Hall of Shame: Every chase in The Dukes of Hazzard.
I thought that was a European thing. Flashing lights can’t be much harder than hittin gthe horn, and you want folks to get out of your way.
Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarattes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.
And then the best car chase scene (about 1/3 of the movie) ensues…
Hell, this should be the Straight Doper’s Motto…
The Blues Brothers, my all-time favorite, has been mentioned several times.
How about Terminator 2? The one through the LA canal system, then the one that ends in the steel mill? Awful continuity, but pretty cool. Cameron did a nice job with the Florida Keys chase at the end of True Lies, too.
As far as car stunts go, I was particularly amused by the almost-legendary “spiral bridge jump” in The Man with the Golden Gun: Bond drives a car of a broken bridge, spirals over the water, and lands perfectly on the other side. It’s a great moment in a great film, and it was so perfectly executed that I didn’t even mind the silly “spring” sound effect.
Actually, it is legendary. Nobody has attempted anything like it before or since.
I’ve always loved the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy is under over and in front of the Mercedes truck. It’s so much fun!
My first thought when seeing Matrix Reloaded was that I’ve finally seen a car chance that tops To Live and Die in LA.
I’ll second every episode of Dukes of Hazard for worst. Gah, how did I ever sit through any of those episodes?
It wouldn’t be that hard to flash your headlights while driving quickly and dangerously; all it requires is a spare finger on the left hand. And it isn’t necessarily being safety concious of other drivers; it could be a message for the drivers in front of them to get the hell out of the way, making their driving much easier.
–greenphan
I’d say the last chase in The Blues Brothers is the best. I’m not into car chases, but I loved it, and I loved how they slowly gave up on realism and just wrecked as many cars as they could.
I’d say the freeway chase from The Matrix: Reloaded belongs in the Hall of Shame. It went on forever, was boring, featured a little Asian man and two albinos with dreadlocks, and the car was shot with 28,000 bullets which clearly pierced the driver’s side door - and everything else - but nobody was harmed. It was excess personified, and it just refused to end.
Sort of. I believe Blues Brothers 2000 holds the current record.
Oh, and my submission for the greatest comical chases in movie history: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and What’s Up, Doc?
I lived in France for ten years, and that flashing deal is SOP on the highway when overtaking. I still get a kick out a satirical newspaper article on French driving that explained “when a following driver flashes his lights at you, it means you and your car are supposed to instantly disappear.”
I should clarify my point about Ronin. I realize that is SOP in France and all that, and that Frankenheimer was adding a touch of realism, but it was still distracting. I just didn’t get the impression that those desperate characters, driving the wrong way and trying to kill each other, would take the time to do it. It’s not like they were flashing their headlights during the other chase scenes, just those two. Meh.
Wouldn’t happen to be Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, would it? It’s been a long time, but I vaguely recall a chase so slow that the pursuer eventually jumps out of his car and runs down the other car on foot. Silly bad stuff.
That is possible but it’s been a very long time since I saw that and somehow have it fused with Rocky Horror in that I can’t imagine why I’d want to see either again.
I’ll take your word for it, Sofa King. Thanks
I don’t recall anything like that in Rocky Horror. 95% of it takes place inside a castle, so not a lot of car chase potential.
My bad, Marley23. I meant to convey that the fusion of those two flics had nothing to do with their contents except that both movies are in my “never to watch again” stack.
I was thinking of starting a car chase thread, but thought I’d search first. This thread cannot retire without a mention of the magnificent Mini chase scene in the '69 Italian Job. “This is the self-preservation society…”
Hall of Fame:
Ronin- by a lot, over the next closest.
Special moment inductee:
The suped-up Mini’s from the revised version of the Italian Job. Finally they explain how these cars can do these thing- add lots of expensive racing parts first, and plan carefully. Nice! Also the actual car scene were nice payoffs for the car customization scenes. Good filmaking.
Hall of Shame:
Any seventies TV show, the A Team.
Special meritless award- Magnum P.I., who often couldn’t lose (or catch) a crappy 80’s crap box car when chasing them (or escaping from them) in a fricking Ferrari! Come on T.M., even I could win that one. I loved the show, but that always bugged me.