[IMG:L]The car chase is a staple of Hollywood action movies. Bad guys, good guys, it’s always easiest to jump in a car to get away or to chase. This week’s Death Race follows convicts in the future racing for their freedom. If you want more automobile action, check out the top 10 car chases filmmakers have staged in previous films.
10. Smokey and the Bandit
Burt Reynolds has made a lot of car-chasin’ movies in his day–ones with real stunts, mind you, not CGI–but Bandit epitomizes this genre. It’s the pinnacle of squealing tires, tight spinouts and fast scrambles to evade the fuzz. Perhaps it plays better with the sound off, so the viewer can focus on the cool stunts and ignore the silly plot. [PAGEBREAK]
9. Death Race 2000
This Roger Corman B-movie is the inspiration for this week’s Death Race, but in Corman’s campy version, the race goes across the entire country. The budget may have limited the production value, but the original chase is epic. [PAGEBREAK]
8. The Italian Job
The original Michael Caine film from 1969 featured a car chase heist; in the remake, it is all about the Mini-Cooper. Loading gold into these little speedsters, the gang rides through the city and sewer tunnels to throw off their pursuers, all set to the mellow song “Get a Bloomin’ Move On.” Definitely one breezy car chase. [PAGEBREAK]
7. The Fast and the Furious
Taking viewers inside the mechanics of automobiles, i.e. the classic chop shop, added a dimension to the Furious races and chases. Even driving in a straight line, the film’s depiction of speed makes it a classic in the car chase genre. [PAGEBREAK]
6. Duel
Steven Spielberg‘s directorial feature debut, albeit made for television, is one extended chase between a menacing truck–driven by an unseen driver–and his hapless victim–a salesman (Dennis Weaver) driving through the Californian desert. Spielberg plays with every type of desert road space to keep things exciting, and the chase is relentless. [PAGEBREAK]
5. The French Connection
The plot of this movie is actually methodical by today’s standards, but that kind of makes the classic car chase under the train rails in New York even more exciting. Still hailed by critics as one of the all time greats, this landmark of vehicular action features Gene Hackman, as Det. Popeye Doyle, zooming through a city full of obstacles. [PAGEBREAK]
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
The car chases from Identity and Supremacy are perfected in the third Bourne film. The shaking camera finally catches up with the moving cars, while Jason Bourne (Matt Damon)’s nifty tricks elude his pursuers and trap them in deadly situations. If any part of it is unbelievable, it’s moving way too fast to notice. [PAGEBREAK]
3. The Matrix Reloaded
Only in the virtual reality world of the Matrix can people jump from speeding car to speeding car. Mixing super powers with extreme vehicle stunts makes the freeway sequence an instant classic, even if the sequel itself never quite pays off. [PAGEBREAK]
2. The Blues Brothers
In the vein of ’70s road movies, featuring practical car tricks, The Blues Brothers added comedy. The climactic pileup of a ridiculous number of police cars makes this car chase nearly unbeatable for pure destruction value. [PAGEBREAK]
1. The Road Warrior
In the wastelands of an apocalyptic future, there’s nothing BUT road to chase on, as the quest for gasoline becomes a life–or mostly death–proposition. George Miller’s sequel to Mad Max remains a masterpiece in car chase sequences. Finding nuance along the debris-strewn desert roads, Miller crafts automobile ballets.
