Adrian Haley - “Quantum of Solace”, 2008
We begin our parade with the opening scene from the epic 007 “Quantum of Solace. Italy. On the road along Lake Garda, James Bond drives an Aston Martin DBS coupe trying to outrun a couple of black Alfa Romeo 159s with armed villains inside.
A little later, Italian carabiners in Land Rover Defender 90 join the chase and arrange a model rally-cross.
- “The Blues Brothers”, 1980
The 1980 comedy film “Blues Brothers,” directed by John Landis. The main characters Jake and Elwood Blues cause mayhem in Chicago in a tattered 1974 Dodge Monaco.
The brothers are chased by police officers in a 1974 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1974 Dodge Monaco. At the end of the chase, absurd in places, it becomes clear what Luc Besson’s inspiration was for the police car dump scene in “Taxi 2.”
- “Taxi”, 1998
And while we’re on the subject of Luc Besson, we just can’t get past the last chase through Marseille from the first part of the 1998 film “Taxi”.
The main characters, cab driver and race lover Daniel (Samy Naceri) and policeman Emilien (Frédéric Diefenthal) are tearing away in a modified Peugeot 406 cab from robbers in two Mercedes-Benz E500 W124.
- “Lucy”, 2014
France again, Luc Besson again, Peugeot again. The 2014 film “Lucy” will please fans of chases with a decent scene, where Scarlett Johansson as Lucy dashing through the streets of Paris in a police Peugeot 308. And, of course, the traditional for Besson scene of blocking the police cars is not left out.
- “Ronin”, 1998
Closing the Peugeot theme with the 1998 movie “Ronin” starring Robert De Niro, Jean Renault and Natasha McElhone.
The chase scene between the Peugeot 406 and BMW 535i E34 is still considered one of the best in the history of cinema and is included deservedly in the tops of all possible ratings. However, evaluate it for yourself!
- “Safe House”, 2012
Another great chase with BMW will please the spy action movie “Cape Town Access Code” 2012, starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.
Reynolds’ character drives a 1987 cherry BMW 735i E32 to escape mercenaries through the streets of Cape Town. But, as with the 535i E34 in “Ronin,” the 735i E32 suffers an unenviable fate at the end of the chase.
- “The Transporter”, 2002
We wrap up the chase theme with BMWs starring in the first part of the 2002 action movie “The Carrier.” The French Mediterranean and the invincible Jason Statham as Frank driving a BMW 750i E38 gets away from the French police gracefully (not without movie magic).
By the way, version 750i E38 was equipped only with automatic transmission, but specially for the movie the automatic was replaced by a 6-speed manual.
- “Bullitt”, 1968
Of course, we couldn’t leave out a classic – the famous chase scene through the streets of San Francisco from the 1968 film “Detective Bullitt,” starring the legendary Steve McQueen. The episode went down in cinematic history as the first to be shot on such a grand scale.
Protagonist Frank Bullitt, in a dark green 1968 Ford Mustang GT390, chases down two hit men who are evading a chase in a black Dodge Charger R/T.
- “The French Connection”, 1971
Another cinematic classic is the 1971 crime thriller “The French Connection,” directed by William Friedkin. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” But we are primarily interested in the chase scene where the protagonist, a cop nicknamed Popeye (Gene Hackman) tries to chase a 1971 Pontiac LeMans around New York City behind a train in which a murderer is hiding.
It seems unbelievable today, but this scene was filmed without permission from the city authorities. Members of the crew and the NYPD blocked off a number of streets, but some blocks involved in filming the chase remained free for traffic and stuntman Bill Hickman had to literally dodge ordinary pedestrians and motorists. Some accidents filmed in this chase are real and were not part of the script, except for the scene with a baby stroller – it was carefully rehearsed. All the victims were compensated by the studio.
- “The Italian Job”, 1969
Speaking of classics, you just can’t get past the 1969 British heist film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine. The lead car role is played by three classic 1969 Mini Cooper S’s. The key difference in the chase in this in the film is that instead of public roads, the characters choose to hide from the Italian police on sidewalks, underpasses and mall lobbies.
In 2003, a remake with Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg and the modern Cooper, produced already “under the wing” of BMW, was released.
What did you like best and which films do you think we undeservedly neglected? And remember that the stunts in the movies are performed by professionals on closed sections of roads! Follow the traffic rules and only race on the racetracks.
