Whenever cinematic or television car chases come up, instantly the most boring person in the discussion screams “Ronin!” or “Bullitt!” If this person is you, we’re very sorry.
Look, those are fine car chases (actually, “Bullitt” is probably not as impressive as you remember), but we’re here to talk about all the awesome ones that get overshadowed by those two, …
Baby Driver is still a major win for me!!
Pretty sure I will now waste most of the day on these! 
I’m going to add two to the list, and they involve a little history lesson.
All the way back in 2001, a car company–BMW, perhaps you’ve heard of them?–promoted its latest wares through, yes, car chases. And car chases involving all the usual ingredients, including crashes, gun play and even more crashes. Think more 007 than CHiPs.
You could watch the shorts on a dedicated site. This was before YouTube and all of today’s social media. Old school.
But, if you were one of the chosen, you could get your hands on a DVD containing the series. I got mine from my dad–I think he got it via the BMW CCA.
To make these shorts, BMW enlisted some of the biggest names possible: Madonna, James Brown, Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer, Guy Ritchie, Don Cheadle, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo, etc., etc.
The series starred Clive Owen as the nameless “the Driver.”
“The Hire” series debuted with “Ambush,” and I think it’s the star of the original run.
Why I still put these features on a pedestal all these years later: Each short contains a full narrative that happens to contain a chase. It’s more than just gratuitous cars crashing into things; the chase is needed to move the plot from here to there.
Also, the sound work. Listen as the car knocks over the orange traffic posts. You can feel that hollow “boink” as each one bounces off the BMW’s front bumper.
And then there’s the central character. Despite not saying much, “the Driver” brings in ethics, warmth and humanity. His simple “Buckle up” goes far.
BMW ended the original run in 2002 but brought back “the Driver” for one more appearance in 2016’s “The Escape.”
“I might be a little rusty right now, but I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m very good at that.”
I can relate, mystery man, I can relate.
Colin Wood said:
Came to post exactly this.
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) FTW
The transporter and borne series have some good ones.
I'll throw a few of my personal honorary mentions in the thread, starting with Wheelman.
It's a gimmick movie. The whole thing is shot from basically a GoPro mounted on a rollbar POV. But they lean into the gimmick brilliantly, and Frank Grillo deserves an award for performing an entire movie with basically the back of his head and pretty much killing it. It's the rare gimmick movie that uses its gimmick as a superior narrative device instead of just a goofy affect.
The chase scenes may not be that iconic but, the sound of that '68 Barracuda is magnificent in Highwaymen.
I'll toss in an honorable mention: Drive (2011)
"To Live and Die in LA" is famous for its car chase using dozens and dozens of stunt cars and drivers. They did a scene of a car chase going the wrong way on a Los Angeles Freeway! That always stands out to me.
I first saw Akira in Japanese. My friend Steve recalls that he got the tape from our local Blockbuster. I know, how cosmopolitan for 1988 Athens, Ga.
No subtitles, either, as I remember.
Didn’t matter. That opening chase scene had us sitting there with our mouths agape. (Soon after, though, I saw the theatrical, English-dub version.)
So, here’s the opening to Akira as I first saw it.
Rendezvous. Not chasing a car, but something far more important.
Classic! I bought a bootleg copy on videotape way back before they actually released it on DVD and then I bought that and watch it about once a year, usually with car friends.
BoulderG said:"To Live and Die in LA" is famous for its car chase using dozens and dozens of stunt cars and drivers. They did a scene of a car chase going the wrong way on a Los Angeles Freeway! That always stands out to me.
I came here to say this.
"To Live and Die in L.A." car chase
In reply to ChrisTropea :
Those bastards could not do 90.
FSP_ZX2 said:BoulderG said:"To Live and Die in LA" is famous for its car chase using dozens and dozens of stunt cars and drivers. They did a scene of a car chase going the wrong way on a Los Angeles Freeway! That always stands out to me.
I came here to say this.
"To Live and Die in L.A." car chase
It’s on JG’s original list.
The French Connection
The Seven-Ups (1973) isn't bad. I drive past the location of the final shot every day on my way home from work.
Tom1200 said:The French Connection
Yeah I basically had to decide between this and To Live and Die in LA for my Friedken entry. both are strong choices. FC gets points for including Gene Hackman, who was also an SCCA formula Ford and GT3 racer, and, also, was Gene Hackman. but ultimately TLADILA won out because of the LA river. I mean, are you really even involved in a car chase if you don't dip into the LA river at some point? i don;t care if your chase is set in Ames, Iowa or Canberra, Australia, real car chases are always settled in the LA River.
JG Pasterjak said:I mean, are you really even involved in a car chase if you don't dip into the LA river at some point? i don;t care if your chase is set in Ames, Iowa or Canberra, Australia, real car chases are always settled in the LA River.
No truer words have been spoken.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
As it should be!
Tom1200 said:JG Pasterjak said:I mean, are you really even involved in a car chase if you don't dip into the LA river at some point? i don;t care if your chase is set in Ames, Iowa or Canberra, Australia, real car chases are always settled in the LA River.No truer words have been spoken.
People keep starting business where they let you drive a Lambo or a Ferrari on the track. Sure, fine, whatever.
Open a kiosk that lets me rent a Ford LTD to drive around the LA river for an hour and you can have my entire bank account.
JG Pasterjak said:Tom1200 said:JG Pasterjak said:I mean, are you really even involved in a car chase if you don't dip into the LA river at some point? i don;t care if your chase is set in Ames, Iowa or Canberra, Australia, real car chases are always settled in the LA River.No truer words have been spoken.
People keep starting business where they let you drive a Lambo or a Ferrari on the track. Sure, fine, whatever.
Open a kiosk that lets me rent a Ford LTD to drive around the LA river for an hour and you can have my entire bank account.
I want to enroll in stunt driving school and/or evasive training school for this reason.
One of my old customers was a trainer for evasive driving for police/bodyguards/TLAs. The classes seem like a lot of fun and could potentially lead to a new career, although most people looking to hire that kind of talent prefer or require military experience, too.
Michael Caine Italian Job.
JG Pasterjak said:Tom1200 said:JG Pasterjak said:I mean, are you really even involved in a car chase if you don't dip into the LA river at some point? i don;t care if your chase is set in Ames, Iowa or Canberra, Australia, real car chases are always settled in the LA River.No truer words have been spoken.
People keep starting business where they let you drive a Lambo or a Ferrari on the track. Sure, fine, whatever.
Open a kiosk that lets me rent a Ford LTD to drive around the LA river for an hour and you can have my entire bank account.
Mark Wahlberg Italian Job, then.
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