My 28 Top Movie Car Chases

Recalls notwithstanding, General Motors should be commended for providing some of the most memorable, if not most prolific, vehicles in Hollywood history—well, at least for this generation. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a car chase involves a souped up Chevrolet Suburban that’s a likely descendant of KITT from the 80’s Knight Rider TV series. It also had a brief cameo of the C7 Corvette.

In Schwarzenegger’s “comeback” into the action scene, a modified ZR1 Corvette said to have “1,000 horsepower” outruns police helicopters, upends Hummers, and races through a cornfield against a ZL1 Camaro. Pity that The Last Stand bombed (you should still see it on DVD… it’s pretty funny).

The art of the movie car chase has evolved from simply being a mad dash through city streets. It seems any B-grade film these days can afford to smash up a few cars, but the bar has been raised to make the effort memorable.

To make all that effort, expense and mayhem worth the while, instead of being all sound and fury signifying nothing, a car chase must either follow the laws of physics (they really get smashed up), or hilariously bend them to suit the director’s desires (see The Fast & Furious franchise and The Transporter).  Anything less, or anything in between, is just a pointless exercise. To celebrate The Philippine STAR’s 28th anniversary, here are 28 of the most memorable car chase scenes in (fairly recent) history.

1. The Transporter – The movie that made Jason Statham a star, the opening bank heist has him driving a BMW 7-Series off a bridge.

2. The Transporter 2- Switching to an Audi S6, this extended car chase movie’s most memorable scene has him driving the Audi up a ramp and perform a mid-air corkscrew in order to dislodge a bomb attached to its underside.

3. The Transporter 3 – As if the previous weren’t enough, this one has him drive the Audi into a river, and then make if float back up. Not only does it miraculously start back up, but he drives it into a train.

4. Ronin – Possibly the definitive car chase movie of the 90’s, thanks to John Frankenheimer. The first car chase has its designated top driver chase some goons around scenic Nice in an Audi S8, careening through alleyways and drifting around corners. In the final car chase, Robert De Niro chases after the BMW 5-series riding antagonists through the and famously pulls off a j-turn in his front-wheel drive Peugeot through the streets and tunnels of Paris. Very little, if any, CGI was used in this film. Over 80 cars were wrecked, too.

5. Goldeneye – Featuring the iconic James Bond car, the Aston Martin DB5, against Xenia Onatopp’s Ferrari F355 chasing each other down a twisty mountain road, this fun showdown between a piece of history and (at the time) modern machinery was like automotive foreplay. Because Bond always gets the girls.

6. Goldfinger – The Bond movie that really defined the DB5, the car chases in this classic were a chance to show off its pop-up machine guns, revolving license plates, and bulletproof shield.

7. Quantum of Solace – In the opening chase scene, Bond’s DBS V12 is heavily damaged by machine gun-toting baddies.

8. Tomorrow Never Dies  - For a time, BMW sponsored the James Bond movie franchise. This is the only one where the car did not die an ignominious death (e.g. sawed in half in The World Is Not Enough) or reduced to a mere cameo. The BMW 750iL featured caltrops, bulletproof doors and armors, electrostatic protection, self-inflating tires, and remote control via an Ericsson mobile phone. It still ended up driving off a building and into an Avis after a protracted chase inside a building parking lot.

9. Die Another Day – A showcase for Ford, this Bond movie had a Thunderbird cameo, but the real stars were the souped up Jaguar and an Aston Martin Vanquish (or as Q called it, the “Vanish”). With machine guns, rockets, and even stealth technology, the climax had a rollicking car chase across the ice lakes of, well, Iceland.

10. Matrix Reloaded – With Trinity, Morpheus, and the Keymaster being chased by Agents and the Twins across a section of unnamed Interstate, this was a showcase of the Cadillac CTS. General Motors reportedly donated 300 cars for the scene—all of them were wrecked by the end of filming.

