The Road Warrior

Not really a car chase, but I've always loved Steve McQueen fleeing the Germans on a motorcycle in "The Great Escape" ...

For me it's Ronin. hands down.  With not one, not two, but three high-speed car chases.

Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell

My vote is for Ronin, with Gone in 60Seconds (Nick Cage version) in there as well. I just love seeing that Mustang fly down that water channel with the cops in hot pursuit!

What about Eleanor ripping through the streets of LA on the way to the docks in Gone In 60 Seconds ? Nicholas Cage put that car through some tight spots! Who can forget the bridge jump over the ambulance. I vote for Eleanor!

It happens to be a little known fact, but prior to each movie being made since "The Road Warrior", the producers, actors, and director get together to see if they can make a movie even close to being as cool as "The Road Warrior", but they can't.  That whole movie from start to stop kicks butt, and that chase scene at the end in my opinion is by far the best.

However, the cheesy train scene from the end of "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" was such a horrible takeoff, and that has to be one of the worst sequels ever made.

"Two days ago I saw a vehicle that could haul that tanker.  You wanna get outtahere...talk to me"  Max

Another classic one, Spielberg's debut, "Duel".

The coolest looking and fastest car ever in a movie has to be "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

"I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane"  Waylon Jennings

The PoD Race in Star Wars Ep1

Does that count?

bah.

Then how about...the cop/cab race in The 5th Element?

ack

RightWired.

"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." - Ronald Reagan

A definite tie: Bullitt and French Connection. They were the first, and the chases told the story. In Bullitt, for all the speed and excitement, the chase was more about waiting ... which perfectly described McQueen's character. The whole chase was McQueen waiting for the right time to make a move. He waited until the bad guys passed to come up behind them. He waited until the bad guys panicked and gave themselves away. He waited to make his move to bump them off the road. It wasn't about speed, it was about timing. Beautiful, perfect. And French Connection's Popeye Doyle chase was totally different. Wild, relentless, reckless, endangering half the city so he could get his guy. No subtlety, no finesse - just determination.

Those chases told you about the character. The other chases didn't tell as much. Their chases were just chases. Maybe Ronin used it better, but DeNiro revealed a lot more when he was sitting in a cafe. On the other hand, if you're just looking for a fun chase, how can anyone top Peter Falk & Alan Arkin in the In-Laws (still, the perfect comedy)?

I rate Bulitt low as far as chase scenes go for a couple of reasons.

1.  Much of the chase scene in the city is the same shot taken from different angles.  And I don't mean the shots are repeated back-to-back.  McQueen passes a VW Bug on the hills of SF and 30 seconds later he's passing the same VW--same shot at a different angle. I think McQueen passes that VW bug 3 or 4 times.  There are several shots repeated like this.  Watch how many times the guy loses a hubcap.

2. The sound of the car McQueen is chasing (Dodge Charger, I think) is edited to sound like a standard shift but it's actually an automatic.  

#2 above is also true of the Chevy Nova Schneider is driving in the Seven-Ups which I would rate a lot better scene than Bullitt.  Another unlikely occurence in the scene is when the Nova loses it's hood from a shot-gun(?) blast.  How the heck the hood would come lose from a shot is beyond me.    

Anyone notice the guy driving the car being chased by McQueen in Bullitt and the guy driving the car being chased by Roy Schneider in the Seven-Ups is the same guy?    

I watched the few I hadn't seen, its amazing how little progress car chases have made since Bullitt. The Blues Brothers' chase was certainly grand and entertaining, but Steve McQueen still gets the honors.

I think the same driver was in the Seven-Ups, a bit older and with a hippy wig.

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry was downright bad. I think both drivers were in the same set with the same big steering wheel. They had to have a fireball ending.

My favorite, also one that's not listed, was in What's Up Doc, and they chased through San Francisco.  I like this one so much I can even overlook the fact that Babs is in it.  From the List, however, I would have to vote for the French Connection.

Never argue with an idiot.  They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I just have to throw Cannonball Run in the mix here, too. Maybe not the greatest car chases ever, but I think it beats Smokey and the Bandit for the "movie devoted entirely to car chase" prize.

Lee T.

U.S. Navy (ret.) / Vancouver, Washington

The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain

Ronin hands down, is the Greatest.

One of the best car chase movies by the late John Frankenheimer who for those of you do not remember, directed Grand Prix and the French Connection 2.

I love fast cars and Ronin is a car lovers movie on steroids. How can you beat watching De Niro driving a Peugeot 406 through the streets Paris at 100+mph chasing a BMW M5.

The chase with the Audi S8 thorough the south of France was pure adrenaline and according to John Frankenheimer he did not use any CGI or optical tricks in the chase scenes. He mounted the camera low on the front bumper of the cars just like he did in Grand Prix.

One of the best films ever, I give Ronin a 10.