

By: Tube

Tube — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:42:38 -0800

No To Live and Die in LA? You fail at chase scenes! Yes! I became OBSESSED with this movie, and have seen it many, many times. The chase scene and the other stunts get better as the years go by, as they represent the pinnacle of real, pre-digital movie stunts. Digital effects emasculated movies, and suck donkey balls. To Live and Die in LA; the greatest movie of all time...

By: vronsky

vronsky — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:21:47 -0800

To Live and Die In LA is shit hot, yes.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:02:02 -0800

To Live and Die in L.A. should have made William L. Petersen a star. Instead, it made him a dependable B actor. Such is fate. I forgot to mention The Chase myself. It's pretty funny, it has Anthony Kiedis and Flea, it deftly parodies the media circus of the LA car chase, and it came out before the O.J. Simpson chase. And Sheen does a bangup after-credits parody of a certain Apocalypse Now monologue. I'd like to think I'm too smart to be a chase scene nut, but damn I love a good chase scene. No, no, no, there is nothing wrong with being a chase scene nut. Chase scenes at their best are masterpieces of stuntwork, location shooting, and editing, and when well placed (and paced) may contribute heavily to characterization and narrative. It is perfectly possible to be an intelligent fan of action cinema and its tropes. Feel no guilt. Now, get out of the way, there's a fastback on the sidewalk. Another film engineered around a chase is Where Eagles Dare. Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton escape from a full-complement Nazi hilltop fortress using mainly their wits and hella machine-gun ammo. The main dish is a series of incidents using an aerial tramway, but the race to the airport in a schoolbus followed closely by the usual Nazi vehicular suspects (a Kubelwagen, a sidecar motorcycle, etc.), with every step prepared, is plenty gripping on its own. Then, of course, it turns out that the chase isn't the thing the movie's about, after all. Quite possibly my favorite action movie. I would also like to nominate the underrated James Bond films On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Living Daylights. OHMSS has an extended middle section that is basically three separate chase sequences. George Lazenby is no Connery but you do sense his humanity and fear. Plus, the soundtrack is one of the best. TLD is Timothy Dalton's first and best outing, and despite using a script written for Moore, manages to bring 007 back down to earth. The "chase" sequence I have in mind is his and Kara's escape from the Russian army base, in which among other things Bond finds he cannot move the plane he is trying to hijack because the wheels are chocked. It is infinitely more engrossing dramatically to have the hero facing a legitimate (even literal) obstacle than to mix up your chase scene by giving the villain(s) a series of bathetic trip gags. I wish more directors understood this. Also, the best boat chase in the movies is undoubtedly Live and Let Die.

By: azpenguin

azpenguin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:08:34 -0800

Lot of great chase scenes on the thread - I always did love that one out of The Dead Pool. I'd like to add the chase scene in the opening minutes of Casino Royale. As well as the chase on the tarmac in Miami. I just hope they keep cranking out the kind of script writing for the future Bond films as they did for this one; Craig makes a helluva Bond. And the chase scene on the freeway in Matrix Reloaded... there's always one thing that makes it not work for me. Specifically how does that Ducati not flat out disappear from any other vehicle on that roadway? Instead the agents are keeping right up with Trinity in a plain Jane car. That bike is capable of outrunning almost any other vehicle in the scene without leaving 2nd gear. 3rd gear if it's a really fast car.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:56:21 -0800

You see that all the time in chase scenes. It's most obvious in motorcycle-car chases but it never ceases to amaze me that the heros in whatever hot wheels they are driving can't seem to shake the lackadaisical crown vics pursuing them. It almost made sense in the 70's when the cops might have been piloting a '69 Polara Pursuit (375 bhp 440, sleek "fuselage" bodystyle, and standard 3.23 axle, could do 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.3 seconds (at over 99 mph), and run out to a top speed of (or, by some accounts, above) 147 mph!) or 68 Polara 440 Squad. I guess it's all about 16 second drivers in 10 second cars.

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:38:38 -0800

Mmm, chase sequences. Regarding Death Proof: I really like it. But then, I'm a sucker for Tarantino, so... Yeah. While it was an abrupt shift in energy level coming off the manic high of Planet Terror, the first third of the movie (the talky, slow part not everyone likes) did manage to trick me into caring about the girls Stuntman Mike kills. In fact, I'm somehwat glad I never remember my dreams as I'm certain that some of that car crash's imagery would be figuring in them prominently for a while. But the slow first part is more than paid off by 1) a really fucking sweet chase scene (like "best I've seen in years and years level goodness) and 2) the hilarious and awesome turning of the tables on the bad guy.

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:42:26 -0800

Specifically how does that Ducati not flat out disappear from any other vehicle on that roadway? Instead the agents are keeping right up with Trinity in a plain Jane car. That bike is capable of outrunning almost any other vehicle in the scene without leaving 2nd gear. 3rd gear if it's a really fast car. In the parlance of Counter Strike: ZOMG HAX.

By: Pseudonumb

Pseudonumb — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:22:38 -0800

Animated chase scene. It's better in the original Japanese.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:36:09 -0800

...Specifically how does that Ducati not flat out disappear from any other vehicle on that roadway? ...You see that all the time in chase scenes. This simple thing has bugged me for years. My first vehicle, in point of fact, the thing I learned how to use a manual transmission on, was a '72 Honda CB500. It was old when I got it, (read as, needed constant work) and yet, even as decrepit as it was, I could pull away off the start from any hot car or clever truck that cared to pull up next to me. I could never understand why a director would choose to use a scene that had a motorcycle, even an old one, unable to shake a car pursuer. I mean, in my movie, the guy on the bike gets away. Unless the car has the good sense to ram him, that is. I like a good chase scene as much as the next person, but I can't ignore the reality of car vs. bike. Bike wins the race, but car wins the demolition derby. It's just the way these things work.