11. Gone In 60 Seconds – This (remake) movie about a car thief is really all about the second half, where Nicolas Cage must steal 50 cars in 48 hours in order to save his brother. Starring the 1969 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 “Eleanor,” Cage drove the bejesus out of the car—and he did most of the stunt driving himself, too.

12. The Rock – Midway through the movie, Sean Connery steals a Hummer and proceeds to cause mayhem through San Francisco with a Ferrari-driving Nicolas Cage in hot pursuit.

13. Transformers – Possibly the best, most awaited scene is the car chase/fight scene between Bumblebee (Chevrolet Camaro) and Barricade (Ford Saleen S281 Police Interceptor), mainly because it’s the first time we ever saw Transformers run after each other and brawl on the big screen.

14. Bullit – This classic from 1968 starred Steve McQueen as a police lieutenant fighting the mafia. The iconic car chase between a 1968 Ford Mustang GT and a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T through the streets of San Francisco would be the template for many wannabe car chases years after.

15. The Last Stand – This modern take on the classic Western formula involves a souped-up, 1000-plus-hp Corvette driven by a drug lord who has to go through the sleepy border town of Sommertown Junction and its sheriff, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Featuring insane stunts like having a Hummer H3 flip off the hood of the Corvette, the movie’s final car chase has Arnie playing bump cars with the Corvette using a Camaro through a corn field.

16. Batman Begins – After the depressingly ugly Batmobiles of the previous movies (save for the casket-like Batmobile of Tim Burton films), it was time for a reboot. The “Tumbler” looked like a very angry Dumpster, and seeing it evade police cars and jump across roof tops for the first time was a very guilty pleasure.

17. Terminator – After shooting up a police precinct, the Terminator chases after Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor on the freeway. The Terminator’s vehicle of choice is a Kenworth cab-over, while our two protagonists have nothing but a ratty pickup.

18. Terminator: Rise of the Machines – Echoing the relentlessness of the very first movie, this time the Terminatrix goes after John Connor and Kate Brewster by commandeering several police cars and even a construction crane to chase after them. They blew up stuff real good here.

19. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Possibly the first time we ever saw such a marvelously tricked out Chevrolet Suburban, the chase scene involving Nick Fury against a squad of rogue SHIELD agents is a real crowd-pleaser.

20. The Fast and the Furious – The first one would realize a market for car chase buffs who only paid lip service to the laws of physics. With its numerous chase scenes and drag races, this movie made Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (bless his soul).

21. Fast 5 – Sort of like The Italian Job on speed, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker team up with several other talented drivers/charismatic criminals to pull off a heist against a drug lord. The final scene involving two souped up Dodge Chargers towing a safe through the streets of Rio de Janiero is plain brilliant; never mind the sheer silliness. 

22. Fast & Furious 6 – Featuring over the top car chase scenes, this one had cars flipping and drifting all over the place. It even had a tank, and the world’s longest takeoff roll!

23. Speed – Speaking of “speed”, let’s all give a round of applause to the movie that made Keanu an action star! This movie about a bomb on a bus primed to explode if it goes below 55mph is a real gem from the 90’s as the hero and the police figure out how to keep it rolling without running out of road.

24. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior – This 80’s post-apocalypic doozy had a grim Mel Gibson piloting an armored semi against a gang of marauders. Highlights of the chase involve multiple impalements, stabbings, and collisions.

25. The Italian Job – The modern remake of the 1969 flick has Mark Walberg leading his team of thieves to steal several million in gold using a small fleet of Minis that takes them through the streets and subways of Los Angeles.

26. The Bourne Identity – An amnesiac assassin eludes his pursuers by commandeering a ratty Mini down tight alleyways and staircases.

27. The Bourne Supremacy – Chased by the CIA and a relentless assassin, Bourne smashes fenders against the latter in a climactic chase in a tunnel that ends with him T-boning the hitman’s Range Rover against a concrete support divider.

28. Death Race 2000 – If you like the idea of souped up cars and trucks going ‘round and round trying to kill each other, this one is around 90 minutes of mindless fun.