The Dozen Best Car Chase Movie Scenes Ever Filmed

What’s the movie car chase ever filmed?  Here’s my list of nominees.

We’re likely to agree on many of the most memorable car chase classics.  But we’re just likely to disagree as to where they should rank.

That said, my number one pick will probably come as a surprise.  My choice for the best car chase ever isn’t typically included in a discussion of the classics.  Nevertheless, I’m convinced that my number one is the best car chase scene ever filmed.

There are plenty of chases to chose from.  The first actual sequence of this genre was shot in 1968, during the crime drama Bullitt, shot on location in San Francisco.  This subtle but sophisticated film classic easily made the list.  However, lots of other car chase scenes made since then have been pretty one-dimensional.  Among the most overrated scenes are The Bourne Identity, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Italian Job (remake), and Smoky and the Bandit. 

Among the scenes that I put in the honorable mention category, the most underrated are Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Vanishing Point, McQ, and Mad Max 2.  However, these movies didn’t quite crack my top 12 list.  To those who insist they belong, you won’t get much of an argument.

I’d be remiss were I not to point out a few overlooked gems from European cinema.  Although these scenes were ripped off from the American classics which preceded them (some are nearly verbatim copies), they still bear a historical footnote on my best car chase movie scenes list.  These largely unknown foreign-language films with some excellent car chase scenes include — Big Guns (Italy, 1973), Violent Rome (Italy, 1975), and A Man and a Woman (France, 1966).  Feel free to YouTube some of these sequences.  They’re fun to watch.

So, what makes a great car chase scene?  It requires far more than just a high-speed pursuit and clever stunts.  I judged the very best by sheer originality, music/sound/special effects, how the characters in the scene react to each other, dialogue and realism, and most of all — intensity.  I’m convinced all of the films on my list meet the criteria, and then some.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.  Let the countdown begin:

12.  The Italian Job (1969)

Most of us remember the popular 2003 remake.  But the 1969 original starring Michael Caine and his Mini-Coopers was a much better film.  Caine gets chased by the Mafia in this caper that has European cars plowing through the streets and markets of Rome, exploding Minis and Jaguars, and a passenger bus loaded up with gold bars teetering off a cliff.

11.  James Bond Movies

It’s impossible to pick out just one great car chase scene from the vast catalog of 25 James Bond films.  So instead, I’m posting a synopsis of the very best chases from the Bond films over the years — from Dr. No (1962) to Skyfall (2013).

10.  The Mechanic (1972)

A largely forgotten movie about a methodical syndicate hitman who becomes tangled up in the web of the double-cross.  Charles Bronson is at his very best here as the quiet loner, but it’s his younger protégé Jan-Michael Vincent who actually steals the movie.  This cat and mouse game ends in Italy with an exciting car chase and shootout along the Mediterranean coast.  Note:  The very best scene in the movie is the opening 15 minutes, which is without dialogue.  This is the original film made in ’72, not the terrible remake made in 2011. which stars Jason Stratham.

9.  To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

Director William Friedkin gets two notations on the top ten list.  His first is this disjoined but intriguing mid-80s drama-with-a-twist about a Los Angeles cop who’s determined to get revenge for his partner’s murder.  All the stop signs are pulled and the lights are green out in this thrilling car chase through the dregs of Los Angeles’s ugly underbelly.

8.  The Blues Brothers (1980)

This wildly fun classic starring John Belushi and Dan Akroyd actually include two memorable car chase scenes.  It’s hard to argue which one is better, the chase through a suburban shopping mall, or the concluding ten minutes of the film where the Blues Brothers have to race 90 miles from the Wisconsin border all the way to Downtown Chicago and make it in less than an hour in order to save the world.  Here’s the classic shopping mall scene.

7.  Terminator 2:  Judgment Day (1991)

An action-packed scene in the LA River basin with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his popularity.  This scene has it all — a kid on a bicycle, a Mack truck, an underdog hero, and an indestructible bad guy.  Great sequence.

6.  What’s Up Doc (1972)

If you haven’t seen this often forgotten madcap comedy directed by Peter Bogdanovich starring Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand, try to catch it next time.  This is a comedic masterpiece with an all-star cast of memorable character actors and a Marx Brothers-style storyline of goofs and gags.  Ridiculously dated now, it’s become camp humor.  The memorable chase scene is broken into two parts, and both worth watching.  It’s all old-style slapstick, but somehow it works.  My favorite part — the poor guy who comes out of his house with a bag of groceries and opens up the door to his Volkswagon bus and gets quite a surprise.

PART 1

PART 2

5. Ronin (1998)

A lousy movie, but one of the better modern European-based car chases.  There have been lots of Euro chases over the years, which were often shot in France and Italy.  This romp through the streets of Paris starring Robert De Niro is at the top.  Here’s a scene where the audience takes sides — a BMW versus a Peugeot.  Have fun watching this scene:

4.  The Seven-Ups (1973)

Extraordinary build-up, drama, and conclusion.  In fact, it’s the best ending ever to a car chase.  Roy Schneider plays a grizzled cop going after a couple of Mafia bad guys in this mean chase sequence through the Bronx.  The bad guys are perfect, too.  Some critics say this is the best of all time, and watching this clip it’s easy to understand why.

3.  The French Connection (1972)

Second of two William Friedkin movies on this list, which has an amazing back story.  The crew couldn’t get permission from the City of New York to film this scene, so they decided to shoot the entire sequence early one Sunday morning, to the astonishment of commuters and pedestrians who had no idea their neighborhood was to become the film set for one of the best action-thrillers of all time.  Gene Hackman deservedly won the “Best Actor” Oscar for his role as Popeye Doyle, and The French Connection also won “Best Picture.”

2.  Bullitt (1968)

This film is most often cited as the best car chase scene of all time, and it’s obvious why.  First, this Peter Yates classic set the bar for all other chases to follow.  The cars aren’t just cool, they actually became more popular because of their role in this riveting 8-minute action sequence.  Decades later, the classic retro-1968 Mustang was even remade and sold by Ford, largely because of this movie.  Steve McQueen is — well Steve McQueen.  Say no more.  And the bad guys are a couple of smirking bad asses that you can’t wait to see blow up and get burned alive.  The music, the photography, the scenery — this sequence is utter perfection on film.

1.  Duel (1972)

Duel was one of director Stephen Spielberg’s first films.  It was made for less than $100,000.  In fact, Spielberg reportedly sat in the back seat of the car much of the time with a cameraman during the two-week shoot.  So, why does this movie get picked as the best car chase scene?  Simple.  Because the entire movie is a chase from start to finish.  The genius of the film is that everyone can identify with Everyman actor Dennis Weaver in the starring role.  He’s driving casually through California’s high desert on a business trip and has a brief run-in with a truck driver.  That sets of a mad and potentially murderous 90-minute chase scene that will leave you on the edge of your seat.  There’s also a deeper philosophical meaning behind the pursuit, as Weaver sort of comes of age as a man.  But the real intrigue remains — and is still debated by those who remember it — the question as to why the truck driver goes crazy.  We never know who he is, nor do we ever see his face.  Sometimes the unknown is scarier than the known, a technique Spielberg would later use a few years later in another classic, Jaws.  This is hands down, the best car chase scene ever filmed.

Movie Trailer:

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